North Dakota may hold key to Wyoming's prison woes

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.

Illinois has implemented mental health courts across 31 counties as an alternative to incarceration for people with mental illness. These specialized courts divert defendants into community-based treatment programs lasting 1-2 years, featuring regular court appearances, counseling and drug testing. Since 2017, approximately 50% of participants have successfully graduated from mental health court programs statewide, with 11,000+ diverted from prison through the broader Adult Redeploy Illinois initiative.

A growing number of programs are working to interrupt cycles of trauma and harm with currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. Beyond Violence uses curriculum co-designed by women currently incarcerated and uses peer co-facilitation to address the aggression and violence women have experienced personally, as well as been perpetrators of. The curriculum, which also highlights the impact of individuals’ communities, relationships, and social structures, improves mental health and facilitates long-term healing.

Merging accountability with treatment promotes recovery for those charged with drug possession. In Franklin County, Ohio, the municipal court system operates a program called Helping Achieve Recovery Together. The court recovery program provides a two-year track for participants to receive mental health support from peers and the courts, with the goal of moving them from the criminal justice system and into treatment.

Sometimes just having someone to talk to can help those who are suffering from depression. The Friendship Bench program in NYC borrows an idea from Harare, Zimbabwe, where healthcare workers—affectionately called Grannies—sit and consult with patients on benches outside of healthcare clinics. The Grannies help people discuss their issues and have had a measurably positive impact on those they’ve reached. In New York, the Friendship Benches connect individuals to peer mentors willing to listen across the city.

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.

When military veterans get charged with crimes, more than 350 courts nationwide exist to try to keep them out of jail, with rehabilitation as the chief goal. Boston Veterans Court provides people with social workers, outreach specialists, access to therapy, and help in going to school, finding a job, and dealing with life's stresses. Many people in this system come home from war struggling with anger, trauma, and substance abuse problems. Some studies have quantified veterans courts' success rates for helping people overcoming mental illness and staying out of criminal trouble.

Across the country, a small number of young prosecutors are changing the face of our current criminal justice system. They are moving away from the “strict law-and-order practices of the past,” and employing a more liberal approach: “eschewing the death penalty, talking rehabilitation as much as punishment, and often refusing to charge people for minor offenses.”

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.

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.