17 States and 29 Facilities Participate
in National Prison Visiting Week
|
|
From left: Clint Lacey, director of Youth Rehabilitative Services, Washington, DC; Valerie Jarrett, special adviser to President Obama; and Nick Turner, president of Vera Institute of Justice. Taken at the New Beginnings Youth Development Center in Maryland.
|
|
Prisons and jails in 17 states around the country opened their doors last week as part of Vera's National Prison Visiting Week. Our nation's prisons and jails are as much a part of our communities as our schools and courts, yet they are among the least visible institutions in our society today. To model transparency and raise awareness to the issue of criminal justice reform, this initiative brought local community members—including business leaders, mayors, teachers, physicians, faith leaders, celebrities, and more—to 29 local, state, and federal facilities. The White House also lent support, with Valerie Jarrett, special advisor to President Obama, visiting a youth facility in Maryland with Nick Turner, and Denis McDonough, White House Chief of Staff, joining a tour of the Washington, DC jail. Prison Visiting Week is a component of Vera's Reimagining Prison initiative, which aims to reexamine the purpose and goals of incarceration, and the values that underlie its use. Watch our video about why we must reimagine prison, follow Prison Visiting Week with the hashtag #PVW2016, and check out Vera's new instagram profile to see photos from the tours, plus other Vera news.
|
|
Opening Doors to Public Housing
|
|
Vera—in collaboration with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Trinity Church Wall Street—convened public housing authorities, law enforcement leaders, government officials, practitioners, and researchers last week to discuss innovative reentry practices in public housing. Public housing bans for formerly incarcerated people can create barriers to successful reentry, by preventing them from reuniting with family members living in public housing. Vera is currently working with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) on its Family Reentry Pilot Program, and released an evaluation of the program in conjunction with the event. The evaluation provided evidence of the positive effects stable housing can have on reentry. Watch full event video.
|
|
Confronting Race and Justice in the
Age of Mass Incarceration
|
|
13TH—a documentary by Academy Award-winner Ava DuVernay that was released last month and is now available on Netflix—explores how America’s system of mass incarceration can be traced to an exception in the 13th Amendment’s ban on slavery. Vera President Nick Turner and Harvard Professor of History, Race, and Public Policy Khalil Gibran Muhammad (both interviewed in the film) discussed the film and race in the criminal justice system with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Learn about Vera's work to reduce racial disparity in the justice system and end mass incarceration.
|
|
Common Justice Recognized for Work
in Brooklyn
|
|
Vera’s Common Justice was named a finalist for the Brooklyn Community Foundation’s 2016 Spark Prize. The award provides recognition and support to organizations with a strong track record of addressing critical challenges and opportunities in Brooklyn. Common Justice, a Vera demonstration project, is the first alternative-to-incarceration and victim service program in the United States that focuses on violent felonies in the adult courts. The program builds practical strategies to hold people accountable for harm, break cycles of violence, and secure safety, healing, and justice for survivors and their communities.
|
|
Vera welcomed two new staff members to its Policing Program: Dr. Rebecca Neusteter, left, is Vera’s first director of policing, and former Police Chief Hassan Aden, center, is a senior advisor. Rebecca previously served as the director of research, policy, and planning with the NYPD, where she led the department’s efforts to redesign the police officer performance evaluation system. Hassan is the former chief of the Greenville (NC) Police Department. Prior to joining Vera, he was the director of research and programs with the International Association of Chief of Police.
Anna Hall, right, is the former executive producer of the American Justice Summit with partners Tina Brown Media, the Ford Foundation, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Vice News, and The Marshall Project. Anna will curate, create, and disseminate new content to deepen engagement with stakeholders in justice reform, as well as reach new audiences.
|
|
Stats-n-Action:
Quantitative Perspectives and Strategies for Participatory Action Research
|
|
|
Friday, December 9
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Vera Institute of Justice
Participatory action research (PAR) reflects a commitment to expanding notions of expertise, democratic participation, and social action more than a commitment to any single research method. However, PAR is more often associated with qualitative rather than quantitative methodologies. Inspired by a critical framing of statistics, this presentation will discuss perspectives and strategies useful to participatory action researchers employing quantitative methods.
Brett G. Stoudt, PhD is an assistant professor in the Psychology Department with a joint appointment in the Gender Studies Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice as well as the Psychology and Social Welfare Doctoral Programs at the Graduate Center. He has worked on numerous participatory action research projects with community groups, lawyers, and policymakers nationally and internationally. Learn more and register.
|
|
by Nicholas Turner
by Kathleen Culhane
by Jannette Brickman
by Krista Larson
by Danielle Sered
by Fred Patrick
|
|
|
|
