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How One County Became a Lab for California's Prison Reform

Abbie Vansickle Manuel Villa

December 21, 2018 |

The Marshall Project |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

After San Joaquin County adopted a slew of criminal justice reforms, crime dropped by 20 percent, the lowest number in a decade. One of the things that was implemented were speciality courts aimed at decreasing arrest time and helping “former prisoners find jobs, housing and treatment for mental health and addiction problems.” Other measures include ending cash bail and racial bias training. “Crime has always been issue No. 1, but the narrative in this city is one about being a second chance city.”

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Why more states are giving juvenile offenders a second chance

John Colin Marston

December 10, 2018 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

Many states are rolling back the punitive measures against youth who committed crimes that began in the 1980s and 1990s. After the Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional, states are shifting their attention from incarceration to community based care and prison alternatives. Missouri, which has led the country in “community based alternatives” for youth, has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country.

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How Atlanta Is Turning Ex-Cons Into Urban Farmers

Max Blau

December 06, 2018 |

Politico |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Atlanta, Georgia

An entrepreneur and activist in Atlanta, GA runs an urban farm and employs former prisoners in an attempt to tackle Georgia's incarceration and recidivism problems. The program, called Gangstas to Growers, employs folks regardless of previous experience and aims to keep up with the rapidly gentrifying community.

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This course helps former prisoners learn the tech they missed in jail

Eillie Anzilotti

December 06, 2018 |

FastCompany |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Most prisoners don’t have access to computer, in order to bridge the digital divide the Prisoner Reentry Institute is offering a free course called Tech 101 to former prisoners who served long sentences. People are taught things like how to set up Google accounts, navigating Microsoft Office, and social media. “Once you learn the basics, you really start feeling good about yourself, especially when you learn enough that you can start helping others.”

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Boston's miracle: how America stopped young men killing each other

Sandra Johansson

December 06, 2018 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

An initiative that aims to keep troubled former criminals from continuing down the same path is technically called group violence intervention, but most know it as the Boston miracle. Piloted in the 90s, this style of intervention has shown so much success in reducing shooting rates that it has began scaling to European countries.

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One Of America's Poorest Cities Has A Radical Plan To Remake Itself

Jordan Heller

November 27, 2018 |

The Huffington Post |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

Evergreen Cooperative in Cleveland is on a path to make wealth and business ownership more accessible. They operate several cooperative businesses: a laundry and a solar panel firm among them, all of which choose to welcome most applicants for employee-ownership, regardless of income or wealth or if they have spent time in prison. The model hopes to grow through the city with the rise of patient capital and growing support of the cooperative movement.

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John Pace and His Friends Expected to Die in Prison

Katie Rose Quandt

November 16, 2018 |

The Nation (New York) |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Once deemed youthful “superpredators” condemned to spend their entire adult lives in prison, the peer counselors in Philadelphia’s Life After Life support group help other formerly incarcerated people transition back to freedom. Of the more than 100 former “juvenile lifers” who returned to Philadelphia after the Supreme Court deemed them eligible for a second chance, none has been convicted of a new crime or serious parole violation – a key metric that encourages Pennsylvania to continue whittling down its record-high population of juvenile-life-without-parole inmates.

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‘People helping people': North Dakota's addiction fix

Andrew Graham

November 15, 2018 |

WyoFile |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Devils Lake, North Dakota

In rural North Dakota where clinical treatment centers are hard to find, a program called Free Through Recovery "seeks to drive down North Dakota’s prison rates by creating networks of sobriety and support around people on probation and parole." Although local law enforcement claims the program is not an alternative to incarceration, in the short time it has been in operation, it has served over 550 people with many participants securing both housing and work opportunities.

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Spreading the Good News of Worker-Owned Businesses in D.C.

Sandra Larson

November 02, 2018 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

When Juan Reid had a hard time finding a job after his release from prison, he finally founded a worker cooperative called Tightshift Laboring Cooperative. He wanted to create sustainable employment opportunities for himself and others coming out of prison. This is part of a larger trend of worker cooperatives in the Washington, D.C. area. The DC Employee Ownership Initiative and Coop DC are two groups helping businesses like Tightshift and others.

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A small state with big ideas on rehabilitating female prisoners

Kari Lydersen Sydney Boles

October 14, 2018 |

Chicago Reporter |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Vermont

Across the United States, women statistically receive a higher rate of disciplinary tickets for minor infractions compared to their male counterparts. In Vermont, however, where corrections falls under the Department of Human Services, employees of the correctional facilities are trained in gender-informed practices to better suit their responses to women and men offenders.

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