For these employers, there are no background checks, no drug tests, no interviews, and no problems

Beth Adams

October 20, 2020 |

City Newspaper (Rochester) |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Rochester, New York

The Greyston Center for Open Hiring teaches businesses to fill entry-level positions using only a wait list, hiring whomever is next on the list without an interview, background check, or drug test. The open-hiring program, which started in Yonkers, N.Y., and expanded to Rochester, promotes lowered barriers as a benefit both to workers and employers. Employers report lower turnover and greater loyalty among employees whose criminal records frustrated their job searches through traditional channels. The center also provides services to help employees succeed.

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Their App Sends Free Mail to Incarcerated People. Now They're Helping Prisoners Register to Vote

Emily Nonko

October 20, 2020 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Ameelio is a technology startup launched by Yale students to facilitate free communication between people who are incarcerated and loved ones. In their first six months, the group went from sending 300 to over 4,000 letters a week to facilities in the United States. Their initial goal was to provide a not-for-profit alternative to the oftentimes predatory prison telecommunications industry. Recently they began a voter registration initiative where they send registration instructions, a blank voter registration application, and ballot request form to people who are incarcerated and eligible to vote.

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Behind prison walls, cats and inmates rehabilitate each other through animal care program

Jordan Erb

October 19, 2020 |

IndyStar (The Indianapolis Star) |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Pendleton, Indiana

In Indiana's maximum-security Pendleton Correctional Facility, the FORWARD program (Felines and Offenders Rehabilitation With Affection, Reformation and Dedication) puts incarcerated men in charge of caring for cats rescued from abuse or the streets while the cats await adoption. The men learn job skills and can feel empathy for a dependent animal, which research has shown can improve behavior both inside prison and afterward. The caregivers say their job gives them purpose and greater self-esteem. About 20 have been hired after prison by Indiana's Animal Protection League, which helps run the program.

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Second Largest Police Force to Stop Criminalising Drug Users

Max Daly

October 16, 2020 |

Vice |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Four UK police forces have adopted drug-decriminalization policies over the past five years, diverting hundreds of cases toward treatment and harm-reduction counseling, and away from criminal convictions, fines, and incarceration. The policies, which apply even in cases involving heroin and cocaine, have been found to reduce drug offenses and conserve police resources for more serious crime. Based on those programs, West Midlands, the second-largest police force in England and Wales, is launching a one-year pilot project aimed at diverting 1,500 people's cases away from the criminal process.

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In San Diego, Black Muslims are working to expand voting access in jails

Aysha Khan

October 14, 2020 |

The GroundTruth Project |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Pillars of the Community hires people incarcerated in local California jails to register new incarcerated voters and conduct civic engagement education behind bars. Pillars, a faith-based criminal justice advocacy group led by Black Muslims, registers hundreds every year, many of whom did not know they were eligible to vote and did not know how to register on their own. Those voting in 2020 will be able to vote on state referenda concerning expanding voting rights for people with felony convictions and on ending cash bail.

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'I feel human again' — At three hotels, formerly incarcerated New Yorkers get the support they need

Ilyssa Daly

October 12, 2020 |

Queens Daily Eagle |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

When jails and prisons released people early as a pandemic precaution, New York City responded to the threat of increased homelessness by temporarily housing more than 400 people in hotels while providing them with re-entry services aimed at preventing new crimes. Exodus Transitional Community, the city's contractor, provided a combination of emergency shelter and counseling that would be unavailable in standard homeless shelters. No COVID-19 cases have been reported in the hotels, while residents praise the service for giving them the stability and safety they need to restart their lives.

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A Special Court Keeping Native Americans Out of Jail

Lisa Bartfai

October 12, 2020 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, Maine

The Penobscot Nation's Healing to Wellness Court is a drug court, diverting people charged with drug offenses from possible fines and jail into therapy. But it has an added cultural element, providing traditional healing approaches alongside mainstream behavioral therapy. The cultural piece recognizes that Native Americans' historical trauma and disconnect from their culture can contribute to the problems that lead to addiction. The court is far less expensive than jail or prison, and its participants have not been jailed for failing treatment in more than two years.

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Voting from Jail Is a Right, and Now a Reality in Chicago

Pamela Kirkland

September 21, 2020 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Chicago's Cook County Jail became the first jail in the nation in March to open a polling place behind bars, resulting in about 1,800 voters casting ballots, a sharp increase in voting by eligible voters in the jail. The polling place, combined with expanded voter-registration efforts, resulted from a new Illinois law requiring all counties to expand voting access. Outside of Chicago that means voting by mail. The Chicago experience provides a window into efforts nationwide to expand voting access to people incarcerated in jails and prisons, or with criminal records.

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How Formerly Incarcerated Firefighters Are Getting the Jobs and Pay They Deserve

Ray Levy Uyeda

September 17, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

The Fire and Forestry Recruitment Program serves as an intermediary between formerly incarcerated people trained as firefighters and the agencies they seek work from once they have been released from prison. California has long used incarcerated firefighters in its wildfire-fighting work, paying them poverty wages and then usually denying them the jobs they're trained for outside prison. FFRP has helped more than 100 such people find jobs, using training, certifications, and job-searching help. Its services are in high demand as a lower prison population coincides with record wildfires.

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Digging Our Way Out of the Hole: The Safe Alternative to Solitary

Jeremiah Bourgeois

September 16, 2020 |

The Crime Report |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington

Washington's prison system cut by half the number of people held in solitary confinement by reducing its security system's reliance on the method and helping former solitary detainees transition back to the general population in a healthier way. But a formerly incarcerated journalist who spent more than seven of his 27 years in prison locked in solitary confinement says the state's disciplinary system is still rooted in an overly punitive approach to mostly petty offenses. A system based on positive incentives to good behavior exists in North Dakota prisons, modeled in part on Norway's approach.

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