The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA, 2023) includes two provisions impacting the availability of certain state plan services for incarcerated youth in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The CAA, 2023 also includes another provision that modifies CHIP eligibility requirements for children who become incarcerated. All of these provisions are effective January 1, 2025.
This issue brief series explores lessons from the evaluation of the Employment and Training Administration’s Linking to Employment Activities Prerelease (LEAP) grants, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Chief Evaluation Office. LEAP pilots the creation of jail-based American Job Centers (AJCs) to support the successful reentry of participants and directly link them to community-based AJCs upon release. The evaluation looks at approaches to providing services before and after incarceration across 20 sites based on site visits, phone interviews, focus groups, and grantee performance reports.
Approximately one in 107 adults in the United States is incarcerated in some type of correctional institution. Many correctional institutions have adopted a philosophy of “restorative justice” to not only manage inmates while incarcerated, but also provide them with the opportunity to develop skills needed to succeed once they are released. The recent trend of establishing companion animal programs is consistent with this philosophy. This Article focuses on the legal and ethical issues involved with keeping companion animals in this very specific institutional environment. First, the Article analyzes various types of programs that correctional institutions have established and assesses common benefits of and challenges for the programs. Second, it considers programs that may allow for inmates to have their “own” animals in a facility, including the question of whether service or assistance animals must be accommodated. Third, the Article evaluates the risks to humans involved with these programs and makes recommendations to ensure the safety of the participants to reduce the liability to the institutions and organizations involved. Fourth, it considers the ethical implications of having companion animals in these environments – focusing on whether it is an appropriate placement for companion animals and providing guidance for those who wish to consider implementing or supporting such programs.
CSG Justice Center staff spoke with four Second Chance Act (SCA) Innovations in Reentry Initiative grantees—New York City’s Harlem Reentry Court; the Executive Office of the Governor of Delaware’s Individual Assessment, Discharge, and Planning Team (I-ADAPT) Program; the Indianapolis, Indiana, Department of Public Safety Second Chance Act Offender Reentry Project; and the Alameda County, California, Transition Day Reporting Center (TDRC) Demonstration—about their experiences fostering effective partnerships between criminal justice practitioners and the researchers evaluating their programs. These programs span the country and the justice system, serving clients within courts, prisons, jails, and in the community.
RAND Corporation and the University of Denver (DU) analyzed insights from a working group of experts with practical expertise in and knowledge of mortality trends.
Correctional facilities are responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who are detained while awaiting trial or who have been convicted of a crime and sentenced to a term of imprisonment. The true scope of this mission is much broader than simply protecting the public from those accused or convicted of criminal acts by keeping these individuals behind bars. These facilities also have a constitutional obligation to provide for the health and well-being of those under their charge. Administrators are responsible for not only developing and implementing strategies to prevent violence among the inmate population and inmate self-harm, but also for providing general health care through medical and mental health services.
Project SAFE is Safe Alternatives Focused on Engagement. It is aimed at demonstrating how a multi-discipline team (MDT), with various stakeholders, roles and responsibilities can be an active part of the problem solving that contributes towards both jail and community safety.
The National Institute of Corrections encourages transformational leadership, which is based on mentorship and accessibility
By understanding the emotions of others and responding intelligently and rationally, we are better equipped to deescalate most situations.
“Inside Out” by Keri Blakinger is a partnership between NBC News and The Marshall Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the U.S. criminal justice system. The column draws on Blakinger’s unique perspective as an investigative journalist and formerly incarcerated person.