Philadelphia Reentry Coalition wants to solve for the 'severe lack of data on returning citizens'

How does an organization go about reducing incarceration rates, and eliminate racial bias? Hiring the people affected by the prison system: former inmates. That’s the strategy that ACLU is taking in Philadelphia.

Activists, and lawmakers have been proposing ideas for prisoner reentry, or supporting former prisoners by finding work, housing, and healthcare, in order to reduce the trend of prisoners being released, committing another crime, and returning to prison. Philadelphia, which has a high recidivism rate, is one of the cities that is already implementing solutions.

The organization Southerners on New Ground is helping reform the criminal justice system in the south. Activists won a small victory in Atlanta, where the mayor and city council approved a resolution that replaced cash bonds with signature bonds for misdemeanor offenses. They also raised money to help people pay their cash bails as part of a larger event called the National Bail Out collective, which bailed out 147 Black women in 26 cities this year.

Communities nationwide, including in Wisconsin, work to help ex-prisoners by surrounding them with supportive people. But in Vermont, a statewide network funded by the DOC makes it happen.

For first-time youth criminal offenders, the traditional American jury falls short in encouraging behavioral change and may even set the juvenile on a course for repeated crimes. Washington, DC’s Youth Court is a jury that tries juveniles for minor non-violent offenses and offers peer pressure to prompt positive behavioral change. The DC Youth Court is one of many in the United States that reduces crime and future court costs.

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.

The first class of students enrolled in the Wesleyan University Center for Prison Education has just graduated. The program awards participants with an associate degree from Middlesex Community College in general studies and intends to serve as a tool against recidivism by offering an opportunity for success after incarceration. The Center for Prison Education has existed since 2009, serving 138 students thus far, and started offering a degree option in 2016.

Formerly incarcerated individuals, community leaders, and members of San Francisco’s District Attorney’s office, have joined forces to create a collaborative advisory board. The board meets to share re-entry challenges and successes, discuss the DA's work, and develop a deeper understanding of systemic crime in the city. From conversations about mental health to poverty, members are helping create new policies and opportunities for those still incarcerated.

After teaching an Inside Out class with half college students and half incarcerated students, an assistant professor from the University of Georgia addressed a gap in services to help incarcerated folks reenter into the community once released. The Athens Reentry Collaborative now meets weekly to help former inmates find career, personal, and community support.

The Field Minister Program by the College at Southeastern Baptist Seminary offers inmates inside Nash Correctional the opportunity to study ministry and ultimately be used as a tool to reduce recidivism. Inmates with long terms lead the cultural change within the prisons by helping departing inmates find jobs, mentors and communities, running their own religious services, and becoming juvenile mentors, GED tutors, hospice care workers, chaplain support, and more. Studies done on similar programs show that Bible college reduces participant misconduct by 65-80%, and many inmates share stories of success.