Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 412 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Law & Disorder: Progressive Prosecutors Hope to Dismantle Mass Incarceration

Manny Faces

October 30, 2018 |

News Beat |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Across the United States, individuals and organizations are seeking to shift the criminal justice system through District Attorney elections. From online communities like colorofchange.org, which seeks to support grassroots election efforts, to individuals like Minnesota’s Mark Haase, who is running on a platform of diversity and inclusion, to the Texas Organizing Project that wants to empower Black and Latinx communities, each of these missions seeks to create more equity and transparency in the criminal justice system.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Alternative to Incarceration Program in NYC Gives Teens a Second Chance

Maria Serrano

October 17, 2018 |

South Florida Media Network |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

Esparanza, a non-profit located in New York, provides comprehensive services for teenagers who are in the justice system. The intensive family counseling has been a successful alternative to incarceration since 2002, and research shows that the approach and other restorative justice practices are well suited for helping children who have been involved with the justice system lead healthy lives.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How one state is using incentives instead of penalties to boost child support payments

K. Sophie Will

October 15, 2018 |

Deseret News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Washington State is using behavioral science and kinder, more compassionate communications to help encourage full payment of child-support from non-custodial parents. With their efforts, including friendlier communications and meeting reminders, hundreds more parents have been meeting child-support workers.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Philly Program Teaches Defendants How To Help Themselves

Annette John-Hall

October 05, 2018 |

WESA |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In Philadelphia, the participatory defense program helps people learn how to present themselves in a criminal case in a way that gives a more complete picture of who they are. They write a biography, get letters of support and bring supporters to court in a system the chief public defender brought from Montgomery County and which originated in Silicon Valley. The program helps public defenders present their cases more effectively and judges may be more likely to impose less harsh sentences.

Read More
Go to Original Story
One State Is Disrupting the Pipeline from Foster Care to Jail

Liza Veale

September 23, 2018 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, California

In 2017, California's Continuum of Care (CCR) program began shifting money away from group homes for children in foster care, closing 300 homes in the first year. The money goes instead to recruiting more families to house children, who are newly eligible for extended care to age 25. The goal is to shrink a system that too often dooms children to homelessness on the streets and incarceration. While some clients have found the family love that a group home can't replicate, many lower-income families have struggled to meet the program's requirements, threatening its ultimate success.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Judge in the Court of Public Support in Redmond, Washington

Hallie Golden

September 21, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Redmond, Washington

Community courts around the country, like the one in Redmond, Washington, are replacing punitive versions of the justice system with a process that emphasizes assistance and personal growth for minor offenses. Participants are given a set of requirements, like community service, counseling sessions, and more; since its start in April, the court has "graduated" 15 participants.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Meet the Delaware Teen Fighting for the Rights of Former Juvenile Offenders

Hallie Steiner

September 14, 2018 |

NationSwell |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Wilmington, Delaware

After her neighbor was incarcerated, a Delaware teenager and her brother began supporting youth coming out of detention with clothes, school supplies and other items. Their nonprofit grew and was so successful in raising money and awareness that the state legislature took over the re-entry fund just a year and a half after the organization's launch. The founder is now working on a pilot program to provide financial literacy training for formerly incarcerated youth.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Inside a Court Room Specialized in Justice for Gender Violence

Anna-Catherine Brigida

September 11, 2018 |

Broadly |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: El Salvador

El Salvador joins other countries and states who are creating specialized tribunals for gender-based crimes. The court focuses on 11 crimes “femicide, diffusion of porn (as in revenge porn), and three forms of economic violence.” So far, 22 cases have been heard and half resulted in convictions. In addition, judges are trained to look at cases through a gender lens and focus on reparations. “Our decisions have to be aimed towards this instead of just determining a sentence.”

Read More
Go to Original Story
Reform Activists and a New DA Find Common Ground

Ruxandra Guidi

September 09, 2018 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

In Texas' Harris County, the state's most populous county, a grassroots collective of criminal justice activists contributed to a political shift that led to reforms in prosecutions, jails, bail, and policing. Inspired by the movement sparked by the death of Michael Brown in Missouri in 2014, groups such as Houston Justice and the Texas Organizing Project backed the election of a reform-minded district attorney, who turned toward community collaboration and away from tough-on-crime solutions. The new DA, plus favorable court rulings and state laws, softened the country's rough-justice reputation.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Youth Need Community-Based Treatment, Not Jails

Megan Hadley

September 05, 2018 |

The Crime Report |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

The number of youth confined in U.S. detention facilities has dropped by nearly half since 1997, saving money and reducing recidivism. A report by the Justice Policy Institute says this has made communities safer, but that reductions are only among those accused of nonviolent crimes and that racial and ethnic disparities have increased. The report calls for changes, such as repealing state laws on mandatory sentences, offering better probation supervision and creating more diversion options.

Read More
Go to Original Story