Vera works with government and community partners across the country to advance research, analyze policy, pilot programs, and implement solutions on the ground. Working on nearly 60 projects in 40 states, Vera is committed to developing solutions to the most pressing injustices of our day. This page encompasses all of Vera’s work in Virginia, and any related news coverage.
Fines and fees imposed by state, county, and municipal justice systems place an enormous financial burden on the people who are charged and pay them—disproportionately Black and brown people and people with low incomes. People who cannot pay risk a spiraling set of consequences—such as losing their driver’s licenses—and ultimately owing even more m ...
See our updated report, "People in Jail and Prison in 2020," here. Researchers from the Vera Institute of Justice, with support from Google.org Fellows, collected data on the number of people in local jails at midyear in both 2018 and 2019 to provide timely information on how incarceration is changing in the United States. This report fills a gap u ...
State Financial Aid for Incarcerated Students
Postsecondary education in prison puts people on a path toward a brighter future by disrupting the cycle of poverty and incarceration. But it has not been offered at scale due to the numerous barriers—including the 1994 ban on Pell Grants to people in prison—that prevent students and postsecondary institutions from accessing state and federal fundi ...
Providing zealous, independent, person-centered representation to immigrants with mental health conditions
In line with Vera’s mission to promote dignity and due process for people facing deportation, Vera was the primary contractor for the National Qualified Representative Program program funded by the Department of Justice’s Executive Office of Immigration Review. Vera proudly worked in partnership with EOIR and legal service providers across the coun ...
In line with Vera’s mission to promote dignity and due process for people facing deportation, Vera was the primary contractor for the Legal Orientation Program program funded by the Department of Justice’s Executive Office of Immigration Review. Vera proudly worked in partnership with EOIR and legal service providers across the country to provide c ...