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Formerly Incarcerated People in West Virginia Find Community Support

Amanda Page

May 24, 2021 |

Yes! Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, West Virginia

Community reentry councils are helping formerly incarcerated people access the support they need to get back on their feet. The councils are a network of agencies and organizations that can aid in securing housing, employment, clothes, transportation, and even help with navigating food stamps and Medicaid paperwork. The collaborative reduces recidivism rates by giving formerly incarcerated people the tools and services they need to thrive.

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Life after prison: Communities heal by helping former inmates succeed

Sean McDonnell

May 13, 2021 |

Akron Beacon Journal |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Akron, Ohio

People returning home to Akron from prison step into a community that needs healing, work that the formerly incarcerated can help with because of the lessons they can impart to younger people. But first they need their own healing. South Street Ministries and Truly Reaching You, two nonprofits run by formerly incarcerated men, help people in re-entry clear the barriers to housing and jobs that can doom them to returning to prison. They also provide peer counseling and mental health care.

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

Angie Jackson

May 11, 2021 |

Detroit Free Press |

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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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Huge success for Mother's Day bailout, as annual Philly effort blows past fundraising goal

Michaela Winberg

May 06, 2021 |

Billy Penn |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund freed more than 400 people from jail in 2020, thanks to $3 million donated amid the COVID-19 crisis and racial justice protests. Organizers of the Black Mama's Day Bailout, an annual targeted campaign that gave rise to the community bail fund five years ago, expected donor fatigue this year might limit their work. But they exceeded the 2020 Mother's Day campaign, freeing 25 women, in part from sales of art made by formerly incarcerated women in a partnership with an arts co-op. Cash bail penalizes people too poor to afford to remain free before trial.

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Part 2: “There is no Champion” — Granite State News Collaborative

Jordyn Haime

April 22, 2021 |

Granite State News Collaborative |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, North Conway, New Hampshire

White Mountain Restorative Justice offers juvenile and adult court diversion and victim-offender mediation programs. WMRJ aims to guide first-time low-level offenders through restorative justice processes to hold offenders accountable, repair the harm caused by crime, and prevent reoffences.

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Would You Dine in This Prison?

Alasdair Lane

April 20, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, London

The Clink operates in four British prisons, teaching haute-cuisine cooking skills and then helping its formerly incarcerated trainees establish productive lives once they're released. The training inside prison features restaurants that cater to the public, plus teaching the skills needed to find and keep a job on the outside. When graduates of the program showed the same inclination to commit more crimes as other formerly incarcerated people, the program provided more reentry supports that have contributed to much lower rates of re-offending. The program plans to expand to 70 more prisons in the UK.

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A NYC Reentry Program Offers Formerly Incarcerated People Healing, Dignity Through Meals

Lela Nargi

April 19, 2021 |

Civil Eats |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Reentry programs for people recently released from prison rarely focus on nutrition, must less provide cooking demonstrations. But the Fortune Society hosts 200 formerly incarcerated people at a weekly demo as part of a program that provides farm-sourced, fresh, quality food in a daily hot meal plus nutrition lessons for the people it serves. The program recognizes that the terrible food people get served inside prison forms an unhealthy habit that can continue afterward. The lessons open people to new food experiences that are both healthy and a form of community-building.

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Meet the scientists building a prison-to-STEM pipeline

Christina Couch

April 19, 2021 |

PBS NOVA |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The movement to promote science education and careers among people who are currently or formerly incarcerated is making slow but real progress. Programs like the National Science Foundation's STEM Opportunities in Prison Settings, and the restoration of Pell Grants in prisons, provide institutional support. But progress can be seen in smaller programs like the Prison Mathematics Project, begun by an incarcerated math whiz whose Italian mathematician mentor inspired him to overcome barriers to education. Another sign of progress: More states are "banning the box" in college applications.

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Newark-based violence prevention group seeks to bridge gap between police, social services

Rebecca Panico

March 28, 2021 |

NJ Advance Media |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

Newark's Community Street Team hires and trains formerly incarcerated people and people who have been victims of violence to mediate disputes before they turn violent. Street outreach interventions have been associated with large declines in homicides and assaults, although the programs can overlap with others seeking the same goal. Newark's team will now serve as the hub for a national effort, the Community Based Public Safety Association, to professionalize such work nationwide. The group will seek more public funding and try to raise the visibility of such policing alternatives.

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