May - 2020

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Homeless Advocacy Project Shares Stimulus Payment Guide and Instructional Video for Non-Filers

Homeless Advocacy Project Shares Stimulus Payment Guide and Instructional Video for Non-Filers

This guide is specifically for people who do not typically need to file taxes: Individuals who made LESS THAN $12,200 in 2019. Married Couples who made less than $24,400 in 2019. SSI & SSDI Recipients and VA Beneficiaries will automatically receive $1,200. However, if you have dependents, you must use this form in order to receive additional money for your dependents. If you have questions about your eligibility and you are currently experiencing homelessness or did not have

Philadelphia Participatory Defense Hub Schedules

Philadelphia Participatory Defense Hub Schedules

Community-based Participatory Defense Hubs are available to help individuals who face charges navigate the criminal justice system. Trained Hub leaders help participants gain a deeper understanding of the justice process, anticipate what is expected from them at each stage, and prepare for meetings with their attorney and their hearings. Many Hubs have online meetings during the pandemic. See Zoom links below. Defender Association of Philadelphia offers Know-Your-Systems Trai

Center for Carceral Communities is Giving People Free Smartphones When They Get Out of Jail

Center for Carceral Communities is Giving People Free Smartphones When They Get Out of Jail

Dozens of people released from Philadelphia jails since the pandemic began have gotten a phone call from Herb Baker. Sometimes they don’t pick up. Understandable, Baker thinks — it’s a complete stranger calling. So he leaves a message introducing himself. He’s a 55-year-old barber, paralegal and peer counselor. Last year, he walked out just like they did after spending 35 years behind bars. “I’ve been where you’re at,” Baker says into the voicemail, “and I understand there’s

Help Returning Citizens and Their Families Access Relief and Financial Assistance Programs

Help Returning Citizens and Their Families Access Relief and Financial Assistance Programs

In case you missed it, Community Legal Services and Office of Reentry Partnerships collaborated to host a virtual info session to highlight COVID-19 relief and assistance programs currently available to Philadelphians. This included what each one is, eligibility, how to get assistance, and barriers specific to people with court involvement. In the interest of getting information out to as many people as possible, we are sharing a recording of the webinar, the slides that w

Even Before COVID-19, The Number of People Dying in Prison Was on the Rise

Even Before COVID-19, The Number of People Dying in Prison Was on the Rise

Outbreaks of coronavirus have hit prison populations particularly hard – but for many inmates in the U.S., illness and the prospect of dying behind bars already existed. Advocacy groups have flagged concerns about disease transmission, lack of medical care and deaths in custody as a result of COVID-19. But deaths in custody are not a new phenomena and the process of dying with dignity while incarcerated is complicated. I have spent a significant amount of time examining corre

Preparing People for Reentry: Checklist for Correctional Facilities

Preparing People for Reentry: Checklist for Correctional Facilities

In light of COVID-19, correctional facilities are tasked with even more critical and time-sensitive decisions. Jail and prison officials, along with their criminal justice partners, are quickly working to reduce the number of incarcerated people to mitigate the spread of the virus among people who are in custody as well as those who work in correctional facilities. To help reduce some of these risks, The Council of States Governments (CSG) Justice Center worked with the Natio

A Look into Court-Based Behavioral Health Diversion Interventions

A Look into Court-Based Behavioral Health Diversion Interventions

Recognizing that people with behavioral health needs are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, many communities have developed alternatives to incarceration that connect eligible people to community-based treatment and supports. While efforts around preventing people from entering the criminal justice system and developing law enforcement diversion interventions are critical to connecting people to treatment community wide, this brief focuses on diversion efforts le

No Photo ID, No Services: Coronavirus Poses Steep Hurdles After Prison

No Photo ID, No Services: Coronavirus Poses Steep Hurdles After Prison

Christie Thompson - May 26, 2020 Michael Albuja had only been in Illinois state prison for 18 months when he came home April 28, hoping to pick up his life where he left off. But he returned to Chicago’s Northside missing something small but crucial: photo identification. With government offices closed in a statewide partial shutdown, he has no idea when he might get an ID. Albuja used to work as a forklift operator for a printing company, a job he says was waiting for him wh

Virtual Info Session: Family Reunification Program – June 4

Pennsylvania Prisons to Begin Lifting Lock Downs Without Universal Testing

Pennsylvania Prisons to Begin Lifting Lock Downs Without Universal Testing

Samantha Melamed - May 29, 2020 Pennsylvania state prisons — which have been locked down for nearly two months, keeping most prisoners in their cells at least 23 hours a day — will begin returning to a new normal on May 26 as coronavirus infections ebb across much of the state. “I don’t think it’s smart to keep a whole system locked down,” Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said Friday, outlining a plan that would gradually increase movement of prisoners as counties across Pen

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