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Books behind bars: Pilot Pell Grant program helps inmates look toward the future

Kelan Lyons

January 24, 2020 |

The Connecticut Mirror |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Suffield, Connecticut

At Connecticut’s MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, people experiencing incarceration have the opportunity to participate in postsecondary classes, even completing a certificate or degree. They’re able to do this because of the Second Chance Pell pilot program, started in 2015, which offers financial aid for inmates to access education. With bipartisan support, there’s hope that the pilot program will grow, as current research shows how the programming reduces recidivism and saves tax dollars.

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In Reversal, Counties and States Help Inmates Keep Medicaid

Max Blau

January 08, 2020 |

Stateline |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

If incarcerated, low-income individuals who are reliant on Medicaid typically lose access to their benefits which accelerates the difficulty of reentry. To help close the gap, the National Association of Counties and the National Sheriffs’ Association have joined together to implement stopgap measures to help inmates either retain their benefits or have them only suspended instead of terminated.

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Marketing Psychiatric Drugs to Jailers and Judges

Max Blau

December 31, 2019 |

The Atlantic |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington

Drug companies that market long-lasting psychiatric drugs have found new clientele in courtrooms and prisons, as a means to treat mental health issues for those that have been incarcerated. Although the practice of targeting judges and prison officials is controversial, several jails have attested that having free samples of the drugs has led to positive outcomes such as reducing barriers for inmates to receive medication and decreasing the likelihood of reoffending.

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‘They only cut off half my left foot.' What happens when inmate care goes wrong in Georgia?

Max Blau

December 13, 2019 |

The Telegraph |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

Without federal oversight, prisons are left to their own devices to determine what sort of health care they want to provide. That, combined with limited funding and resources, often leads to low-cost privatized health care that doesn’t necessarily have safeguards or patient-centered interests. While an increasingly complex issue, the response of privatized health care for inmates requires reform, but won’t get there unless the sheriffs that oversee these prisons embrace them.

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For sheriffs, healthcare for inmates can be a burden. For one doctor, it has been the opportunity of a lifetime.

Max Blau

December 12, 2019 |

Atlanta Magazine |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

As prison populations have increased dramatically since the 1980s, prisons have outsourced inmate health care to private companies, like CorrectHealth, to save money. While it is the most incentivizing when it comes to cost, this is only possible because private companies have to have the lowest bid – meaning they skimp on spending for inmates in the long run. The result has shown to be not just a decrease in the health care services offered to inmates, but more litigation for companies providing allegedly inadequate care.

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Creative Freedom

Gwynne Watkins

November 18, 2019 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

New York-based nonprofit, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), runs theater programs for individuals experiencing incarceration as a way of improving mental health and reducing recidivism. While the United States’ criminal justice system has been focused on punitive measures, there’s been a trend toward rehabilitation across the country in recent years. Participants in RTA have shown a rate of recidivism of just 5% – compared to a 60% national average – but funding and sustainability remain a consistent hurdle.

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Pennsylvania will no longer hold death-row prisoners in endless solitary confinement

Samantha Melamed

November 18, 2019 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

Following an ACLU-led civil-rights lawsuit, the Pennsylvania Department of Correction has implemented huge changes to the treatment of death row inmates. In prisons across the state, individuals who have been sentenced to death no longer have to undergo strip searches, are allowed to have contact visitations with family and friends, can apply for prison employment, and socialize with others in their unit.

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On One Issue, Americans Are United. Too Many Are Behind Bars.

Tina Rosenberg

October 30, 2019 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

In such a divided country, many groups from lawmakers to advocacy groups are finding rare bipartisan cooperation around the issue of criminal justice reform. Two congressional representatives, one Republican and one Democrat, have found common ground, as well as the Justice Action Network, which forms bipartisan coalitions, one of which was instrumental in passing the First Step Act.

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A College Education in Prison Opens Unexpected Path to Freedom

Vanessa Rancaño

September 21, 2019 |

CapRadio |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Long Beach, California

California is leading the nation in prison education. “There are now in-person community college classes in all but one prison in the state, enrolling some 4,000 students." Nationally, 4 percent of higher ed institutions teach for-credit classes in prisons. “It's been the most amazing experience of my entire life, as either a free man or as an incarcerated human being." Evidence shows that providing people in prison with education reduces recidivism rates. “A major study by the RAND Corporation found taking classes in prison cuts the chances of getting locked up again by 43%.”

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This East Tenn. Program Aims to Stop NAS by Reaching Women Behind Bars

Jess Mador

September 17, 2019 |

100 Days in Appalachia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tennessee

In Tennessee, health officials are fighting against the the opioid epidemic by educating opioid-affected pregnant women about neonatal abstinence syndrome. Although several approaches have been implemented, the Voluntary Reversible Long Acting Contraceptive Jail Initiative specifically provides resources to incarcerated women since studies show "women serving time in jails face a high risk of giving birth to a baby with NAS."

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