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Unique Housing Project Eases the Path to Re-Entry for Single Parents

Jared Brey

December 15, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, King County, Washington

Single parents readjusting to life after incarceration face numerous hurdles to re-entering society. A housing program in Seattle now provides access to transitional housing alongside services that help parents reconnect with their children, access to mental health care, and work toward permanent housing. Passage Point’s wraparound services are an effective and unique resource for a population that is commonly blocked from accessing public housing.

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A secret settlement hid an officer's misconduct. Outside Maine, it would have been different.

Erin Rhoda

December 09, 2020 |

Bangor Daily News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Colorado

A Colorado law enacted in 2016 requires law enforcement officers to disclose their past disciplinary records when seeking a new job at a different agency. By making such disclosures automatic, the law standardizes hiring practices statewide, protects past employers from liability for making the disclosures, and most importantly prevents rogue officers from hopping from one job to the next undetected. Maine has no such requirement., and so some of its agencies might unknowingly hire an officer with a record of misconduct.

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Newly Formed KC Bail-Out Group Successful After Its First Year in Action

Jazzlyn Johnson

December 08, 2020 |

The Community Voice |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

In its first year, Operation Liberation helped more than 30 people post bail to be released from the Jackson County Detention Center. The operation focuses on bailing Black people out of jail when their lack of money keeps them jailed on low-level charges. Kansas City's population is about one-quarter Black, but its jail skews 58% Black. Operation Liberation provides social supports to people once they are released from pretrial detention, helping with everything from housing to transportation. Its first year's work was funded by more than $75,000 in donations.

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A Philly jobs program lost six to a year of violence. Can it still help young people thrive?

Samantha Melamed

December 02, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PowerCorpsPHL and Mural Arts' Guild have notched impressive results in job placements of young people with criminal records. The programs' employment training, paid apprenticeships, and art therapy classes have all been disrupted by 2020's pandemic, social unrest, and street violence. Private grants have largely made up for budget cuts from the city of Philadelphia. But the lack of face to face training and counseling has been disruptive. Both programs and their trainees are persevering despite longer odds, with workarounds that keep the programs afloat in difficult times.

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How the Criminal Justice System Fails People With Mental Illness

Jordan Smith

November 26, 2020 |

The Intercept |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tyler, Texas

Crisis-intervention and de-escalation trainings for police were meant to reform the criminal justice system's handling of people suffering from mental illness. But a lack of rigorous standards in the training and use of these approaches means that they routinely fail as a means of diverting people from arrest and incarceration toward treatment. That failure, combined with a lack of adequate mental-health-care resources, maintains jails' and prisons' role as the nation's de facto mental health care hospitals, even though they lack the will and the means to help people heal.

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Alternative sentencing program offers resources for recovery rather than jail time

Katie Ellington

November 23, 2020 |

Richland Source |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Mansfield, Ohio

The Richland County Community Alternative Center provides court-ordered drug and alcohol treatment in lieu of jail for people facing criminal charges related to their addiction. In 60-, 90-, or 120-day treatment terms, patients from across Ohio receive addiction counseling, therapy, work training, and other skills classes. Case managers help prepare people for re-entry when their sentence has been served. The center is run by the courts, which pay for treatment services, which makes it unusual.

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From prison to star employee

Jo Mathys

November 17, 2020 |

BBC |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Frustrated by a tight labor market, two locally owned Grand Rapids employers discovered the virtues – economic, not just moral – of hiring formerly incarcerated people, whose gratitude for an opportunity translated into excellent performance and less risk of adding to rapid turnover. The employers helped guarantee success by paying for support services that made post-prison transitions easier. The employers then talked hundreds of other local employers into doing the same. Besides providing a business advantage, the program changes lives and is evidently contributing to much lower rates of recidivism.

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Where the COVID-19 Pandemic Might Finally Ignite Change in the Bail Bonds System

Renata Sago

November 16, 2020 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Miami, Florida

The spread of COVID-19 in jails prompted many releases from custody and a surge in donations to bail funds that pay for people's release. But those fixes have done little to address the underlying challenges of detaining millions of people before trial, either because they cannot afford cash bail or because risk-assessment tools deem them a threat to public safety or unlikely to return to court. In two South Florida jails, the struggles over containing the virus, providing due process to criminal defendants, and ensuring public safety have brought the debate into sharper focus.

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Manhattan Mental Health Court offers lifeline to those with serious mental illness — but they have to get in

Chelsia Rose Marcius

November 14, 2020 |

New York Daily News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Manhattan Mental Health Court was created in 2011 to divert felony criminal cases to treatment, and away from prison, for people in need of mental health treatment. But few people with serious mental illness ever benefit from it. Too few defense lawyers know to request the intervention or do it correctly. Prosecutors act as gatekeepers in deciding who gets the help, and many do not see its value. And, once cases are admitted to the court, they can sometimes take years to be resolved. Covid restrictions on the courts have only aggravated these problems.

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Biden embraces drug courts, but do they actually work?

Dan Adams

November 02, 2020 |

The Boston Globe |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Drug courts can help some people with serious drug problems who face serious criminal charges, if such court programs are run carefully, based on evidence-based approaches. But, too often, such courts – which push criminal defendants into treatment as an alternative to incarceration – can do more harm than good. The proof of drug courts' effectiveness is mixed, and fairly thin. Thousands of such courts exist, based on widespread political support for an approach seen as less punitive. But many critics say the courts' track record overall is weak and their approach can be just another form of punishment.

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