Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed two long-awaited pieces of criminal justice legislation into law on December 18, 2019: Senate Bill (SB) 500, which will improve county-run probation systems, and SB 501, which will streamline the process for placing people in substance addiction treatment, lead to new probation sentencing guidelines, and make other improvements to sentencing statutes. Together, these bills are expected to...

Alicia Nieves - January 24, 2020

Schools and prisons probably shouldn’t have much in common, but research on what’s known as the “school-to-prison pipeline” shows a concerning connection.

“Once we put a kid into that system, many of them never get out. A large percent of them, sometimes 50 percent of them, will stay in the system the rest of their lives,” said Kevin Bethel. “I said I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Bethel is a veteran c...

Join PathWays PA & New Century Trust to see the new Self-Sufficiency Standard!

Census data tells us that 26% of Philadelphia households live in poverty. In reality, even more households in Philadelphia - and across Pennsylvania - don't have the income they need to reach self-sufficiency. 

Since 1997, PathWays PA has worked with Dr. Diana Pearce to calculate The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Pennsylvania. Over the last 23 years,...

Samantha Melamed - January 23, 2020

As traffic roared down the four-lane road bisecting a bleak industrial corner of Chester, Terrance Lewis, 41, stood on the broken sidewalk outside the prison and gazed about, as if taking in a dazzling view. It was his first unobstructed look toward the horizon in decades.

It was May 2019, and Lewis had been imprisoned, by his calculation, for 21 years, five months, five days, 11 hours.

The day...

Efforts to remove questions about previous convictions from employment applications have little effect on recidivism, a new study finds.

Ryan Sherrand, an economics professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, examined data from states and jurisdictions that have passed “Ban the Box” (BTB) policies from 2000 to 2016 and found “little evidence that BTB policies are reducing recidivism.”

In recent years, politicians a...

The Facilities Technician’s role is to ensure that Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site’s facilities are safe, operational, well maintained, and suitable for all visitors and ESPHS staff. The Facilities Technician reports to the Facilities Maintenance Manager.

Responsibilities:

• Waste/Recycling – ensure site trash cans are emptied at regular intervals

• Landscaping – ensure greenery on site is maintained • Snow/Ice...

"At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better. We’re delivering on this through our responsible growth strategy with a focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. As part of this work, we develop strong partnerships with nonprofit organizations addressing issues fundamental to economic mobility and social progress in low- and moderate-income communities. In respon...

Philadelphia’s Rebuild program has just announced this new pathway to union building trades apprenticeships that requires an online application by Feb 7th.  See details below.

The Rebuild program is cultivating a pre-screened, vetted applicant pool that Rebuild can draw from when construction job openings on Rebuild sites emerge.  

This program offers:

• Accelerated placement with union contractors and/or union apprenticeships

  ...

Samantha Melamed - January 16, 2020

For LaTonya Myers, receiving a citation from Mayor Jim Kenney in 2018 for her work as the Defender Association of Philadelphia’s first-ever Bail Navigator felt like the moment she’d finally overcome her past — the 2011 conviction on drug- and gun-possession charges and the 14-year sentence of prison, probation, and parole that followed.

Then, she got a notice in the mail: She was in violation...

DBHIDS has launched an online training designed to help providers address issues connected to domestic and intimate partner violence and its impact on participants. Topics range from common misconceptions about domestic violence to response strategies to domestic violence and intimate partner violence.

To learn more and access the training, click here.