Justice Initiative Example

Coming later this Spring

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Do I have a Right to Feel Safe?

A vision for holistic safety in corrections

The criminal legal system’s primary tool for safety has been incarceration – a system that disproportionately impacts Black and Brown people, perpetuates violence, and causes reverberating harm to all communities.

Justice Initiatives focus on strategies to reduce incarceration and increase safety in all communities – including the ones behind the correctional walls – because of the magnitude of trauma and harm caused by the status quo.

Title of this chart

People under correctional control​

People working in corrections

Survivors of crime*​

Magnitude

People under correctional control​
1.8M
People currently incarcerated​

Source: Vera

6.7M
People under correctional control

Source: Prison Policy Org

20M
People with felony records who are still being punished after serving their sentence

Source: University of Chicago

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People working in corrections
400,000
Correctional officers​

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

90,000
Correctional treatment specialists and probation officers

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Survivors of crime*​
3.3M
Survivors of violent crime each year

Source: Department of Justice

Trauma

People under correctional control​
99%
Of incarcerated men have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime​

Source: Square One Project

People working in corrections
34%
Of correctional officers meet criteria for PTSD, 2x the incidence seen in military personnel​

Source: U.S. Department of Justice National Institute Corrections

Survivors of crime*​
90%
Of survivors of gun violence report experiencing trauma from the incident

Source: Everytown Survivor Network

*It is important to note that these groups overlap – many people under correctional control, correctional staff, and members of the broader community are also survivors of crime​

We are all affected by the trauma within jails and prisons

Stat Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Prison Policy Initiative, The Square One Project

Therefore, we take a three-pronged approach to empowering people with lived experience to help increase our collective safety

Community Investment

Investing in the people and communities most impacted by incarceration, both in their own healing as well as their hyperlocal solutions aimed at reducing incarceration.

See All Our Investments
Youth Advocate Programs Inc.
YAP is able to provide 400+ young Chicagoans with neighborhood-based mentor-advocates trained to help youth realize their strengths and connect them with resources that help firm their foundation
Solutions and Resources
S&R aims to provide multi-level, and multi-faceted, solutions and resources to communities, and individuals in need or crisis
Lawndale Christian Legal Center
LCLC provides community-based holistic legal and social services to minors and emerging adults at every step of the juvenile and adult criminal justice system
IMAN
IMAN developed and piloted their first Youth Leadership Home, a safe house for young men in high-risk situations to go to when their lives depend on it
Dovetail Project
With Dovetail, we’re backing the fight for fatherhood, and supporting the importance of investing in Dads in our community.
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System Change

Increasing present-day safety for the people confined by and working in correctional institutions and their families while we move toward the ultimate goal of decarceration.

Beyond Incarceration
Our steps to support the 37,000 silent victims of incarceration in Cook County - children​
Harm Reduction at the Center of Corrections
Coming Soon
Holistic Safety Vision
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Reimagination

Elevating advocates closest to the harms of incarceration who are campaigning for ways to radically reimagine and build toward a more holistic vision of justice that transcends our current system.

Unpacking: The History of Racial Criminalization in the American Justice System
A conversation with Khalil Gibran Muhammad - Professor of History, Race, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School - exploring what role we all can play in radically revolutionizing a criminal justice system away from its roots of racial criminalization
Breaking down the 'us vs. them' mentality
Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia Discusses Criminal Justice Reform on the Zerlina Show​
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Prominent movement leaders partnered with us in this work

Advisory Council

We cannot do this work alone.

Let us build together.

Do you have ideas on how to promote safety and healing?

We welcome you to connect with us to learn more about our work and share your own ideas.​

Please connect with us by clicking here.​