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

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 872 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • Changes Coming To Housing Program For Former Inmates

    The state of Montana helps former prison inmates find and pay for stable housing and to improve their job-hunting skills after their release. The pilot program is praised both by former inmates, for the support they received, and landlords, who now have an incentive to rent to this population.

    Read More

  • How Norway designed a more humane prison

    Halden Prison in Norway has re-designed itself so that the look and feel of prison life isn’t an added punishment to restricted freedom. Designers took into consideration the role campus design plays in promoting or disrupting guard-inmate relations and created a campus that promotes community rather than violence and isolation. Also included was landscaping, more natural light, and the use of softer materials, like glass and wood, instead of metal and brick.

    Read More

  • Where Homeownership Starts at $1 per Square Foot

    In Detroit, a new program is offering homeownership for just $1 per square foot to marginalized and vulnerable people, including those who are unhoused, people with disabilities, or the formerly incarcerated. After proving an income of between $7,000 and $12,000 and the abilities to pay rent, as well as financial classes and volunteering, people can qualify to live in tiny homes, which are then handed off to the resident mortgage-free after seven years. So far, the program has built six tiny homes.

    Read More

  • Mass. prisons start offering medication to treat addiction

    Newly passed legislation in Massachusetts is allowing prisons to take a step towards managing inmates health care by letting a third party company administer medication that helps treat opioid addiction. This step towards bridging the gap between punishment and help, also focuses on reducing racial inequalities and rates of addiction-caused deaths.

    Read More

  • Male aggressors in El Salvador get prison, and masculinity class

    Preventing sexual violence against women begins with men. In a country faced with a high incidence of gender-based violence, Masculinities for Peace, a non-governmental organization, is working to change the norms of El Salvador’s patriarchal culture. Going beyond punishment to encourage long-term behavioral change, the NGO provides rehabilitative courses on masculinity to convicted offenders.

    Read More

  • DAs Have This Blueprint for Rethinking Criminal Justice

    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.

    Read More

  • ‘‘You Got Your High School Diploma?''

    Five Keys Charter School was the first in the U.S. to open in a jail. Now, the school operates a bus, or traveling classroom, that parks in San Francisco's most under-resourced communities to offer residents, many offenders, a second or third or seventh flexible chance at earning a high school diploma. Journalist Elizabeth Weil writes, "The school was created with the understanding that incarceration is part of life for their students." The director of the Bard Prison Initiative adds that Five Keys uses the infrastructure of jail “to do positive good rather than just mitigate harm.”

    Read More

  • Native justice: How tribal values shape Judge Abby's court

    Across the country, tribal courts are seeking to break the cycle of recidivism and instead focus their efforts on rehabilitation and community. Judge Abinanti’s Yurok Tribal Court in California applies traditional Yurok values – responsibility, renewal, and restorative justice – in a way that builds compassion and addresses the deep trauma held by the people entering her court.

    Read More

  • As Alabama grapples with solitary confinement, other states offer blueprints for change

    The use of solitary confinement, or administrative segregation, in prisons is facing pushback across the country. In Alabama, a federal judge tasked the Department of Corrections to investigate how other states are reforming their use of solitary confinement – especially for those with mental health concerns. Recognizing that isolation often leads to increased bad behavior, states such as North Dakota and Colorado have placed stronger limitations on the use and deployment of administrative segregation.

    Read More

  • Inside the Battle to Close Rikers

    New York City plans to close the eight jail complex located on Rikers Island and replace it with a series of four smaller, community-integrated facilities in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. While the administration has faced community pushback, the city has gleaned insights about the process, including jail reform and design and how to receive feedback from the community. The goal is for this plan could lead to further decarceration, financial savings for the city, and facilities that incorporate job-training, substance abuse treatment, and counseling into its services.

    Read More