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Focusing on Formerly Incarcerated People During the Pandemic

Prison Policy Initiative Sep 6, 2020
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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Focusing on Formerly Incarcerated People During the Pandemic Giving Compass
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Giving Compass’ Take:

• Wanda Bertram encourages policymakers to address amplified hardships affecting formerly incarcerated people during COVID-19.

• How has coronavirus caused homelessness among formerly incarcerated people to rise? What are you doing to support people released from prison equitably and effectively during the pandemic?

• Look for funds to support formerly incarcerated people during COVID-19.


The very same obstacles that make it hard for people released from prison to succeed also make it harder to stay safe from the coronavirus. At this moment, where it is well established that depopulating prisons and jails is critical for health and safety on both sides of the walls, it is critical that policymakers focus on the overlooked hardships faced by formerly incarcerated people. We review our research on the struggles of formerly incarcerated people on housing, income and employment, health care, communication, paying burdensome “supervision” fees and more and explain how these challenges are even greater during the pandemic.

As we reported in 2018, people who have been to prison are nearly 10 times more likely to be homeless than members of the public at large. Rates of homelessness, as one would expect, are highest among people released most recently.

Living without a stable home is even more dangerous than usual during a pandemic, when social distancing and hygiene are especially important. What’s more, people who are homeless risk being re-arrested for “quality of life” offenses such as sleeping in parks. Maintaining housing can even be a parole requirement, the violation of which can land someone back in prison.

Shelters and reentry organizations provide a stopgap to the problem of housing after prison. But even during “normal” times, these organizations are direly under-resourced, as we found in a 2019 investigation of reentry service providers for women. And during a pandemic, many of these organizations are bursting at the seams or have shut down entirely due to their funding being suspended. A housing official in Denver, for example, said that the pandemic, combined with mass releases, had turned the local shelter system “on its head.”

Read the full article about formerly incarcerated people during COVID-19 by Wanda Bertram at Prison Policy Initiative.

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If you are looking for more articles and resources for Coronavirus, take a look at these Giving Compass selections related to impact giving and Coronavirus.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    #HalfMyDAF: A Challenge to Donors to Unlock Capital for a Reimagined World

    [Photo credit: David and Jennifer Risher] Could a rhyming hashtag drive more donations to nonprofits? Launched in early May, #HalfMyDAF is the brainchild of philanthropists David and Jennifer Risher. With more than $120 billion sitting in Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) at a time when nonprofits are facing additional obstacles to fundraising because of COVID-19, the Rishers saw an opportunity to encourage more donors to shift money directly to nonprofits. The campaign challenges donors to commit half of their DAF dollars to nonprofits by Sept. 30. DAF holders can then nominate a nonprofit to be eligible for a matching grant up to $10,000. The Rishers will fund at least 100 nonprofits for a total of $1 million in additional funding. The matching grants will be made in two installments. In July, 50 nonprofits will be chosen from the list of nominations with the goal of getting funds to nonprofits more quickly. The second round will happen in September, in part, to give donors time to be thoughtful about the nonprofits they want to support, whether that means staying the course with their giving strategy or researching new nonprofits to support. As of May 11, more than $800,000 had been committed to nonprofits addressing a range of issues. While some of the donations are directly supporting COVID relief efforts -- food banks and program support -- #HalfMyDAF donors have also contributed to issues affecting systems change, such as affordable housing, LGBTQ rights, justice advocacy, and the environment. [Update: As of July l5, #HalfMyDAF Heroes gave a total of $3 million to 310 nonprofits in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Top categories for gifts overall are education, justice & equality, general community support, religious community support, medical, environmental, food security, and arts and humanities.] With so many pressing issues, the Rishers say there’s no time to wait. “The problems getting created by this crisis are not going to somehow get easier over time,” David Risher, founder of the nonprofit Worldreader, said. “Your biggest return on investment is going to be right now. Putting that money to work right now is going to help more people. It's going to help them in a deeper, better way than doing it in five, 10, or 20 years.” The Rishers echoed a common critique of DAFs: There is no sense of urgency to move money out of these accounts, even though the dollars have already been “spent.” According to the National Philanthropic Trust, account holders contributed more than $37 billion to these funds in 2018, but $23 billion was disbursed to nonprofits. “We could flip it around this year,” said David Risher. “That would be a huge ... fundamental change that would fund nonprofits for years to come.” With a simple goal of pushing more money to nonprofits, the Rishers said there’s been an unexpected result: More discussions about giving. “If we’re not talking about [money], it doesn’t exist,” Jennifer Risher said. “It’s an opportunity for families to talk about money in ways that maybe they hadn’t in the past. It will help free up the money that’s sitting there.” Although it’s early, the Rishers are already encouraged by conversations they’ve had with other donors who are interested in increasing their contributions, using their voice to address policy changes, or carrying this practice into future years. Reimagining A Better World As states begin to reopen and we shift our focus from relief to rebound, donors have a critical role to play in reimagining a more just world. COVID-19 has exposed the disparities in our society and exacerbated existing obstacles faced by marginalized communities. Here are three areas to consider when supporting nonprofits: Equity: Fund organizations led by people in the communities least well-served. Systems Change: Provide multi-year support to organizations that are addressing the structural and institutional root causes of issues. Effectiveness: Measure progress using quantitative and qualitative data, and ensuring the intended beneficiaries are at the decision-making table. “At a time of so much need and so much change, there's no better time to re-imagine the way the world works,” David Risher said. “You have the opportunity to do that really with your own action. _______ By Jen Jope, Editor-in-Chief at Giving Compass. 


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