Economic and Fiscal Benefits of Postsecondary Education in Prison
Efforts to build robust postsecondary education programs in prison have accelerated in recent years, with support from a broad range of groups from correctional officers to college administrators. This report describes how lifting the current ban on awarding Pell Grants to incarcerated people would benefit workers, employers, and states. Specifical...
Interactive data tool on policing trends at the national and local levels
Prison in America causes individual, community, and generational pain and deprivation. Built on a system of racist policies and practices that has disproportionately impacted people of color, mass incarceration has decimated communities and families. But the harsh conditions within prisons neither ensure safety behind the walls nor prevent crime an...
Unlocking Police Data on Arrests
The launch of Arrest Trends marks Vera’s most recent effort to reduce the criminal justice system’s footprint—by unlocking key policing data and, in doing so, elevating the narrative of overreliance on arrests and the need for viable alternatives. In this report, readers will find information about the need for greater access to policing data, an o...
Data Tool Demonstration Video
The Vera Institute of Justice has created an interactive data tool for unlocking decades of police data on arrests at the national and local levels. In this video, Vera's Policing Program Director, Rebecca Neusteter, introduces the Arrest Trends data tool and its basic features.
This report provides detailed information on why and how the Arrest Trends tool was developed, including data sources and methodology, available year ranges and geographic levels, differences between reported and estimated data, and offense definitions. Read the report to learn more, and explore the interactive Arrest Trends tool at http://arresttr...
Annual Report 2018
Findings and Recommendations for the Virginia Department of Corrections
In recent years, a diverse range of corrections practitioners, national and international organizations, policymakers, and the public have called for reform of restrictive housing (also known as segregation or solitary confinement) in prisons and jails. They cite the potentially devastating psychological and physiological impacts of spending 22 to ...
Annual Report 2018
The Vera Institute of Justice is working to radically transform incarceration in America by replacing punishing practices with an approach that prioritizes compassion, true accountability, healing, restoration, opportunity, and hope. Learn more about our commitment to human dignity in our annual report 2018.
The SAFE Network is a diverse group of local jurisdictions dedicated to providing publicly funded representation for people facing deportation. This short video describes the need for and impact of SAFE from the perspective of network members and those directly impacted—local government leaders, attorneys, and clients.
Compiled from publicly-available data, these infographics present a “Profile of the foreign-born population” for each of the jurisdictions in the Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) Network—a diverse group of localities dedicated to providing publicly-funded representation for people facing deportation. The data presented here reveals the criti...
Vera president with Deray McKesson of Pod Save the People
Reflecting upon lessons learned from a study tour of prison systems abroad, Vera President Nicholas Turner and Deray McKesson of Pod Save the People discuss the possibilities and realities of transforming America's prison system.
A Toolkit for Advocates, Organizers, Legal Service Providers, and Policymakers
Opportunities in the District of Columbia
People with mental health and substance use problems are overrepresented at all stages of the criminal justice system in the United States. However, decision makers, health care providers, and staff often work with only a fraction of the behavioral health information that exists about their clients. Expanding the availability of behavioral health d...