How a Police Detective Helps Inmates Prepare to Live on the Outside

The Alternatives to Violence Project, an international nonprofit, provides workshops around conflict resolution, personal growth, and other social skills to people experiencing incarceration. While a large-scale organization, individual prisons have the agency to implement the workshops. In Washington’s Pierce county, they tailor their workshops for veterans experiencing incarceration, teaching community-building, self-reflection, listening, and de-programming aggression and violence.

At Spring Creek Correctional Center, top officials are instituting new programming for inmates in the hopes of creating a culture of respect and innovation, while decreasing recidivism rates. Some of the new initiatives at Spring Creek include classes in business and art, support groups for those trying to stay sober, mentorship for inmates obtaining their GED, and a discussion group on ethics and morals. What makes all of these unique? They’re all prisoner-led.

The United States' incarcerated population makes up roughly 25% of the world's prisoners, but many are serving short terms and will be released back into society only to be asked to rebuild their life with little to no help or experiences gained during their time in prison. Groups like Sponsors - a program that takes formerly incarcerated adults into nature as part of a reintegration program - are working to change this re-entry process by using the outdoors as a place for former inmates to become reacquainted not just with the world, but also with themselves.

For 20 years, the Center for Young Women’s Development has been a safe space for thousands of young women ages 16 to 24 who have been incarcerated or are homeless in the San Francisco Bay Area. The center is most recognized for its strategies to give these women opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Connecticut is attempting to reduce prison recidivism by changing parole practices. Changes to the system are allowing parole officers to foster relationships with parolees and counsel them as people, not as cases.

Healing Justice brings exonerees, crime victims and family members from a variety of cases together to share stories, play games, connect and heal together while facing the traumas of wrongful convictions. Since 2015, Healing Justice has hosted 17 retreats, where exonerees and crime victims gather for three days to work through their traumas together.

The Realness Project works with incarcerated people in Colorado to build skills in effective communication, "authentic relating," and conflict management. Roughly 90 percent of participants in the organization's workshops say it helped them grow their emotional ability to handle conflict, and about 78 percent said the experience gave them more confidence during job interviews.

First 72+ is a New Orleans reentry agency founded by formerly incarcerated people to help others as they exit prison. That help focuses on everyday needs for transportation, housing, and emotional support. As in many states, a large share of formerly incarcerated people get sent back to prison, often for lack of support on the outside. The name First 72+ refers to research showing how the first 72 hours after prison can determine one's fate. In six years, none of the 176 people, mostly men, served by the agency has returned to prison, a record that prompted the state to send more clients to the agency.

After two failed attempts, Oakland Ceasefire retooled its approach and since 2013 has been a significant factor in lowering homicides and nonfatal shootings. The program, used in various ways in many cities, identifies young men at high risk of getting shot or shooting others and then offers them life coaching and social services to keep them out of trouble. By de-emphasizing the role of police, pinpointing those most in need of help, boosting community involvement, and forming deeper personal relationships, the program is credited with a 32% reduction in gun homicides over a six-year study.

Kenya's overcrowded and poorly maintained prisons offer some educational and rehabilitative programs to inmates, but the nuns of the Dimesse congregation provide something else to try to transform the lives of those who committed crimes: religious instruction, with a side helping of basic humanitarian supplies. Along with food, underwear, and sanitary pads, the nuns use regular visits to men's and women's prisons to hand out bibles and give faith-based instruction aimed at reintegrating shunned citizens once they return to their communities.