Restorative Justice and Second Chances
From WikiDemocracy
25 Reentry Wins in 2025: How States Are Removing Barriers to Reentry Success
| Reentry 2030 | Reentry 2030 | January 2026
This article highlights state-level improvements in reentry policy, including better access to identification, jobs, housing, health care, and cross-agency support. It is useful for showing how second-chance reform can become measurable public policy rather than just a symbolic promise.
Learning Life All Over Again: Reentry After Long-Term Imprisonment
| Kristen M. Budd and Sabrina C. Pearce | The Sentencing Project | April 22, 2026
This report focuses on people released after very long prison terms and the challenges they face rebuilding daily life. It highlights technology gaps, emotional adjustment, family reconnection, housing, employment, and the need for reentry support that continues beyond the first days home.
Like a Civic Death: CT Men Face Lasting Financial Hardships After Incarceration
| Alex Putterman | CT Insider | June 17, 2026
This article reports on research showing severe economic, health, food-security, and housing struggles among formerly incarcerated men in Connecticut. It frames reentry as a long-term public-health and community-stability issue, not simply an individual adjustment problem.
Supporting the Re-Integration of Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Through Entrepreneurship
This report examines entrepreneurship as a possible pathway for formerly incarcerated people who face discrimination in traditional hiring. It emphasizes that business ownership can help some people rebuild independence, but only when paired with training, mentoring, financing, and realistic support.
The System Will Choose Security Over Humanity Every Time
This paper examines digital technology in prisons and the tension between security, privacy, education, and reentry preparation. It argues that tablets, kiosks, and prison communication systems can either support learning and family connection or deepen surveillance and exclusion.
How to Design an Intervention to Keep Young People Out of the Juvenile Justice System in Your Community
| Libby Robin | Urban Institute | February 2026
This guide explains how communities can create youth diversion programs that keep young people out of formal court processing. It highlights restorative practices, mentoring, family support, community accountability, and service referrals as alternatives to punishment-first juvenile justice.
Rhode Island’s Juvenile Hearing Boards: An Overview, Case Studies, and Recommendations
| Urban Institute | Urban Institute | February 2026
This report examines Rhode Island’s juvenile hearing boards, which divert many youth from deeper justice-system involvement. It shows how local boards can use restorative principles, family participation, accountability, and service connections to help young people repair harm.
Idaho’s Youth Assessment Centers: An Overview, Case Studies, and Key Takeaways
| Brittany B. Boppre and others | Urban Institute | February 2026
This report profiles Idaho’s youth assessment centers as a model for early intervention. The centers connect young people and families to support before formal justice involvement deepens, making them a practical example of prevention and diversion.
BJA FY25 Second Chance Act Improving Reentry Education and Employment Outcomes
| Bureau of Justice Assistance | Office of Justice Programs | May 11, 2026
This federal notice supports education, vocational training, workforce development, and career pathways for people leaving prison and jail. It shows continued investment in programs that connect reentry to employability and long-term stability.
OJJDP FY 2025 Second Chance Act Youth Reentry Program
This program supports reentry services for youth returning from juvenile placement. It emphasizes education, family support, behavioral health, housing stability, and community reintegration for young people who need help rebuilding their lives.
More Than 1,300 Incarcerated Individuals Achieve Educational Milestones During 2024–2025 School Year
| Massachusetts Department of Correction | Commonwealth of Massachusetts | September 10, 2025
This article reports on incarcerated students in Massachusetts earning educational credentials and completing academic milestones. It highlights education as a practical rehabilitation tool that can build confidence, skills, and readiness for reentry.
Senate Passes Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2025
| CSG Justice Center | Council of State Governments Justice Center | October 10, 2025
This article reports on Senate passage of legislation to continue Second Chance Act programs. It connects federal reentry funding to public safety, lower recidivism, stronger families, and better outcomes for people coming home.
Beyond Reoffending and Rearrest
| N. Chlebuch and others | Justice Quarterly | 2025
This study argues that youth diversion should be evaluated with broader measures than rearrest alone. It supports a more holistic view of second chances that includes youth development, fairness, community connection, and reduced harm.
Assessing Restorative Justice Processes and Values in a Juvenile Justice Diversion Program
| S. Keith | Taylor & Francis | 2025
This case study examines Community Connections, a juvenile diversion program in Tallahassee, Florida. It is useful for understanding how restorative justice values are translated into real program design and youth accountability.
The Reentry Experiences of Higher Education in Prison Program Participants
| A. Cantora | The Prison Journal | 2025
This study explores how people who took part in higher education while incarcerated experience life after release. It emphasizes that college in prison works best when students also receive reentry planning, continuity of education, and support after returning home.
Breaking the Cycle of Incarceration With Targeted Mental Health Outreach
| Kit T. Rodolfa and others | arXiv | September 17, 2025
This paper examines a targeted mental-health outreach effort for people at high risk of returning to jail. It shows how treatment, proactive support, and community services can help address the health and homelessness problems that often drive repeated incarceration.
An Evaluation of Oakland’s Measure Z–Funded Violence Prevention Services
| Jesse Jannetta and others | Urban Institute | 2025
This evaluation examines Oakland’s community-based violence prevention services, including life coaching, violence interruption, and support for people at high risk of violence involvement. It connects public safety to healing, mentorship, and community investment.
An Interim Process and Outcome Evaluation of Oakland’s Measure Z–Funded Group Violence Response Strategy
| Jesse Jannetta and others | Urban Institute | December 2024
This report examines Oakland’s group violence response strategy, which uses community organizations and trusted messengers to reach people at high risk of violence. It is useful for restorative justice themes because it focuses on relationships, support, and prevention.
What Breaking Cycles of Crime Actually Means
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | April 17, 2025
This article argues that real public safety requires housing, work, health care, education, and stability. It challenges punishment-only thinking and explains why second-chance systems must address the conditions that make reoffending more likely.
People in Jail and Prison Are Erased from Unemployment Data
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | April 10, 2025
This article explains how incarceration hides many people from official unemployment statistics and distorts the reality of economic exclusion. It connects reentry, employment, poverty, and public policy by showing how incarceration damages labor-market opportunity.
Fair Chance Housing
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | 2025
This publication argues that conviction history should not automatically block people from housing. It frames stable housing as the foundation for employment, education, treatment, family reconnection, and successful reentry.
Opening Doors to Housing Initiative
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | 2025
This initiative works to reduce housing barriers for people with conviction histories. It shows how reentry success depends on fair access to homes, especially for people otherwise pushed toward homelessness or unstable living conditions.
Unlocking Potential Initiative
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | Undated
This initiative expands access to high-quality postsecondary education in prison and works to reduce racial inequities in college-in-prison programs. It presents education as a long-term tool for dignity, opportunity, and successful reentry.
I’m Free, But I’m in Prison
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | May 7, 2026
This data story examines how incarceration affects families and economic security, especially for women connected to incarcerated or formerly incarcerated partners. It is useful for showing that reentry affects households, caregiving, employment, and community well-being.
Reentry and Recidivism
| Prison Policy Initiative | Prison Policy Initiative | Undated
This research collection gathers studies and reports on reentry, recidivism, employment, housing, and collateral consequences. It is useful as a broad source for understanding the barriers people face after incarceration.
Economics of Incarceration
| Prison Policy Initiative | Prison Policy Initiative | 2026
This research collection focuses on the economic causes and consequences of incarceration. It is useful for second-chance topics because reentry success is closely tied to jobs, debt, fines, fees, family finances, and long-term economic exclusion.
Health and Healthcare
| Prison Policy Initiative | Prison Policy Initiative | Undated
This research collection examines the health effects of incarceration and the need for medical care during and after release. It supports reentry discussions focused on addiction recovery, mental health, overdose prevention, and continuity of care.
Prison Policy Initiative Testimony Opposing Ohio HB 338
| Prison Policy Initiative | Prison Policy Initiative | June 16, 2026
This testimony opposes a proposal that would restrict higher education access for people in maximum-security prisons in Ohio. It argues that prison education supports safer prisons and better outcomes after release.
National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction
| National Reentry Resource Center | Council of State Governments Justice Center | Undated
This database documents legal restrictions that follow criminal convictions, including limits on jobs, licenses, housing, benefits, and civic life. It is useful for showing why second chances require removing barriers that continue after a sentence ends.
Collateral Consequences Resource Center
| Collateral Consequences Resource Center | Collateral Consequences Resource Center | Undated
This resource center tracks laws and reforms related to criminal records and post-sentence penalties. It helps explain how conviction records can continue to punish people long after they have served their time.
The Case for Clean Slate
| Margaret Love | Collateral Consequences Resource Center | June 22, 2021
This article explains the argument for automatic record-clearing laws. It emphasizes that petition-based systems often fail because they are complicated, expensive, and inaccessible to the people most in need of relief.
Clean Slate Initiative
| Clean Slate Initiative | Clean Slate Initiative | Undated
The Clean Slate Initiative supports automatic record-clearing laws for eligible people. Its work shows how record relief can expand access to jobs, housing, education, and civic participation for people who have already paid their debt.
Clean Slate in the States
| Clean Slate Initiative | Clean Slate Initiative | Undated
This page tracks state progress on clean-slate legislation. It is useful for documenting how record-clearing reform has spread as part of the broader second-chance movement.
A Criminal Record Shouldn’t Be a Life Sentence to Poverty
| Akua Amaning | Center for American Progress | April 29, 2022
This article explains how criminal records restrict employment, housing, education, and financial security. It argues that fair-chance and record-clearing policies are essential for people trying to rebuild after justice-system involvement.
Barred from Working
| Kathy Sanchez, Jennifer McDonald, and Lisa Knepper | Institute for Justice | August 2020
This report examines how occupational licensing laws can exclude people with criminal records from lawful work. It supports second-chance reform by showing that training is not enough if people remain blocked from licenses and careers.
Ban the Box: U.S. Cities, Counties, and States Adopt Fair Hiring Policies
| National Employment Law Project | National Employment Law Project | Undated
This guide tracks fair-chance hiring policies around the United States. It shows how governments can delay criminal-record questions and give applicants a better chance to be judged by qualifications.
Fair Chance Hiring Toolkit
| National Employment Law Project | National Employment Law Project | Undated
This toolkit explains how fair-chance hiring reforms work and why they matter. It connects employment access to reentry success, family stability, and reduced economic exclusion.
Roadmap to Reentry
| Root & Rebound | Root & Rebound | Undated
This guide helps people leaving incarceration navigate housing, employment, supervision, identification, benefits, and family issues. It is a practical second-chance resource focused on the everyday barriers people face after release.
Model Reentry Housing Law and Policy
| Root & Rebound | Root & Rebound | Undated
This resource offers model approaches to reducing housing discrimination against people with criminal records. It frames housing as a core reentry need tied to safety, family stability, health, and employment.
The Reentry Legal Hotline
| Root & Rebound | Root & Rebound | Undated
This hotline provides legal information to formerly incarcerated people and their families. It shows how legal guidance can help prevent reentry obstacles from becoming crises involving housing loss, job barriers, or supervision problems.
The First 72+
| The First 72+ | The First 72+ | Undated
The First 72+ supports people in New Orleans during the crucial first days after release from prison. Its work includes housing, peer support, case management, and practical help for people returning home.
The Ladies of Hope Ministries
| The Ladies of Hope Ministries | The Ladies of Hope Ministries | Undated
This organization supports women and girls affected by incarceration through housing, education, advocacy, and leadership development. Its model centers dignity, safety, healing, and economic opportunity.
Hope House
| The Ladies of Hope Ministries | The Ladies of Hope Ministries | Undated
Hope House provides safe housing and support for women returning from incarceration. It is a strong example of gender-responsive reentry that treats housing, trauma recovery, and long-term stability as connected.
College & Community Fellowship
| College & Community Fellowship | College & Community Fellowship | Undated
College & Community Fellowship helps women impacted by the criminal legal system pursue higher education and leadership. It connects second chances to college completion, civic voice, and long-term economic security.
The Osborne Association
| Osborne Association | Osborne Association | Undated
The Osborne Association provides reentry, workforce, family, elder, and advocacy services for people affected by incarceration. Its work shows the value of long-term community institutions in helping people rebuild after prison.
Elder Reentry Initiative
| Osborne Association | Osborne Association | Undated
This program supports older adults returning from prison after long sentences. It focuses on health, housing, technology, social support, and the unique difficulties of reentering society at an older age.
The Reentry Project
| The Reentry Project | The Reentry Project | Undated
This Philadelphia-based project shares journalism, resources, and information about reentry. It is useful for highlighting local stories and practical services for people returning from incarceration.
JustLeadershipUSA
| JustLeadershipUSA | JustLeadershipUSA | Undated
JustLeadershipUSA trains directly impacted people to lead criminal justice reform. Its work shows how formerly incarcerated people can become public leaders, organizers, and advocates for second chances.
All of Us or None
| Legal Services for Prisoners with Children | All of Us or None | Undated
All of Us or None is a grassroots movement led by formerly incarcerated people and families. It advocates for voting rights, employment access, housing, record relief, and dignity for people with conviction histories.
TimeDone
| TimeDone | TimeDone | Undated
TimeDone works to remove barriers faced by people living with old conviction records. It focuses on record relief, employment, housing, civic inclusion, and the idea that people should not be punished forever.
Prison Entrepreneurship Program
| Prison Entrepreneurship Program | Prison Entrepreneurship Program | Undated
This program teaches business, leadership, and job-readiness skills to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. It frames entrepreneurship and character development as tools for rebuilding life after prison.
All Square
| All Square | All Square | Undated
All Square is a Minneapolis restaurant and fellowship program for formerly incarcerated people. It combines paid work, therapy, professional development, and entrepreneurship support in a public-facing second-chance model.
Drive Change
| Drive Change | Drive Change | Undated
Drive Change supports young people affected by the criminal legal system through food-service training, fellowships, and leadership development. It connects youth justice to stable work and long-term opportunity.
Getting Out and Staying Out
| Getting Out and Staying Out | GOSO | Undated
Getting Out and Staying Out serves young men affected by arrest or incarceration through education, employment, counseling, and court advocacy. It shows how intensive support can help young people move away from jail and toward stability.
Youth Advocate Programs
| Youth Advocate Programs | Youth Advocate Programs | Undated
Youth Advocate Programs provides community-based alternatives to youth incarceration and residential placement. Its model relies on neighborhood advocates, family support, and individualized plans that keep young people connected to home, school, and community.
Credible Messenger Mentoring Movement
| Credible Messenger Mentoring Movement | CM3 | Undated
Credible messenger mentoring uses trained mentors with lived experience to support young people involved in the justice system. It shows how trust and shared experience can help youth accept guidance, repair harm, and choose new paths.
Project Reset
| Center for Justice Innovation | Center for Justice Innovation | Undated
Project Reset gives people accused of low-level offenses the chance to complete community-based programming instead of going through traditional prosecution. It is a practical example of diversion that can prevent criminal records.
Peacemaking Program
| Center for Justice Innovation | Center for Justice Innovation | Undated
This program draws on Indigenous restorative traditions to address conflict through dialogue, accountability, and community participation. It highlights justice as relationship repair rather than punishment alone.
New Zealand Restorative Justice
| New Zealand Ministry of Justice | New Zealand Ministry of Justice | Undated
This official page explains New Zealand’s restorative justice process, including meetings between victims and offenders with trained facilitators. It is useful as an international example of restorative justice built into the court system.
25 Reentry Wins in 2025: How States Are Removing Barriers to Reentry Success
| Reentry 2030 | Reentry 2030 | January 2026
This article highlights state-level progress on reentry policy, including reforms related to housing, identification, employment, health care, and coordination between agencies. It is useful for showing how second-chance policy can move from slogans into concrete changes that help people return home successfully.
Reentry 2030
| Reentry 2030 | Reentry 2030 | Undated
Reentry 2030 is a national initiative encouraging states to set measurable goals for improving outcomes for people leaving prison and jail. Its focus on jobs, housing, health, education, and cross-agency coordination makes it a strong source for second-chance reform.
National Reentry Resource Center
| National Reentry Resource Center | Council of State Governments Justice Center | Undated
This resource hub collects research, toolkits, funding information, and examples of reentry programs across the United States. It is useful for documenting how communities support people after incarceration through employment, housing, behavioral health care, and family reconnection.
Second Chance Act
| National Reentry Resource Center | Council of State Governments Justice Center | Undated
This page explains the Second Chance Act, a major federal law supporting reentry programs for adults and youth returning from incarceration. It connects second chances to public safety, reduced recidivism, and practical support for people coming home.
Clean Slate Initiative
| Clean Slate Initiative | Clean Slate Initiative | Undated
The Clean Slate Initiative works to automate record-clearing for eligible people with old criminal records. Its work shows how second-chance policy can remove invisible barriers to employment, housing, education, and full participation in community life.
Clean Slate in the States
| Clean Slate Initiative | Clean Slate Initiative | Undated
This resource tracks state progress on automatic record-clearing laws. It is useful for showing how criminal-record reform has become a major part of the second-chance movement, especially for people who remain blocked from opportunity long after completing their sentences.
A Criminal Record Shouldn’t Be a Life Sentence to Poverty
| Akua Amaning | Center for American Progress | April 29, 2022
This article explains how criminal records can trap people in poverty by limiting access to jobs, housing, education, and public benefits. It argues that record-clearing and fair-chance policies are necessary for real rehabilitation and economic stability.
The Case for Clean Slate
| Margaret Love | Collateral Consequences Resource Center | June 22, 2021
This article explains why automatic record relief is important for people with criminal records. It argues that petition-based systems are often too difficult to use, while automatic relief can make second chances more realistic for large numbers of people.
National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction
| National Reentry Resource Center | Council of State Governments Justice Center | Undated
This database documents legal barriers that can follow a conviction, including restrictions on jobs, licenses, housing, public benefits, and civic participation. It is useful for showing why second-chance reform must address consequences that continue long after a sentence is complete.
Collateral Consequences Resource Center
| Collateral Consequences Resource Center | Collateral Consequences Resource Center | Undated
This resource center tracks laws, litigation, and policy reforms related to the long-term consequences of criminal records. It is useful for understanding how second chances depend on removing legal barriers that keep people excluded from work and community life.
Fair Chance Licensing Reform
| Kathy Sanchez, Jennifer McDonald, and Lisa Knepper | Institute for Justice | August 2020
This report examines occupational licensing barriers that prevent people with criminal records from entering many trades and professions. It argues that fair licensing reform can help people rebuild careers and reduce unnecessary barriers to reentry.
Barred from Working
| Institute for Justice | Institute for Justice | August 2020
This report documents how licensing rules can permanently exclude people with criminal records from lawful work. It is useful for showing how second chances require access not only to jobs, but also to credentials and professional pathways.
Ban the Box: U.S. Cities, Counties, and States Adopt Fair Hiring Policies
| National Employment Law Project | National Employment Law Project | Undated
This guide tracks fair-chance hiring policies that delay or limit criminal-record questions in employment. It shows how governments and employers can reduce discrimination and give formerly incarcerated people a better chance to be judged by their qualifications.
Fair Chance Hiring
| National Employment Law Project | National Employment Law Project | Undated
This toolkit explains how fair-chance hiring policies work and why they matter. It is useful for showing how employment reform can support reentry by giving people with records a real opportunity to compete for work.
Model Reentry Housing Law and Policy
| Root & Rebound | Root & Rebound | Undated
This resource focuses on housing barriers faced by people with criminal records and offers policy ideas to reduce exclusion. It connects stable housing to public safety, family reunification, health, and long-term reintegration.
Roadmap to Reentry
| Root & Rebound | Root & Rebound | Undated
This guide helps people coming home from incarceration navigate housing, employment, parole, identification, benefits, and family issues. It is a practical example of reentry support that addresses the everyday obstacles people face after release.
Root & Rebound
| Root & Rebound | Root & Rebound | Undated
Root & Rebound provides legal support, reentry resources, and policy advocacy for people impacted by incarceration. Its work shows how legal empowerment can help people overcome barriers that often block second chances.
The Reentry Legal Hotline
| Root & Rebound | Root & Rebound | Undated
This legal hotline helps formerly incarcerated people and their families understand rights and obligations after release. It is useful for showing how access to legal information can prevent reentry problems from becoming new crises.
A New Way of Life Reentry Project: Legal Services
| A New Way of Life Reentry Project | A New Way of Life Reentry Project | Undated
This page describes legal services for formerly incarcerated women and families, including help with expungement, family law, and reentry barriers. It shows how second-chance support often requires both housing and legal advocacy.
The Reentry Project
| The Reentry Project | The Reentry Project | Undated
The Reentry Project is a Philadelphia-based journalism and resource initiative focused on people returning from incarceration. It highlights stories, services, and policy issues that shape whether people receive meaningful second chances.
The First 72+
| The First 72+ | The First 72+ | Undated
The First 72+ supports people in New Orleans during the critical period immediately after release from prison. Its work includes housing, case management, peer support, and practical reentry assistance during the vulnerable first days home.
The Ladies of Hope Ministries
| The Ladies of Hope Ministries | The Ladies of Hope Ministries | Undated
The Ladies of Hope Ministries supports women and girls impacted by incarceration through housing, education, advocacy, and leadership development. Its work shows how gender-responsive reentry can combine healing, stability, and economic opportunity.
Hope House: A Reentry Program for Women
| The Ladies of Hope Ministries | The Ladies of Hope Ministries | Undated
Hope House provides safe housing and supportive services for women returning from incarceration. It is useful for showing how stable housing, community, and trauma-informed support can make second chances possible.
College & Community Fellowship
| College & Community Fellowship | College & Community Fellowship | Undated
College & Community Fellowship helps women with criminal legal system involvement pursue higher education and leadership. Its model connects academic opportunity to reentry, civic participation, and long-term self-sufficiency.
Women’s Prison Association
| Women’s Prison Association | Women’s Prison Association | Undated
The Women’s Prison Association works with women affected by incarceration through housing, family support, alternatives to incarceration, and reentry services. Its programs show how second chances must account for parenting, trauma, poverty, and community support.
The Osborne Association
| Osborne Association | Osborne Association | Undated
The Osborne Association provides services for people affected by incarceration, including family programs, reentry support, workforce development, and elder services. Its long history shows how community-based support can help people rebuild lives after prison.
Osborne Association: Elder Reentry Initiative
| Osborne Association | Osborne Association | Undated
This program supports older adults returning from prison after long sentences. It highlights the special reentry needs of elderly people, including health care, housing, technology, family reconnection, and adjusting to a changed world.
JustLeadershipUSA
| JustLeadershipUSA | JustLeadershipUSA | Undated
JustLeadershipUSA trains and supports formerly incarcerated leaders working to reduce incarceration and expand justice reform. Its work shows how people closest to the system can become powerful advocates for second chances and community healing.
The Formerly Incarcerated Convicted People and Families Movement
| FICPFM | Formerly Incarcerated, Convicted People and Families Movement | Undated
This national network organizes formerly incarcerated people and families affected by the criminal legal system. It is useful for understanding second chances as a movement led by people with direct experience of incarceration and reentry barriers.
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
| Legal Services for Prisoners with Children | Legal Services for Prisoners with Children | Undated
This organization works on family unity, reentry, legal advocacy, and policy reform for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. Its work highlights the importance of family connections and community support in successful reintegration.
All of Us or None
| Legal Services for Prisoners with Children | All of Us or None | Undated
All of Us or None is a grassroots movement led by formerly incarcerated people and families. It advocates for voting rights, record relief, employment access, housing, and dignity for people with criminal records.
TimeDone
| TimeDone | TimeDone | Undated
TimeDone works to remove barriers faced by people living with old conviction records. Its focus on record relief, employment, housing, and civic inclusion makes it a useful source for second-chance reform.
Prison Entrepreneurship Program
| Prison Entrepreneurship Program | Prison Entrepreneurship Program | Undated
This program helps incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people develop business, leadership, and job-readiness skills. It frames entrepreneurship and character development as tools for rebuilding lives after prison.
Rising Tide Capital: Reentry and Entrepreneurship
| Rising Tide Capital | Rising Tide Capital | Undated
Rising Tide Capital supports entrepreneurs from underserved communities, including people facing barriers related to incarceration. Its model shows how business training and community support can help people build income and independence.
All Square
| All Square | All Square | Undated
All Square is a Minneapolis restaurant and fellowship program that supports formerly incarcerated people through paid work, professional development, therapy, and entrepreneurship support. It is a strong example of second-chance employment tied to community healing.
Grilled Cheese Shop Offers Minnesotans a Second Chance After Prison
| Michael Sainato | The Guardian | June 14, 2025
This article profiles All Square, a Minneapolis restaurant that hires and supports formerly incarcerated fellows. It shows how wages, mentorship, therapy, entrepreneurship training, and public-facing work can help people rebuild after prison.
Drive Change
| Drive Change | Drive Change | Undated
Drive Change uses food-service training and fellowship programs to support young people impacted by the criminal legal system. Its model connects workforce development to youth justice, stability, and long-term opportunity.
Getting Out and Staying Out
| Getting Out and Staying Out | GOSO | Undated
Getting Out and Staying Out supports young men affected by incarceration through education, employment, counseling, and court advocacy. Its work shows how youth reentry requires consistent mentoring and practical support.
Youth Advocate Programs
| Youth Advocate Programs | Youth Advocate Programs | Undated
Youth Advocate Programs provides community-based alternatives to youth incarceration and residential placement. Its model relies on neighborhood advocates, family support, and individualized plans that keep young people connected to home and school.
Credible Messenger Mentoring
| Credible Messenger Mentoring Movement | CM3 | Undated
Credible messenger mentoring uses trained mentors with lived experience to support young people involved in the justice system. It is useful for showing how trust, relationships, and community credibility can help young people choose new paths.
Center for Court Innovation: Restorative Practices
| Center for Justice Innovation | Center for Justice Innovation | Undated
This page describes restorative practices that bring together people harmed by crime, responsible parties, families, and community members. It emphasizes accountability, repair, healing, and alternatives to conventional punishment.
Project Reset
| Center for Justice Innovation | Center for Justice Innovation | Undated
Project Reset offers diversion for people accused of low-level offenses, allowing them to complete community-based programming instead of going through traditional prosecution. It shows how early intervention can prevent criminal records and reduce unnecessary court involvement.
Red Hook Community Justice Center
| Center for Justice Innovation | Center for Justice Innovation | Undated
The Red Hook Community Justice Center uses a community court model that connects people to services, accountability, and local problem-solving. It is useful for restorative justice topics because it shifts the focus from punishment alone to community repair.
Community Justice Project
| Center for Justice Innovation | Center for Justice Innovation | Undated
This project supports neighborhood-based approaches to safety and justice. It emphasizes resident leadership, community healing, and responses to harm that do not rely only on arrest and incarceration.
Peacemaking Program
| Center for Justice Innovation | Center for Justice Innovation | Undated
The Peacemaking Program draws on Indigenous restorative practices to address conflict through facilitated dialogue and community participation. It shows how justice can focus on repairing relationships, restoring trust, and preventing future harm.
Restorative Justice in Schools
| Edutopia | Edutopia | Undated
This resource explains restorative justice practices in schools, including circles, relationship repair, and alternatives to suspension. It connects youth diversion to school discipline reform by showing how young people can be held accountable without being pushed out of education.
Restorative Practices: Fostering Healthy Relationships and Promoting Positive Discipline in Schools
| National Education Association | NEA | Undated
This resource explains how restorative practices can improve school climate and reduce exclusionary discipline. It is useful for youth second-chance topics because suspensions and expulsions can become early pathways into the justice system.
Restorative Justice Partnership
| Restorative Justice Partnership | Restorative Justice Partnership | Undated
This organization promotes restorative justice in the United Kingdom through training, advocacy, and practice development. It is useful for international examples of community-based accountability and victim-centered repair.
Restorative Justice Council
| Restorative Justice Council | Restorative Justice Council | Undated
The Restorative Justice Council supports high-quality restorative justice practice in the United Kingdom. Its materials show how restorative approaches can be used in criminal justice, schools, workplaces, and communities.
Restorative Justice Victoria
| Government of Victoria | Victoria State Government | Undated
This page explains restorative justice programs in Victoria, Australia, including processes that allow people harmed by crime and those responsible to communicate in a structured way. It is useful for showing how restorative justice can be supported by public institutions.
New Zealand Restorative Justice
| New Zealand Ministry of Justice | New Zealand Ministry of Justice | Undated
This official page explains how restorative justice works in New Zealand’s criminal justice system. It describes meetings between victims and offenders, accountability, agreements, and the role of trained facilitators.
Youth Justice Family Group Conferencing
| Oranga Tamariki | New Zealand Government | Undated
This page explains New Zealand’s family group conferencing model for youth justice. It is useful for restorative justice because it centers family, victims, accountability, and community planning instead of relying only on court punishment.
Healing to Wellness Courts
| Tribal Law and Policy Institute | Tribal Law and Policy Institute | Undated
Healing to Wellness Courts are tribal court programs that address substance use and justice involvement through culturally grounded support, accountability, and treatment. They show how recovery, community, and restorative principles can work together.
Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
| Office of Justice Programs | U.S. Department of Justice | Undated
This page explains how tribal wellness courts support people with substance use disorders through treatment, supervision, cultural connection, and community support. It is useful for addiction recovery and restorative justice topics.
Treatment Courts Work
| All Rise | All Rise | Undated
This resource explains the evidence and principles behind treatment courts, including drug courts, mental health courts, and veterans treatment courts. It frames recovery-focused courts as alternatives that combine accountability with treatment and support.
Drug Courts
| All Rise | All Rise | Undated
This page explains how drug courts respond to substance use and criminal legal involvement through treatment, judicial supervision, testing, and recovery support. It is useful for second-chance topics because it focuses on addressing addiction rather than relying only on incarceration.
Veterans Treatment Courts
| All Rise | All Rise | Undated
Veterans treatment courts connect justice-involved veterans to treatment, peer mentors, and services. They show how specialized courts can recognize trauma, addiction, and service-related needs while still requiring accountability.
Mental Health Courts
| Council of State Governments Justice Center | CSG Justice Center | Undated
This resource explains mental health courts, which connect people with behavioral health needs to treatment and supervision instead of traditional punishment alone. It is useful for showing how second chances often require health care, not just legal consequences.
Stepping Up Initiative
Stepping Up helps counties reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails. It supports diversion, treatment connections, data tracking, and collaboration between justice and health systems.
A Promising Approach to Reduce Jail Populations: Behavioral Health Diversion
| The Pew Charitable Trusts | Pew | August 8, 2022
This article explains how behavioral health diversion can keep people with mental illness or substance use disorders out of jail and connected to treatment. It supports the argument that many justice problems are better addressed through care and community services.
Jail Diversion for People with Mental Illness
| SAMHSA | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration | Undated
This SAMHSA resource explains the Sequential Intercept Model, which helps communities identify points where people with mental illness or substance use disorders can be diverted away from jail. It is useful for designing humane, treatment-oriented alternatives.
Sequential Intercept Model
| Policy Research Associates | Policy Research Associates | Undated
The Sequential Intercept Model maps opportunities to divert people from the criminal legal system into services before, during, and after justice involvement. It is useful for connecting crisis response, courts, jail reentry, and community treatment.
Reentry Essentials: Prioritizing Treatment for Substance Addictions
| CSG Justice Center | Council of State Governments Justice Center | December 12, 2018
This article explains why substance-use treatment is central to reentry success. It emphasizes continuity of care, medication-assisted treatment, peer support, and coordinated planning as people move from incarceration back into the community.
Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Jails and Prisons
| The Pew Charitable Trusts | Pew | October 3, 2018
This brief explains how medication-assisted treatment can improve outcomes for people with opioid use disorder. It is important for reentry because the period after release is especially dangerous for overdose risk, making treatment continuity a second-chance and public-health priority.
Jail-Based Medication-Assisted Treatment
| SAMHSA | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration | Undated
This resource explains medications and counseling used to treat substance use disorders. It supports second-chance work by showing how evidence-based treatment can help people stabilize during and after incarceration.
How Communities Can Build a Jail-to-Community Continuum of Care
| Bureau of Justice Assistance | Office of Justice Programs | Undated
This federal program page describes support for communities addressing substance use and overdose among justice-involved people. It connects reentry, treatment, overdose prevention, and public safety.
The National Institute of Corrections Reentry Toolkit
| National Institute of Corrections | National Institute of Corrections | Undated
This reentry resource collection provides guidance for correctional agencies, community partners, and service providers. It covers planning, case management, employment, housing, family support, and transition services.
Building Second Chances Through Reentry Planning
| Bureau of Justice Assistance | Office of Justice Programs | Undated
This federal overview explains reentry programming supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. It highlights how coordinated services before and after release can improve public safety and help people rebuild stable lives.
Learning Life All Over Again: Reentry After Long-Term Imprisonment
| Kristen M. Budd and Sabrina C. Pearce | The Sentencing Project | April 22, 2026
This report follows formerly incarcerated people released after decades in prison as they rebuild their lives. It highlights the practical and emotional challenges of reentry, including technology, housing, employment, family reconnection, and the need for long-term support after release.
Supporting the Re-Integration of Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Through Entrepreneurship
This report examines entrepreneurship as one path for formerly incarcerated people to rebuild economic stability. It explains how self-employment can help people overcome hiring discrimination, while also emphasizing the need for training, mentoring, financing, and realistic business support.
How to Design an Intervention to Keep Young People Out of the Juvenile Justice System in Your Community
| Libby Robin | Urban Institute | February 2026
This guide explains how communities can build youth diversion programs that reduce unnecessary justice-system involvement. It highlights restorative practices, mentoring, community accountability, and service connections as better responses than pushing young people deeper into courts and detention.
Idaho’s Youth Assessment Centers: An Overview, Case Studies, and Key Takeaways
| Brittany B. Boppre and others | Urban Institute | February 2026
This report profiles Idaho’s youth assessment centers, which connect young people and families to services before deeper justice involvement. It presents assessment centers as a diversion model that can identify needs early and respond with counseling, family support, and community resources.
FY25 Second Chance Act Improving Reentry Education and Employment Outcomes
| Bureau of Justice Assistance | Office of Justice Programs | March 26, 2026
This federal funding notice shows continuing national investment in education and employment programs for people returning from incarceration. It supports reentry strategies that connect people to academic credentials, vocational training, job readiness, and long-term employment pathways.
OJJDP FY 2025 Second Chance Act Youth Reentry Program
This funding opportunity focuses on young people returning from juvenile facilities. It supports coordinated youth reentry programs that help with education, family connection, behavioral health, housing, and community reintegration.
The System Will Choose Security Over Humanity Every Time
This paper examines digital technology in prisons and the privacy, security, and usability problems faced by incarcerated people. It argues that digital tools should support education, communication, and reentry skills without turning everyday prison life into deeper surveillance and exclusion.
Like a Civic Death: CT Men Face Lasting Financial Hardships After Incarceration
| Alex Putterman | CT Insider | June 17, 2026
This article reports on research showing that formerly incarcerated men in Connecticut face high rates of poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, health problems, and substance-use challenges. It frames reentry as a public health and community stability issue, not only a criminal justice issue.
More Than 1,300 Incarcerated Individuals Achieve Educational Milestones During 2024–2025 School Year
| Massachusetts Department of Correction | Commonwealth of Massachusetts | September 10, 2025
This article reports that more than 1,300 incarcerated people in Massachusetts earned educational milestones in one school year. It shows how adult basic education, high school equivalency, vocational training, and college preparation can help people build a foundation for reentry.
Senate Passes Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2025
| CSG Justice Center | Council of State Governments Justice Center | October 10, 2025
This article reports on Senate passage of legislation to reauthorize Second Chance Act programs. It emphasizes the continuing need for evidence-based reentry support for people returning from prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities.
Second Chance Month 2025
| National Reentry Resource Center | National Reentry Resource Center | 2025
This page highlights Second Chance Month as a national effort to identify and reduce barriers faced by people with criminal records. It focuses on housing, employment, health care, family reunification, and public awareness around successful reentry.
Beyond Reoffending and Rearrest
| N. Chlebuch and others | Justice Quarterly | 2025
This study looks beyond simple rearrest or reoffending measures in youth diversion. It is useful for understanding how diversion can be evaluated through broader outcomes, including youth development, fairness, community connection, and reduced harm.
The Reentry Experiences of Higher Education in Prison Program Participants
| A. Cantora | The Prison Journal | 2025
This study explores how people who participated in higher education while incarcerated experience reentry. It highlights the importance of wraparound support, continued college access, and guidance after release so education behind bars can become a real pathway forward.
Breaking the Cycle of Incarceration With Targeted Mental Health Outreach
| Kit T. Rodolfa and others | arXiv | September 17, 2025
This paper describes a targeted outreach effort in Johnson County, Kansas, designed to connect people at high risk of reincarceration with mental health support. It shows how treatment, proactive services, and community-based care can reduce repeated jail involvement.
An Evaluation of Oakland’s Measure Z–Funded Violence Prevention Services
| Jesse Jannetta and others | Urban Institute | 2025
This evaluation examines Oakland’s community-based violence prevention investments, including life coaching, violence interruption, and support for people at high risk of violence involvement. It connects public safety to healing, mentorship, and community support rather than punishment alone.
An Interim Process and Outcome Evaluation of Oakland’s Measure Z–Funded Services
| Jesse Jannetta and others | Urban Institute | December 2024
This report reviews Oakland’s group violence response strategy, which works with people most affected by gun violence. It shows how trusted messengers, outreach workers, and intensive support can help interrupt cycles of violence and create second chances.
What Breaking Cycles of Crime Actually Means
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | April 17, 2025
This article argues that breaking cycles of crime requires meeting basic needs such as housing, work, health care, and family stability. It challenges punishment-only responses and explains why reentry support can make communities safer.
The Challenge of Finding a Job After Prison
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | September 5, 2025
This article explains how conviction records and employer discrimination make work difficult to find after prison. It highlights employment as a core part of successful reentry and calls for policies that turn prison work and training into real post-release opportunity.
Opening Doors to Housing Initiative
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | 2025
This initiative focuses on removing housing barriers for people with conviction histories. It explains why stable housing is essential for reentry and how fair chance housing policies can reduce homelessness, family separation, and reincarceration.
Fair Chance Housing: Lessons in Implementation
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | January 10, 2025
This publication examines how fair chance housing policies can be implemented in practice. It focuses on reducing blanket exclusions, improving individualized review, and helping people with conviction histories access stable homes.
Want to Make Communities Safer? Make Sure People Coming Home from Jail and Prison Have a Place to Live
| Nazish Dholakia | Vera Institute of Justice | April 11, 2024
This article connects public safety to housing access for people leaving incarceration. It argues that safe and affordable housing helps people reconnect with family, find work, receive care, and avoid the instability that can lead back to jail or prison.
The United States Criminalizes People Who Need Health Care and Housing
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | October 17, 2023
This article argues that many people are pushed into the criminal legal system because of unmet health, housing, and substance-use needs. It supports a restorative and public-health approach that responds to harm and instability with services rather than punishment.
Released From Prison With No Place to Live
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | August 6, 2021
This article examines the housing crisis faced by people leaving prison. It shows how homelessness and unstable housing can undermine every other part of reentry, including employment, family reunification, treatment, and supervision compliance.
Illinois Bill Makes History, Highlights Criminalization-to-Homelessness Pipeline
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | February 23, 2021
This article discusses fair chance housing reform in Illinois and the larger connection between criminal records and homelessness. It shows how housing discrimination can punish people long after they have completed their sentences.
Opening Doors, Returning Home
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | November 14, 2016
This evaluation examines New York City’s family reentry pilot program, which allowed some formerly incarcerated people to reunite with family members in public housing. It shows how carefully designed housing access can support stability and reduce reentry barriers.
Out of Prison & Out of Work: Unemployment Among Formerly Incarcerated People
| Lucius Couloute and Daniel Kopf | Prison Policy Initiative | July 2018
This report documents the extremely high unemployment rate faced by formerly incarcerated people. It explains how job discrimination, licensing restrictions, and economic exclusion create barriers that undermine successful reentry and public safety.
Nowhere to Go: Homelessness Among Formerly Incarcerated People
| Lucius Couloute | Prison Policy Initiative | August 2018
This report estimates homelessness among formerly incarcerated people and finds that they are far more likely to experience homelessness than the general public. It explains how housing instability can trap people in a revolving door of poverty, policing, and reincarceration.
Getting Back on Course: Educational Exclusion and Attainment Among Formerly Incarcerated People
| Lucius Couloute | Prison Policy Initiative | October 2018
This report examines educational barriers faced by formerly incarcerated people. It shows how exclusion from schooling before, during, and after incarceration limits employment and stability, while also highlighting education as a key second-chance strategy.
New Data on Formerly Incarcerated People’s Employment Reveal Labor Market Punishment
| Wanda Bertram and Wendy Sawyer | Prison Policy Initiative | February 8, 2022
This article summarizes federal data on employment after prison and shows how many people struggle to find stable work after release. It reinforces the need for fair-chance hiring, training, and support that continues beyond the prison gate.
Collateral Consequences
| Prison Policy Initiative | Prison Policy Initiative | 2025
This resource collects research on the long-term penalties that follow incarceration, including unemployment, housing exclusion, educational barriers, and family instability. It is useful for documenting why second-chance policies must address barriers beyond the sentence itself.
Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2025
| Wendy Sawyer and Peter Wagner | Prison Policy Initiative | March 11, 2025
This report provides a broad overview of incarceration in the United States and helps explain why reentry and diversion matter. By showing who is locked up and why, it provides context for reforms that reduce incarceration and expand community-based solutions.
From Prisons to Programming: Fostering Self-Efficacy via Virtual Web Design Curricula in Prisons and Jails
| Martin Nisser and others | arXiv | April 24, 2024
This study describes a college-accredited web design course taught across correctional facilities. It shows how digital literacy, creativity, and technical skills can strengthen confidence and prepare incarcerated students for modern work after release.
Enhancing Reentry Support Programs Through Digital Literacy Integration
| Aakash Gautam, Khushboo Gandhi, Jessica Eileen Sendejo | arXiv | May 24, 2024
This paper explores how reentry organizations can integrate digital literacy support. It highlights barriers formerly incarcerated people face with technology, online forms, employment systems, and service access, and it argues that digital support is now central to second chances.
He Got a College Degree in Prison. Now He’s Off to a Prestigious Law School
| Gloria Oladipo | The Guardian | April 11, 2024
This article profiles Benard McKinley, who earned a college degree while incarcerated and was later accepted to Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. His story shows how prison education can turn legal punishment into a path toward service, advocacy, and leadership.
Denver Barbershop Will Train, Employ Formerly Incarcerated People
| Alayna Alvarez | Axios Denver | February 4, 2024
This article profiles a Denver barbershop designed to train and employ formerly incarcerated people. It highlights how trade skills learned during incarceration can become real jobs when employers intentionally remove second-chance hiring barriers.
Ts Madison Opens Starter House in Atlanta for Formerly Incarcerated Black Trans Women
| James Factora | Them | April 1, 2025
This article reports on a reentry housing project in Atlanta for formerly incarcerated Black trans women. The program combines housing with health, wellness, psychological support, and economic empowerment, showing how second chances must be tailored to people facing overlapping barriers.
Diplomas, Proud Parents: High School Graduation in the D.C. Jail
| Kyle Swenson | The Washington Post | July 31, 2025
This article describes incarcerated students graduating from high school inside the D.C. jail through Maya Angelou Academy. It shows education as a source of dignity, hope, and family pride even in the middle of incarceration.
Dad Who Was Formerly Incarcerated Graduates from Ivy League School with a Master’s Degree
| David Chiu | People | June 2024
This article tells the story of Thomas Jones, who rebuilt his life after incarceration and earned a master’s degree from Cornell University. It highlights perseverance, family motivation, educational support, and the power of second chances.
Prison to Professionals: A Second Chance Through Education
| Prison to Professionals | Prison to Professionals | Undated
This organization supports people with criminal convictions as they pursue higher education and professional careers. Its work highlights the role of mentoring, scholarships, and professional networks in helping formerly incarcerated people move into leadership.
A New Way of Life Reentry Project
| A New Way of Life Reentry Project | A New Way of Life Reentry Project | Undated
This organization provides housing, legal services, advocacy, and leadership development for women rebuilding their lives after prison. It is a strong example of reentry support that treats housing, healing, and community power as connected.
Homeboy Industries
| Homeboy Industries | Homeboy Industries | Undated
Homeboy Industries provides jobs, training, tattoo removal, counseling, and community support for formerly gang-involved and formerly incarcerated people. Its model centers healing, dignity, and employment as pathways away from violence and incarceration.
The Fortune Society
| The Fortune Society | The Fortune Society | Undated
The Fortune Society provides housing, employment services, education, health support, and advocacy for people affected by incarceration. Its long-running work shows how comprehensive reentry services can help people rebuild stable and meaningful lives.
Center for Employment Opportunities
| Center for Employment Opportunities | Center for Employment Opportunities | Undated
The Center for Employment Opportunities helps people returning from incarceration find immediate paid transitional work and long-term employment. Its model focuses on the early reentry period, when job access can be especially important for stability.
Safer Foundation
| Safer Foundation | Safer Foundation | Undated
Safer Foundation supports people with criminal records through employment, education, housing, and reentry services. Its programs show how coordinated support can help reduce recidivism and expand opportunity for people who are often locked out of the labor market.
The Last Mile
| The Last Mile | The Last Mile | Undated
The Last Mile provides technology and coding education for incarcerated people and returning citizens. It connects prison education to modern job markets and shows how digital skills can create real second-chance employment pathways.
Defy Ventures
| Defy Ventures | Defy Ventures | Undated
Defy Ventures offers entrepreneurship, career readiness, and personal development programs for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. It frames business training as a tool for accountability, self-confidence, and economic independence.
Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison
| Hudson Link | Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison | Undated
Hudson Link provides college education, reentry support, and alumni services for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students in New York. Its work demonstrates how higher education can support transformation inside prison and continued success after release.
Bard Prison Initiative
| Bard Prison Initiative | Bard College | Undated
The Bard Prison Initiative offers rigorous college education to incarcerated students and supports alumni after release. It is one of the best-known examples of prison education as a serious academic and reentry pathway.
Northwestern Prison Education Program
| Northwestern Prison Education Program | Northwestern University | Undated
This program provides liberal arts education to incarcerated students in Illinois. It shows how university partnerships can bring high-quality college courses into prisons and help students prepare for civic, academic, and professional life after release.
Mount Tamalpais College
| Mount Tamalpais College | Mount Tamalpais College | Undated
Mount Tamalpais College operates an accredited college program inside San Quentin. It shows how prison education can move from volunteer instruction to fully recognized college credentials that support personal growth and reentry.
Georgetown Prisons and Justice Initiative
| Georgetown Prisons and Justice Initiative | Georgetown University | Undated
Georgetown’s Prisons and Justice Initiative offers education and reentry programs for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students. Its work connects college access, legal reform, public education, and leadership by people directly affected by incarceration.
Project Rebound
| California State University | California State University | Undated
Project Rebound supports formerly incarcerated students across the California State University system. It provides academic advising, peer support, campus navigation, and community, helping students turn reentry into a path through college.
Underground Scholars
| Underground Scholars | University of California, Berkeley | Undated
Underground Scholars supports formerly incarcerated and system-impacted students at UC Berkeley and beyond. It is an example of peer-led second-chance education that turns lived experience into leadership, advocacy, and academic success.
Restorative Justice Project
| Impact Justice | Impact Justice | Undated
This project supports restorative justice diversion that brings together harmed people, responsible youth, families, and community members. It offers an alternative to prosecution that focuses on accountability, repair, and preventing future harm.
Common Justice
| Common Justice | Common Justice | Undated
Common Justice operates a restorative alternative to incarceration for serious violent felonies in New York City. Its work centers survivors, requires accountability from responsible parties, and shows that even serious harm can sometimes be addressed through repair rather than prison.
Community Works West
| Community Works West | Community Works West | Undated
Community Works West provides restorative justice, youth diversion, family support, and reentry programs in California. Its work focuses on healing the harm of incarceration and keeping young people connected to family and community.
Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth
| Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth | RJOY | Undated
Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth works to replace punitive school and justice practices with restorative approaches. Its programs emphasize circles, relationship repair, youth leadership, and community accountability.
Insight Garden Program
| Insight Garden Program | Insight Garden Program | Undated
The Insight Garden Program uses gardening, ecology, and emotional learning inside prisons. It helps incarcerated people develop responsibility, patience, environmental awareness, and life skills that can support healing and reentry.
Amity Foundation
| Amity Foundation | Amity Foundation | Undated
Amity Foundation provides treatment, education, housing, and reentry services for people affected by addiction, incarceration, homelessness, and trauma. Its work connects recovery to community support and long-term reintegration.
Delancey Street Foundation
| Delancey Street Foundation | Delancey Street Foundation | Undated
Delancey Street Foundation is a residential self-help organization for people rebuilding after incarceration, addiction, and homelessness. It emphasizes accountability, work, education, peer support, and developing practical life skills.
Circles of Support and Accountability
| Circles of Support and Accountability Ottawa | CoSA Ottawa | Undated
Circles of Support and Accountability is a restorative reentry model that uses trained community volunteers to support and hold accountable people returning after serious offenses. It shows how public safety and reintegration can be pursued together through structured community relationships.
Restorative Justice Diversion: A Better Way to Provide Meaningful Accountability for Youth
| Richard Mendel | The Sentencing Project | March 26, 2026
Restorative justice diversion programs give young people a path to accountability without pushing them deeper into the juvenile court system. The article highlights evidence that these programs can reduce reoffending, increase victim satisfaction, and help young people understand the harm they caused while remaining connected to family, school, and community support.
Prison Fellowship Declares April 2026 as Second Chance Month
| Prison Fellowship | Prison Fellowship | April 1, 2026
This article describes the national Second Chance Month campaign, which brings attention to the barriers faced by people with criminal records. It frames second chances as both a matter of dignity and public safety, emphasizing the need to remove obstacles to housing, work, education, and community belonging after incarceration.
Prison Fellowship Statement After Senate Declares April 2026 as Second Chance Month
| Prison Fellowship | Prison Fellowship | April 29, 2026
This piece reports on the U.S. Senate’s recognition of April 2026 as Second Chance Month. It connects national awareness efforts to the practical work of helping formerly incarcerated people rebuild their lives through employment, housing, education, faith communities, and reduced legal barriers.
Prison Fellowship Statement After White House Issues Presidential Message on Second Chance Month
| Prison Fellowship | Prison Fellowship | April 30, 2026
The article focuses on the symbolic and practical importance of public recognition for second chances. It notes the many legal and social barriers faced by people returning from incarceration and presents Second Chance Month as a movement to support redemption, accountability, and successful reintegration.
How Unlikely Allies Helped One Nonprofit Get Results in Deep-Red Alabama
| Kim Chandler | Associated Press | April 14, 2026
This article profiles Alabama Appleseed and its work challenging extreme sentences and helping people receive meaningful second chances. It shows how legal advocacy, bipartisan cooperation, and public storytelling can open doors for people who have served long prison terms and are seeking a way back into community life.
Second Chances: Understanding the Racialized Barriers Formerly Incarcerated Students Face
| J. R. Ford | Frontiers in Education | 2026
This scholarly article examines the structural barriers that formerly incarcerated students face in higher education, especially Black men who are disproportionately affected by both incarceration and educational exclusion. It connects second chances to college access, racial justice, and the need for institutions to redesign support systems.
Restorative Justice in Modern Criminal Justice Administration
| Park University | Park University | September 23, 2024
This overview explains how restorative justice practices such as mediation, conferencing, and healing circles can complement traditional criminal justice systems. It emphasizes accountability, victim participation, reduced recidivism, and rehabilitation rather than punishment alone.
The Challenge of Finding a Job After Prison
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | September 5, 2025
This article focuses on the employment barriers faced by people leaving prison. It shows how criminal records, stigma, and lack of recognized work experience can block people from rebuilding stable lives, and it argues that prison labor and reentry preparation should translate into real opportunities after release.
What Do Alternatives to Incarceration Actually Look Like?
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | October 21, 2025
This article explains alternatives to incarceration, including diversion programs, treatment-based responses, and community supervision models. It is useful for understanding how second-chance systems can hold people accountable while reducing jail and prison use.
A Dearth of Data on Incarcerated Students
| Inside Higher Ed | Inside Higher Ed | September 3, 2025
This article discusses the lack of reliable national data on incarcerated college students. It argues that better data is especially important after the restoration of Pell Grants for incarcerated students, because policymakers and colleges need to know whether prison education programs are expanding access and improving outcomes.
Improving Academic Supports for Incarcerated Students
| Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | October 10, 2025
This article examines how incarcerated students often lack the academic supports that traditional college students receive. It points to tutoring, advising, technology, and reentry planning as important parts of making prison education a true second-chance pathway.
Wayne State Launches Prison Education Program
| Inside Higher Ed | Inside Higher Ed | June 27, 2025
This article reports on Wayne State University’s plan to offer a bachelor’s degree program to incarcerated students. It reflects a broader revival of prison higher education following the restoration of Pell Grant eligibility for people in prison.
Balancing Security, Tech Skills for College Students in Prison
| Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | January 7, 2025
This article explores the challenge of bringing technology into prison classrooms. It explains that incarcerated students need digital literacy to succeed after release, but prison security rules often limit access to the very tools students will need in modern work and education.
From Gangs to College
| Gail Cornwall | The Hechinger Report | June 24, 2025
This article profiles a program that helped young people connected to gangs move toward higher education. It highlights how targeted support, mentorship, and college access can redirect lives away from violence and into long-term opportunity.
Math Can Be a Path to Success After Prison
| The Hechinger Report | The Hechinger Report | March 7, 2025
This article argues that math education can be part of reentry success. It connects basic academic skills to confidence, employability, and the broader evidence that prison education reduces recidivism and improves post-release outcomes.
It Used to Be a Notoriously Violent Prison. Now It’s Home to a First-of-Its-Kind Higher Education Program
| Wayne D’Orio | The Hechinger Report | November 12, 2024
This article tells the story of Cal Poly Humboldt’s bachelor’s program at Pelican Bay State Prison. It shows how education can transform prison culture, create hope, and give incarcerated people a serious pathway toward personal growth and future reentry.
A Promising Jail Reentry Program Revisited
| ISSUP | International Society of Substance Use Professionals | June 30, 2025
This article summarizes research on a jail reentry program that addressed common post-release challenges such as housing, employment, substance use treatment, and mental health care. It shows how coordinated support can reduce the instability that often leads people back into jail.
Community Reentry Program Characteristics Associated with Improved Outcomes
| E. Taylor | Taylor & Francis / Journal of Offender Rehabilitation | 2025
This study examines Missouri’s Community Reentry Initiative and looks at which program features are associated with better reentry outcomes. It adds useful research evidence to discussions about what kinds of support actually help people succeed after incarceration.
Restorative Diversion: Victim Youth Conferencing Effects on Youth Reoffending
| A. Hobbs | Taylor & Francis | 2025
This study looks at restorative conferencing for youth and its effects on accountability and reoffending. It highlights how victim-youth conferences can result in reparation agreements and can provide a constructive alternative to traditional juvenile punishment.
The Effect of Restorative Justice Interventions for Children and Young People on Offending and Reoffending
This systematic review examines whether restorative justice interventions reduce children’s and young people’s involvement in crime and violence. It is useful for understanding the evidence base behind youth diversion, restorative conferencing, and community-based accountability.
Statewide Youth Diversion Report 2025
This report examines youth diversion practices across Washington State. It focuses on expanding alternatives that keep young people out of the formal justice system and connect them to support, accountability, and developmentally appropriate interventions.
Ten Juveniles Complete Webb County Rehabilitation Program
| Laredo Morning Times | Laredo Morning Times | June 2026
This local article reports on young people graduating from Webb County’s Youth Success Court, a rehabilitation program focused on substance abuse, counseling, supervision, and family support. It presents youth justice as a chance to recover and grow rather than simply punish.
Midland County Court Awarded $100K to Launch Youth Diversion Program
| Midland Daily News | Midland Daily News | 2025
This article describes a Michigan grant to create a youth diversion program for low-risk youth. The program aims to respond to status offenses and early misconduct with positive youth development and community support instead of formal court involvement.
Inside San Francisco’s New Restorative Justice Hub
| Megan Rose Dickey | Axios San Francisco | August 4, 2025
This article profiles San Francisco’s restorative justice center, which serves youth, survivors, formerly incarcerated people, and families affected by incarceration. The center combines therapy, diversion, reentry help, and community healing in one welcoming space.
Victoria Police Backs Cautions Over Charges for Young Offenders
| The Australian | The Australian | 2025
This article reports on a youth cautioning and diversion model in Victoria, Australia. The program uses warnings and support instead of criminal charges for some young people, aiming to reduce reoffending and prevent early justice-system contact from becoming a lifelong burden.
People Think Prison Is for Rehabilitation. It Is All Lies: Could Community Service Work Better Than Jail?
| Joe Parkin Daniels | The Guardian | June 1, 2025
This article examines Colombia’s effort to let some incarcerated women serve community-service sentences instead of remaining in prison. It focuses on poor women affected by drug laws and asks whether rehabilitation, family stability, and public safety are better served by alternatives to incarceration.
Michigan Expands Program to Help Jailed People Obtain State IDs
| Joey Cappelletti | Associated Press | September 23, 2025
This article reports on Michigan’s effort to help people leaving jail obtain driver’s licenses or state identification cards. It shows how something as basic as an ID can be essential for finding work, housing, transportation, benefits, and stability after incarceration.
Second Chance Month 2025
| Prison Fellowship | Prison Fellowship | May 27, 2025
This article describes Second Chance Month events and stories from 2025, including gatherings led by formerly incarcerated people. It emphasizes public awareness, testimony, community support, and the belief that people should not be permanently defined by past mistakes.
Prison Fellowship Convenes Day of Action Urging Congress to Pass Second Chance Month Resolution
| Prison Fellowship | Prison Fellowship | April 1, 2025
This article describes a national advocacy day in which formerly incarcerated leaders and supporters urged Congress to recognize Second Chance Month. It connects personal stories to policy changes that reduce barriers to reintegration.
Prison Fellowship’s Statement After United States Senate Declares April 2025 as Second Chance Month
| Prison Fellowship | Prison Fellowship | April 29, 2025
This statement reports on the Senate’s 2025 Second Chance Month resolution and highlights the broad movement for reentry support. It emphasizes that people with criminal records often face thousands of barriers long after completing their sentences.
Second Chance Pell: Six Years of Expanding Higher Education Programs in Prison
| N. Taber and others | Vera Institute of Justice | 2023
This report reviews the Second Chance Pell initiative, which expanded access to federal financial aid for incarcerated students. It shows how college-in-prison programs can support rehabilitation, personal development, and stronger reentry outcomes.
How College in Prison Is Changing Lives
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | June 21, 2023
This article explains how prison higher education can transform individual lives and prison environments. It discusses the return of Pell Grant access and the potential for incarcerated students to earn degrees that help them succeed after release.
Imprisoned Students to Get Pell Grant Access This Summer
| Katherine Knott | Inside Higher Ed | May 3, 2023
This article explains the restoration of Pell Grant access for incarcerated students. It frames prison education as a major second-chance policy, allowing people in prison to pursue college credentials that can improve reentry prospects.
Reinstating Pell Grants in Prisons Moves Slowly After 26-Year Ban
| Sara Weissman | Inside Higher Ed | November 17, 2023
This article looks at the slow implementation of restored Pell Grants for incarcerated students. It shows that policy change is only the first step; colleges, corrections agencies, and students still need practical systems that make education access real.
‘A Second Prison’: People Face Hidden Dead Ends When They Pursue Careers Post-Incarceration
| Tara García Mathewson | The Hechinger Report | July 28, 2023
This article examines occupational licensing barriers that block formerly incarcerated people from many careers. It shows how people can complete training or education only to discover that old convictions still prevent them from working in their chosen field.
People Need Transportation Access After Release from Jail and Prison
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | October 5, 2023
This article explains how lack of transportation can derail reentry. Without reliable transportation, people leaving incarceration may struggle to get to work, treatment, court dates, family obligations, and basic services.
Second Chance Policies Help Individuals Leaving Incarceration Build Financial Security
| Center for American Progress | Center for American Progress | April 5, 2023
This article argues that second-chance policies can help people leaving incarceration build financial stability. It focuses on education, workforce training, wraparound services, and reforms that allow people to participate fully in the labor market.
Expanding Access to Basic Reentry Services Will Improve Health, Well-Being, and Public Safety
| Center for American Progress | Center for American Progress | October 29, 2024
This article makes the case for basic reentry supports such as health care, medication, case management, treatment, and job placement assistance. It shows how reentry is not only a criminal justice issue but also a public health and community stability issue.
Enhancing Reentry Support Programs Through Digital Literacy Integration
| Aakash Gautam, Khushboo Gandhi, Jessica Eileen Sendejo | arXiv | May 24, 2024
This paper examines how digital literacy support can improve reentry programs. It highlights how formerly incarcerated people often face technological barriers that affect employment, services, finances, and everyday independence after release.
Breaking the Cycle of Incarceration With Targeted Mental Health Outreach
| Kit T. Rodolfa and others | arXiv | September 17, 2025
This paper describes a collaboration using data-informed outreach to connect people at high risk of reincarceration with mental health support. It points to the importance of treatment, homelessness services, and proactive community care in breaking cycles of jail involvement.
A Second Chance at Schooling
| R. A. Campbell | UC Davis Department of Economics | 2025
This research paper estimates the effects of prison education on outcomes such as reincarceration, employment, and future education. It adds economic evidence to the argument that education behind bars can produce long-term benefits.
Correctional Education Policy Impact
| RAND Corporation | RAND Corporation | Undated
This RAND summary explains that correctional education can reduce recidivism and improve post-release employment outcomes. It is a strong evidence-based source for prison education as a practical second-chance strategy.
The Case for Correctional Education in U.S. Prisons
| Doug Irving | RAND Corporation | January 3, 2016
This article summarizes research showing that people who participate in prison education are less likely to return to prison and more likely to find employment. It makes the public-safety and cost-saving case for expanding education behind bars.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education
| Lois M. Davis and others | RAND Corporation | August 22, 2013
This major RAND report reviews evidence on correctional education and post-release outcomes. It found that education programs are associated with lower recidivism and better employment prospects, making it a key source for prison rehabilitation policy.
How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go from Here?
| Lois M. Davis and others | RAND Corporation | March 18, 2014
This follow-up report explores the evidence for correctional education and identifies future research needs. It supports the idea that education is one of the strongest tools available for rehabilitation and successful reentry.
Higher Education Programs in Prison
| Lois M. Davis | RAND Corporation | 2019
This policy perspective discusses higher education in prison and the importance of programs such as Second Chance Pell. It explains why postsecondary education can help incarcerated students prepare for life after release.
Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary Education
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | 2019
This report examines prison-to-college pathways and the implementation of postsecondary education programs behind bars. It highlights how incarcerated students can benefit from academic preparation, advising, and continuity after release.
Making the Grade: Developing Quality Postsecondary Education Programs in Prison
| Ruth Delaney and others | Vera Institute of Justice | 2016
This report provides guidance for building strong college programs in prison. It emphasizes quality, coordination between colleges and corrections agencies, and the importance of treating incarcerated students as serious learners.
Investing in Futures: Economic and Fiscal Benefits of Postsecondary Education in Prison
| Patrick Oakford and others | Vera Institute of Justice | 2019
This report analyzes the economic and fiscal benefits of college education in prison. It argues that postsecondary education can improve employment outcomes, reduce reincarceration, and generate savings for states and communities.
Prison Education Saved My Life and Stopped an Environmental Cycle of Incarceration
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | May 11, 2018
This personal article connects prison education to transformation and community repair. It shows how learning can help incarcerated people develop purpose, prepare for release, and interrupt cycles of incarceration.
Formerly Incarcerated People Deserve Second Chances. I’m Living Proof.
| William Freeman III | The Education Trust | May 12, 2022
This first-person article describes the barriers faced by a formerly incarcerated college student and argues that second chances must be real, not just symbolic. It highlights education as a path to dignity, achievement, and social contribution.
Second Chances Are Real. Let’s Make Sure More Students Get Them
| The Education Trust | The Education Trust | September 25, 2019
This article profiles a career and college readiness program for incarcerated students and describes strong graduation and low recidivism outcomes. It presents education and job training as practical tools for reintegration.
From Prison to Dean’s List: How Danielle Metz Got an Education After Incarceration
| Casey Parks | The Hechinger Report | July 8, 2019
This article tells the story of Danielle Metz, who pursued education after incarceration and became part of a broader movement to expand college access for formerly incarcerated people. It shows how higher education can turn a second chance into a new life trajectory.
An Accredited College Inside San Quentin State Prison
| Sara Weissman | Inside Higher Ed | February 7, 2022
This article covers Mount Tamalpais College, an accredited college operating inside San Quentin State Prison. It shows how prison education can move beyond volunteer classes toward fully recognized college credentials.
The Connecticut Experiment
| Maurice Chammah | The Marshall Project | May 8, 2018
This article examines Connecticut’s TRUE program, which applies a different prison model for young adults. It reflects the idea that emerging adults need developmentally appropriate rehabilitation, mentorship, and responsibility rather than purely punitive incarceration.
Healing Communities Through Restorative Justice
This article explains how restorative justice can help communities address harm through dialogue, accountability, and healing. It frames justice as a process of repairing relationships rather than simply punishing individuals.
A Better Way Forward: How Diversion Programs Offer Youth Opportunities for Success
| Center for Public Justice | Center for Public Justice | June 24, 2021
This article explains how youth diversion can keep young people from deeper justice-system involvement. It argues that community-based responses, support services, and civil society partnerships can produce better outcomes than traditional juvenile punishment.
Diversion Programs Are a Smart, Sustainable Investment in Public Safety
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | April 28, 2022
This article makes the case that diversion programs improve public safety while reducing unnecessary incarceration. It highlights evidence that youth diversion can reduce future justice-system contact compared with conventional prosecution.
Diversion Programs, Explained
| Vera Institute of Justice | Vera Institute of Justice | April 28, 2022
This explainer describes what diversion programs are and how they work. It is useful for understanding how people can be held accountable while being connected to treatment, services, education, and community support instead of jail or prison.
Partnering with Jails to Improve Reentry
| A. Crayton and others | Urban Institute | 2010
This guidebook explains how community organizations can work with jails to support people returning home. It highlights partnerships with treatment providers, shelters, workforce programs, health clinics, and community colleges.
Outside the Walls
| Amy L. Solomon | Urban Institute | 2004
This publication follows the challenges faced by people returning from incarceration. It emphasizes the difficult transition from confinement to community life and the need for support systems that reduce the likelihood of returning to jail or prison.
Prisoner Reentry and Community Policing
| W. Dickey | Urban Institute | 2004
This paper explores how police and communities can support reentry using a more restorative model. It focuses on employment, respect, community connection, and the role of public safety agencies in helping people successfully return home.
The Dimensions, Pathways, and Consequences of Youth Reentry
| Daniel P. Mears and Jeremy Travis | Urban Institute | 2004
This report examines the challenges faced by young people returning from juvenile facilities and prisons. It emphasizes education, family support, community reintegration, and the special needs of youth and young adults.
The Practice and Promise of Prison Programming
| Sarah Lawrence and others | Urban Institute | 2002
This report reviews prison programming, including education, vocational training, substance abuse treatment, and behavioral programs. It is useful for understanding the long-running debate over rehabilitation inside prisons.
Transforming Prisons, Restoring Lives
| Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections | Urban Institute | January 11, 2016
This report argues for a federal corrections system more focused on rehabilitation, proportionality, and successful reentry. It includes testimony and policy recommendations aimed at reducing excessive punishment and restoring lives.
Transforming Prisons Through Research
| Urban Institute | Urban Institute | 2023
This report lays out a research agenda for making prisons more humane and effective. It asks how prison systems can support redemption, desistance, and reintegration rather than simply warehousing people.
Reentry Interventions That Address Substance Use
| K. E. Moore and others | National Library of Medicine / PMC | 2018
This scholarly article reviews reentry interventions for people with substance use needs. It highlights the importance of treatment continuity, health care, housing, and social support during the high-risk transition from incarceration to community life.
Advocating for the Use of Restorative Justice Practices
| J. M. Pavlacic and others | National Library of Medicine / PMC | 2021
This review explains restorative justice practices and their relevance in schools, communities, and justice settings. It describes how restorative approaches can promote accountability, repair harm, and reduce reliance on exclusionary punishment.
The Role of Restorative Justice in the Social Reintegration of Offenders in Kenya
| S. N. Waireri | Strathmore University | 2017
This thesis examines restorative justice and offender reintegration in Kenya. It is useful for a global perspective on how communities, justice institutions, and social support can help formerly incarcerated people return home successfully.
Resources: Prisoner Reentry Program
| Prison Fellowship | Prison Fellowship | Undated
This resource page provides practical guidance for people leaving prison and for communities that want to support them. It focuses on the everyday needs of reentry, including relationships, stability, faith communities, and staying out of prison after release.
