This rural N.C. farm helps formerly incarcerated women build back their lives, careers

Assertive community treatment teams working through outreach-centered programs in Maricopa County have become an industry standard for treating those with persistent and severe mental illnesses who have recently been incarcerated. They provide a long-term approach, aiming to halt a cycle of incarceration and hospitalization by focusing on underlying issues such as what caused the police interaction and incarceration.

Flip the Script is a program utilized on college campuses that trains women to prevent sexual assault. The program educates young women on setting their own personal boundaries, recognizing the early signs of a sexual assault, and training them to respond effectively to a dangerous situation. The program encompasses physical and verbal training and has proven so effective that Evidence-Based Programs rated it as the only program in violence prevention to date that earns a Top Tier score.

Freed from prison after serving at least 15 years, often much longer, for crimes committed when they were teens, a group of men holds twice-monthly Zoom meetings to lend structure and peer support to their lives during a time when COVID-19 restrictions foreclose other face-to-face meetings. Under Washington, D.C.’s Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act, 42 men have been released. At least 22 of them meet regularly to share leads on possible jobs, discuss their frustrations, and encourage each other to stay focused on the positive.

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.

Qrate provides menstruation workshops at schools to teach young people about their bodies, good menstruation hygiene, and - importantly - to decrease the stigma, shame, and embarrassment associated with periods. The group presents to both girls and boys in order to address the health of non-binary, transgender, and intersex people who may menstruate, and to engage boys in fighting the stigma. In addition to providing the necessary products, the workshops use fun, child-friendly, lessons. The interactive activities and exercises have been more impactful than simply having someone lecture to students.

New Hampshire's Rockinham County gives some people with extensive drug and criminal histories an offramp from the criminal legal system, in the form of housing at Cross Roads House and a drug court to emphasize treatment over punishment. But, while other cities in the state meet such needs with multiple programs, the second-most populous county in the state has a severe shortage of supportive housing and services. Such services can make the difference between prison and success, and even between life and death in a place with high rates of overdose deaths.

Better Reproductive Health, Better Communities Project is a partnership between nonprofits and medical providers working to increase awareness about unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions, while also ensuring women have better access to high-quality post-abortion care. The project has focused on providing family planning and emergency contraception to women in low-income urban areas. Volunteer peer educators and social media has helped reach over 4,000 women, spreading information about sexual and reproductive health services and connecting women to quality abortion care.

The Returning Citizen Stimulus program provides temporary cash assistance to people recently released from prison, who face steep barriers to finding jobs and stable housing when transitioning out of incarceration. The payments started in 2020 and have helped more than 10,000 former inmates get on their feet, with 42 percent of recipients finding employment within five months of their release.

The Golden Girls shelter has been providing meals, medical aid, and other support services for women with children who are experiencing homelessness. Since the Golden Girls living space opened, the program has served a total of 50 women ranging in age from the early 50s to late 70s. While at the shelter, staff members help them complete paperwork so they can receive Social Security payments, pensions, or alimony, and apply for affordable housing. They’re also provided medical care, counseling, and assistance finding jobs.

A group of female entrepreneurs created a market for other enterprising women who can’t afford to pay standard shop and licensing fees to access a safe place to sell their wares. The group connects women to train them in entrepreneurship, provide networking opportunities and inform people about the market and upcoming events via social media to drive more customers to the marketplace.