The design and nature of mass incarceration in America and the culture that sustains it are among the most profound, most unyielding, and least addressed problems for justice today. We warehouse 2.2 million people in cramped, unhealthy spaces devoid of natural light, fresh air, healthy food, and connection to community and family. This is a direct consequence of a 400-year through-line of systemic racial oppression and white supremacy in America. In this age of mass incarceration and the surging momentum to end it, we must also commit to a national movement to disrupt the American prison system.

Restoring Promise, an initiative of the Vera Institute of Justice and MILPA, works with prisons and jails to address the root causes and consequences of mass incarceration in how it manifests in prisons and jails. We work directly with prisons and jails to transform the culture, climate, rhythms and routines that define the prison system, starting with young adults. Young adults are “mentees” who participate in meaningful daily activities, deepen their connection to their culture and healing, cultivate an ideology of self-determination, and restore relationships with family and community. Mentors (people over the age of 25) support them in their personal growth. Staff undergo intensive training to become agents of change in support of this mission. We believe that we can begin to bring the prison reform movement to a critical tipping point: within each housing unit, prison, and state we have worked in, we hear incarcerated people, corrections staff, and agency leadership reflect “we can’t and won’t go back.” Our goal is nothing short of igniting that sentiment into a wave led by incarcerated people and line staff.

Currently in prisons and jails in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and South Carolina, this critical work is supported in part by a new grant from Arnold Ventures, which will allow the Restoring Promise initiative to expand to three more states, launch the national communications campaign, and expand the evidence base around prison reform.