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

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  • North Dakota may hold key to Wyoming's prison woes

    Criminal justice reform succeeds when states prioritize rehabilitation and over punishment. In North Dakota, the Free Through Recovery program increases the number of stakeholders in a parolee’s success, creating multiple levels of behavioral health support. The program is part of a criminal justice legislation package that included sentencing reforms and alternatives to incarceration. The state has been successful in beginning to reduce its overcrowded prison populations and serves as a model for other states.

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  • Gatekeepers: Working to save Kenyans from suicide

    In Kenya, rates of suicide are increasing and cost of help is not attainable for many, so volunteers are stepping in to fill the void. From a hotline to educating religious leaders and police officers to on-the-ground "gatekeepers" who are trained to recognize signs of suicidal behavior, communities are joining together to prevent suicide.

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  • Rethinking Alaska's only maximum-security prison

    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.

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  • Mothers lead children HIV transmission fight in Kisii and Homa Bay

    A mentorship program in Kenya has proven effective at slashing rates of HIV transmission to infants and reducing stigma surrounding the illness. Mentor mothers offer support and education to HIV-positive pregnant women to ensure they stay on anti-retro viral drugs to avoid passing the virus to their unborn children and they work with them through the first 18 months of a child's life. Similar programs in other African countries have reached an estimated 1.4 million HIV-positive women.

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  • ‘Rental sisters' for Japan's Reclusive Young Men

    A unique issue in Japan is that of the “Hikikomori” – men who have totally withdrawn from society, often as a response to bullying, depression, or trauma. The NGO, New Start, offers a “rental sister” program, which provide the Hikikomori with an older female mentor to interact with and guide them toward more independent lives. Along the way, the hope is that they’ll build trusting relationships and practice social engagement.

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  • Changing the environment in Iowa's prisons to change results for women Audio icon

    The Iowa Correctional Institution for Women has reformed how inmates are treated, adapting approaches informed by gender and past trauma. A new campus provides private counseling suites and a mental health unit, larger cells with light controls and a visitation area with play space and a garden so women can engage with their children. Disciplinary policies have also shifted toward building women up for returning to society rather than automatic discipline for small infractions.

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  • The city curing violence like a disease

    The Cure Violence program in Chicago uses former gang members as "violence interrupters" to intervene in imminent gun violence incidents, a public-health approach that treats violence like a communicable disease that can be contained before it spreads. Neighborhoods using the approach have experienced drops in violence. London officials, seeing that the program had similar positive effects when used by Scotland's Violence Reduction Unit, are starting a program to respond to high rates of knife crimes. But the amount they are investing is too small, one criminologist warns.

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  • Between haram and halal: British Muslims explore the grey area

    Popping up in various places around England is a performance space for young British Muslims to create and share their uniquely intersectional experiences with identity. The organization, operated as a non-profit collective, is called Makrooh and serves to bring together Muslim artists for open-mic performances, workshops, and other gatherings. While the location changes, underscoring each space is a feeling of safety and welcoming for all.

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  • Veterans Courts Give Soldiers a Way Back

    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.

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  • Peers guide addicts toward recovery

    Those that struggle with addiction can have a difficult time feeling like they're being understood by those they talk to about their problems. In Ohio, however, federal funding has gone towards a program that uses peer to peer support in order to connect addicts with recovered addicts, which so far, has shown promising results.

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