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People leaving prison in Michigan still face hurdles to getting an ID

Angie Jackson

May 11, 2021 |

Detroit Free Press |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Michigan prisons and the state's secretary of state teamed up to provide people leaving prison on parole with the one thing they often lack: valid personal identification papers. Without a Social Security card or state ID, people struggle to get hired, rent housing, or open a bank account. In the program's first six months, more than 1,200 people got IDs. That's only a third of those eligible. Private groups have taken up some of the slack. The state says it should provide get the service fully up to speed by late 2021.

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As Formerly Incarcerated People Return to Their Communities in W.Va., This Network of 'Resource Brokers' Is There to Guide Them

Amanda Page

May 11, 2021 |

100 Days in Appalachia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, West Virginia

The West Virginia Council of Churches formed a network of community reentry councils to help people leaving prison line up basic necessities, from housing to employment. The councils use their members' community connections as a bridge between prison officials, who won't release people if they lack plans for a place to live, and returning citizens, whose housing, counseling, and employment needs can determine the difference between success and another stint in prison on a technical parole violation. Grants from two foundations helped the Council of Churches expand its network during the pandemic.

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Bringing a Veterans Treatment Court to Sedgwick County

Carly Willis

May 10, 2021 |

KSNW-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Wichita, Kansas

Kansas' only veterans treatment court started small, but it has proved the concept to Sedgwick County officials who want to copy its success. Veterans courts provide treatment in lieu of conviction and punishment for veterans charged generally with non-violent, less-serious offenses. The costs are much lower than for incarceration, with greater benefits to the defendants. National statistics show a 14% recidivism rate, much lower than for the criminal justice system overall. In Johnson County, 41 veterans have gone through the 18-month program; none have reoffended.

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Failure to Thrive: NYC's $100 Million ‘Diversion Centers' for Mentally Ill Sit Empty or Barely Used

Greg B. Smith Reuven Blau

May 09, 2021 |

The City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Despite committing hundreds of millions of dollars to programs that make New York City's emergency response to mental health crises less punitive, a pattern of over-promising and under-delivering, plus pandemic snarls, kept the programs from getting off to an effective start. Two "diversion centers" where police could bring people in crisis, as alternatives to jail or hospital emergency rooms, either sit empty or have served only a tiny number of people. A program to send counselors with police on calls never got off the ground. In its place is a non-policing team that is having trouble recruiting EMTs.

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Can police be taught to stop their own violence?

Douglas Starr

May 06, 2021 |

The Boston Globe |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

When Minneapolis police officers were videotaped standing by or trying ineffectively to intervene in George Floyd's murder by a fellow officer, horrified police departments nationwide rushed to embrace a peer intervention program called ABLE (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement). ABLE is based on a five-year-old program that has helped transform the culture of New Orleans' once-troubled police department, cutting shootings, taser uses, and citizen complaints. Officers are taught how to overcome rank and cultural inhibitors with actions and language that stop brutality by their colleagues.

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Study Shows Gun Violence Program Working

Vicki Gonzalez

May 06, 2021 |

Capital Public Radio (Sacramento) |

Radio Talk Show |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Sacramento, California

Advance Peace mentors young people at risk of committing or suffering gun violence, guiding them through a "life map" process to exit street life and set goals for a safer, healthier future. The program, which started in Richmond and has expanded to other cities in California and beyond, contributed to a 22% decrease in gun homicides and assaults in an 18-month period. The decrease was 39% in the first targeted neighborhood. Mentoring includes linking youth to cognitive behavioral therapy, jobs, and field trips to expand their experiences. When they meet certain goals, they get paid a "life map allowance."

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Drug treatment program is helping local inmates overcome addiction

Megan Sanctorum

May 06, 2021 |

WRTV-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Columbus, Indiana

The Bartholomew County Jail's drug treatment program started in January 2020 with a rigorous application process, followed by about 400 hours of group and individual therapy for incarcarcerated people with drug abuse problems. The therapy attempts to unlock the reasons why each person's previous attempts to get healthy have failed. All but five of the 49 graduates so far have stayed out of jail and stayed in touch with the program, which helps them after their release with housing and job searches.

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Addiction treatment drug buprenorphine easier to prescribe under Biden

Dave Miller Allison Frost

May 04, 2021 |

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) |

Radio Talk Show |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Bupreneophine (also known as Suboxone) is a highly effective medication to treat opioid use disorder and addiction. It is life-saving, both in reducing the risk of fatal overdoses and helping people function better as they get treatment for their disorder. But prescribing and dispensing it is in many ways more highly regulated than the prescribing and dispensing of opioids themselves. A researcher who surveyed pharmacies found that many refuse to dispense the medication out of fear of regulatory sanctions or because of misplaced moral objections to medication-assisted treatment.

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National bail fund to expand in the Deep South

Aaron Morrison

May 04, 2021 |

Associated Press |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Since 2018, The Bail Project has turned $41 million in donated money into cash bail to free more than 15,500 people in dozens of cities from pretrial detention. The project grew out of the work of Bronx Defenders, which saw over a decade the people it bailed out nearly all showed up for court dates and most did not get into new trouble while out of jail. Now the Bail Project is expanding with new offices in four Southern states, a reflection of the region's high incarceration rates and racial disparities. In the campaign to end cash bail as a penalty for poverty, bail funds serve as a stopgap.

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Outreach officers treat homelessness as a symptom, not a crime

Stephanie Casanova

May 01, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team operates on the premise that even though many want to see police excluded from any role in dealing with homelessness, residents still call 911 and demand a police response. So the team, working with the city's homeless services counselors, can usually turn such contacts into an offer of help. Its officers are trained more and have more time than patrol officers to talk to people and determine their needs. Tucson's unhoused population surged in 2020, and police helped hundreds get housed or get other services without resorting to arrests and jail.

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