Providing Second Chances
America is a nation founded on the idea of second chances, yet we close doors that lead to a better life for a whole segment of the population. People with criminal convictions are stigmatized in the labor market and barred from specific jobs, unable to vote, and shut out of public housing.
But policies once rationalized as just desserts and good for public safety increasingly are viewed as counter-productive. Key arenas for creating second chances are in higher education and housing. What we’ve found: The payoff of bringing college back into prison, and using it as a sturdy bridge to support reentry. And that many people caught up in the justice system and then barred from public housing can live there safely with their families without compromising the safety of other residents—and that welcoming them is the smart thing to do.
Issue
Spotlights
Featured
Investing in Futures
Economic and Fiscal Benefits of Postsecondary Education in Prison
Efforts to build robust postsecondary education programs in prison have accelerated in recent years, with support from a broad range of groups from correctional officers to college administrators. This report, which is the result of a collaborative effort with the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, describes how lifting the current ban on ...
Opening Doors to Public Housing
Expanding Access for People with Conviction Histories
Access to safe, affordable housing is essential to the success of people in reentry and their families. For people leaving prison or jail or those with conviction histories who want to reunify with their family members in public housing or apply for housing themselves, admissions criteria can be a serious barrier. Federal guidelines leave many poli ...
Project
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Margaret diZerega
College in Prison
Postsecondary education opportunities for incarcerated people
Research suggests that education is key to improving many long-term outcomes for incarcerated people, their families, and their communities—including reducing recidivism and increasing employability and earnings after release. To improve the lives of incarcerated people and decrease the collateral consequences of incarceration, Vera works nationwid ...
Project
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Margaret diZerega
Related Work
America is Ready to Reinstate Pell Grants for Students in Prison
In a divisive political season, voters agreed on at least one thing: college in prison is a good idea and there should be more of it. In the November 2020 American Election Eve Poll conducted by Latino Decisions, the African American Research Collaborative, Asian American Decisions, and the National Congress of American Indians in partnership with ...
Blog Post
Brian Walsh
Ruth Delaney
Government Leaders Must Meet Voters’ Demands for Justice with Meaningful Change
Black voters played a pivotal role in this election, which President-elect Biden acknowledged during his acceptance speech, promising to have their backs. There is no doubt that these voters see justice reform as a top priority. The Vera Institute of Justice—in partnership with Latino Decisions, the African American Research Collaborative, Asian ...
Blog Post
Nicholas Turner
First Class
Starting a Postsecondary Education Program in Prison
In April 2020, the U.S. Department of Education expanded the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative, adding 67 new higher education institutions to the program’s already operating 63 colleges offering postsecondary education programs in prison. Starting a college program in prison is a significant undertaking that will profoundly affect t ...
I Didn’t Care about Voting until My Incarceration Showed Me How Much it Matters
I was sentenced to life in the South Carolina Department of Corrections for murder at age 19, and it was during my incarceration that I realized just how important knowledge of politics is—and how the power of voting can greatly impact the lives of many. I was listening to a conversation among other incarcerated people and overheard an older man ta ...
Felony Disenfranchisement Suppresses the Votes of Black and Latinx Americans
On April 18, 2018, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order restoring voting rights to formerly incarcerated people on parole. I will never forget the day my parole officer handed me my conditional pardon papers. From then on, I made it my responsibility not only to vote, but to understand the issues and research each candidate’s platform. B ...
Blog Post
Dyjuan Tatro
Series: Target 2020
Voters in Battleground States Favor Restoring Pell Grants for People in Prison
These battleground state voters seem to understand that reinstating Pell eligibility for the greatest number of people in prison is a sound investment in our future. Plenty of other influential voices agree. Bipartisan momentum to get rid of the Pell ban for people in prison has been growing steadily: Since early 2019, the Association of State Cor ...
Blog Post
Margaret diZerega
Series: Unlocking Potential
Transformed by Access to College in Prison
Twenty-eight years ago, I was sentenced to life without parole and began serving time in California. Around that same time, after the 1994 Crime Bill was enacted—ending Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated students—I saw cuts to all kinds of programs, including educational ones. Going to school and getting a college degree seemed out of the ques ...
Beyond the Statistics and into the Hearts of Incarcerated Students
In 2010, I was blessed with the opportunity to enroll in my first college courses from the confines of a maximum-security prison. Just seven months before meeting my professor for our first class, I had been sentenced to serve 17 years for the harm I had caused to another man and to both of our communities. When I began my college experience, the P ...
Election 2020
Justice Is on the Ballot
Series: Target 2020
Postsecondary Education in Prison is a Racial Equity Strategy
Consider who is most impacted by mass incarceration: Black people make up 13 percent of the country’s population, but more than one-third of people in prison. Latinx people constitute 18.5 percent of the country’s population, but account for 23.4 percent of people in prison. Currently, one in three Black men without a high school diploma or GED wil ...
Blog Post
Margaret diZerega
George Chochos
Flyers for Public Housing Authorities on Reentry Housing
Public housing authorities are changing their policies to increase access for people with conviction histories—making communities, housing developments, and families safer. The Oklahoma City Housing Authority and the Lafayette Housing Authority recently reexamined their admissions policies to improve access. Both housing authorities are partners in ...
Series: Target 2020
The Party Platforms Must Address the Urgent Need to Transform American Criminal Justice
America’s justice system is rooted in the nation’s history of slavery and racial oppression and applying a human dignity lens is necessary to achieve transformational change. This perspective values the intrinsic worth of human life and a person’s ability to grow and change. In that spirit, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) urges important party ...
Blog Post
Hayne Yoon
Logan Schmidt