Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • As Prisons Cancel Visitation, The Phone Line Becomes A Life Line

    To alleviate the isolating effects of COVID-19 restrictions in prisons barring outside visitors, some prisons have encouraged phone and video contact with family by waiving the fees normally charged for such services. In Utah, the first 10 calls per week are free. Federal prisons have waived the charges entirely. Maintaining healthy family relationships has been shown to relieve prisoners' loneliness and anxiety, which equates to better behavior. And it reduces future lawbreaking by strengthening bonds that help in finding housing and jobs once the prisoners are released.

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  • Inmate-Made Masks Help Community and Those Incarcerated, Jailer Says

    When a pandemic lockdown idled the men jailed at Woodford County Detention Center, they replaced the jobs they previously had performed in the community with work in the jail that served an immediate need: sewing protective masks. They sewed more than 28,000 masks in the first four months of the pandemic, using donated clothing as the fabric and distributing them at no cost. While the incarcerated men were paid little for their work, they said they benefited with new skills, staying active, and feeling pride in their community service.

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  • How Centre County Correctional Facility has adjusted amid the coronavirus pandemic

    Centre County, Pa., jail officials limited the spread of coronavirus inside its facility with extensive testing of all incarcerated people and staff, isolating those with the virus, barring visitors, and working with a coalition of court and law enforcement agencies to reduce the jail population. The jail, near State College, Pa., took action early with educational sessions and a rigorous cleaning regimen. Re-entry programs stepped up efforts to find housing for those released from the jail, although job prospects for them are bleak.

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  • Locked In Limbo: Jail-based Competency Restoration

    Experts, advocates, and lawmakers are working within the Texas prison system to help individuals experiencing incarceration access mental health care. A promising practice has been the use of telepsychiatry, or virtual therapy, which has seen a nearly 50% success rate. While efforts are being made, it’s being done in pieces and without scaled, statewide support.

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  • Solutions to restore inmates' mental health and get them to trial

    In Texas, legislators and advocates are working to address mental health concerns for individuals entering or in the criminal justice system. For those already in jail, telepsychiatry is being offered to help rehabilitate inmates. For those just entering the system, a mental health court in Travis County has been developed to connect people with needed mental health services so that they can stand trial and even have their cases dismissed.

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  • Connecting With Incarcerated Parents Is Easier With Photo Patch, an App Developed By a Teen

    The Photo Patch Foundation helps connect children with parents who are experiencing incarceration. Using its website or mobile app, children can write letters and upload photos, which will then be printed and mailed by the organization at no cost. The Foundation, funded by donations and grants, was created by a father-daughter duo who had experienced the issue firsthand.

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  • Mothers flourish with sister's support after incarceration

    Hour Children is one of several programs throughout the U.S. that focuses on employing "God-given dignity" to help incarcerated mothers maintain relationships with their children and find sustainable futures after their sentences have ended. The latter goal is achieved through the ministry's year-long employment and job-training program. Although it is uncertain how the program will proceed during the Covid-19 pandemic, for the last three years, a local manufacturing company has consistently hired alumni from the program due to their training.

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  • The Separation

    Alabama’s Tutwiler Prison for women, once found to be one of the worst prisons for women in the country, has undergone major reforms to change its once-abusive culture. A key part of this has been a focus on pregnant women who are experiencing incarceration, focusing more on rehabilitation than punitive measures by offering peer support groups and substance abuse programming. Tutwiler has also brought in the Alabama Prison Birth Project, offering childbirth education and doula services if desired.

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  • UnCommon Law Helps Inmates Serving Life Sentences Earn Back Their Freedom

    The California law firm UnCommon Law is helping people in prison make parole through group counseling and training. The firm facilitates conversations around insight, helping participants understand and explain their own personal journey and reckon with the impact of their actions, so that they can convey this to their parole board. Since 2006, UnCommon law has helped 248 men and women receive parole, a 60% success rate.

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  • Private Prisons Profit Off Incarceration. One In Australia Shows How To Flip The Script

    Using a performance-based contract to give a private prison company the incentive to lower recidivism has encouraged the private operator of Australia’s largest prison to foster a more positive environment and provide a rich array of rehabilitative programs. Instead of penalizing the prison operator for problems, the contract rewards it for success, defined as fewer people returning to prison. Early indications are that it’s working well, by providing job training, counseling that continues after incarceration, and help finding housing post-release.

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