Jun 3, 2013 This is the second in a two-part series.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC) operates and contracts with an extensive network of Community Corrections Centers (CCCs) and Community Contract Facilities (CCFs), often referred to as halfway houses. About half of inmates paroled from state prison in Pennsylvania will transition through one...
May 28, 2013 Call me naïve. When someone mentions "sentencing and corrections"—a popular term in the age of mass incarceration—I assume they are describing a system of justice that does what the name suggests: sentence and correct. In other words, sentencing that hold offenders accountable, and a corrections system that implements sanctions and prepares people for reintegration back into society. Without the latter, we risk perpetually cycling people in and out of the...
May 24, 2013 I met Rick Kern soon after I started working at Vera in 2008. Rick had a long-standing relationship with Vera, and he served as an associate with Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections for many, many years. Rick was our “go-to guy” on just about every sentencing and corrections topic—sentencing commissions, risk assessments, pre-sentence investigations, sentencing guidelines, and fiscal impact statements, among others. When I routinely called him...
May 22, 2013 By Olivia Sideman, research analyst, Substance Use and Mental Health Program
In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gideon v Wainwright that the states are required to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants who cannot afford to pay for a private attorney. In the 50 years since the Gideon ruling, there have been far-reaching improvements to representation for indigent defendants. Increased state,...
May 20, 2013 This is the first in a two-part series.
In Pennsylvania, approximately one in every 200 adults is incarcerated in state prison, and more than 90 percent of those incarcerated will one day be released from prison. At the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC), we recently completed a comprehensive ...
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May 8, 2013 On Sunday, families around the country will celebrate Mother’s Day. For people like me who are far away from home, we will likely use low-cost, convenient technology to call our mothers, say hello, and wish them a happy Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, for more than 65,000 incarcerated mothers, a low-cost phone call is not possible. As a recent news...
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May 1, 2013 April marked the national rollout of the Family-Youth Initiative (FYI). FYI is a joint project of the Vera Institute of Justice and the Performance-based Standards Learning Institute (PbSLi) that sets standards for juvenile justice...
