Giving Compass' Take:

• People with disabilities are overrepresented and overlooked populations in jails, but a report by Access Living suggests first steps toward addressing the gaps.

• How can we increase storytelling and advocacy opportunities for people with disabilities who have had contact with the criminal justice system?

• Read about preparing students with disabilities for success.

People with disabilities are overrepresented in jail populations, but jails often overlook their needs, according to a report by Access Living. The report makes eight recommendations to begin addressing the gaps in services and accessibility, including increased advocacy, bringing a cross-disability lens to decisions and accommodations, training staff, and improving data transparency. Access Living, a grantee, emphasizes the need for systems change with meaningful alternatives to incarceration and police intervention for people in crisis who do not pose public safety concerns.

It is important to note that many people find it extremely difficult to tell their story about jail incarceration. While only some stories were shared on the record, all the stories carried common themes: off-the-record storytellers were most concerned with anonymity for fear of retaliation, further criminalization, job loss, loss of academic opportunities, further stigmatization and potentially discriminatory consequences, plus ill treatment by police, probation officers and jail staff.

Most justice-involved interviewees with disabilities that we talked to came from disinvested, inaccessible neighborhoods. Most were people of color. None were asked if they needed an accommodation when they first came into contact with the system. All believed that being incarcerated made their disabilities worse and created new disabilities. All experienced some form of financial instability prior to or after incarceration. All felt that their experience as a person of color and/or a person with a disability made the interaction with the criminal justice system worse. All felt the medical care provided while incarcerated was inadequate.

Read the full article about disability and incarceration by Access Living via the MacArthur Foundation.