Raising babies behind bars

Philadelphia's criminal justice system is overwhelmed. New York is allowing judges to release low-risk defendants accused of non-violent crimes with the goal of saving money, reducing prison overcrowding, and cutting down on prison violence.

WhyLoiter is a growing movement that encourages women in India to spend time out in the street to challenge societal restrictions on women in public.

One-third to half of those killed by police are disabled, a recent report says. “Our problem isn’t with police,” one mental health advocate says, but both sides say officers need more training.

A pilot program in Connecticut for young offenders matches them with older inmates as mentors who help them confront their pasts and the underlying reasons they’re in prison. They learn new life skills and personal money management as part of a growing trend to use neuroscience to inform incarceration of young adults. The program is based on prisons in Germany and two other states are setting up similar pilots, but no data is yet available on whether the approach reduces recidivism.

Maine's only offender re-entry program for women in Windham is on its way to replicate the success of similar programs in Texas and Nevada. Federal justice research has shown that offenders that go through re-entry programs are less likely to reoffend and more likely to hold down a steady job. The Windham program works towards this through their education program that incorporates students from local colleges as well as utilizing a collection of best practices developed by similar programs.

The first Human Library emerged in 2000 in Copenhagen, and has since exploded in popularity to the point of operating chapters in more than 70 different countries. The concept is that readers should not judge a book by its cover, so in this library, actual people are the books available to read with titles like "Polyamorous", "Soldier (PTSD)", and "Refugee". The 30-minute "reading sessions" (face-to-face conversations) allow people to learn in a judgement-free zone and put a real person behind the story they are hearing.

A community organization in Indiana called Cultivate "rescues" food from local caterers, hospitals, casinos, and businesses to then be packaged into take-home meals for students at Woodland Elementary School that come from food-insecure homes. Cultivate is in its second year of existence, has three staff and 400 volunteers, and hopes to expand beyond their pilot program to reach all 21 schools in the district.

Clarke County School District in Georgia has 21 public schools that all offer free meals to students, regardless of their financial needs. This is facilitated through a federally-funded program, so even though poverty rates are high in the area, local residents are not footing the bill. While there are still some challenges implementing the program, in general it is received well and allows students to focus on their work and well-being instead of being distracted by hunger.

A gardening program for correctional facilities is introducing incarcerees to vocational gardening and landscaping, but also provides much more than a chance to get their hands dirty. Insight Garden Program provided a “safe space” for introspection and growth, reduced anxiety and depression, and then eventually helped formerly incarcerated people adjust to life after prison with services that include housing.

The Prisoner Correspondence Project connects LGBTQ2S+ people who are incarcerated in the United States and Canada with pen pals who are not incarcerated. The consistent communication helps combat isolation and improve mental health and rehabilitation outcomes.