Could Second Chance hiring fix the labor shortage?

Second chance hiring could be a way to provide opportunity to justice involved people and help build a resilient workforce. According to the Chamber of Commerce, one in three adults (about 77 million Americans) have a criminal record. That’s a lot of qualified applicants knocked out of the job market with an estimated $78-$87 billion […]

Second Chance Act of North Carolina

In 2020, The Second Chance Act was passed unanimously by the NC General Assembly. The bill expands eligibility for expunging multiple nonviolent misdemeanor convictions, and automates expungement of certain dismissed or “not guilty” charges. The Second Chance Act also allows prosecutors to petition for expungement for dismissed or “not guilty” charges and “youthful convictions”. Why […]

Walking into freedom

This morning, she walks out of the door for the last time. Over the last two years, she worked diligently to set herself up for success. What does successful re-entry look like? The next few days, weeks, and months will hold a lot of “firsts”: How can we create a welcoming community for residents navigating […]

Why community is important

Families and social support networks play a critical role in a returning citizen’s transition from incarceration to the community, and research on family-inclusive re-entry models has been promising.  While families can provide for immediate needs such as housing, they can also create connections to employment and community services. What if a strong family support system […]

What’s a Release Card?

Rounding out our January series from Prison Policy Initiative, what’s a Release Card? When a person leaves a correctional facility, they often receive their funds, which include wages earned while incarcerated, support from family members, or money they possessed when arrested, on a pre-paid debit card. While pre-paid debit cards are common, it might be […]

Seeing the change in all of us

Alisha is one of our newest Ruth Snyder Home residents. The week she arrived, we went to Camino’s thrift store to get some clothes and then on to the food bank for pickup. At the food bank, the distribution workers were efficient and well organized, but the small parking lot was a hot mess. Getting […]

The power of film in sharing the incarceration journey

Last week, Changed Choices partnered with Matthews United Methodist Church in hosting a showing of The Sentence. This documentary gives a behind the scenes view of the impact of mandatory minimum sentencing on women and families. Our audience engaged with powerful questions, and eager to hear more. Being Free, by Roadtrip Nation, follows three system-impacted […]

What does it take to reduce recidivism?

Recidivism is often used to measure the success of intervention programs. The RAND Corporation recently published, Providing Another Chance: Resetting Recidivism Risk in Criminal Background Checks, which proposes the novel reset principle can guide more accurate recidivism risk prediction for criminal background checks. Employers, landlords, and volunteer organizations routinely conduct criminal background checks to identify […]