Amachi In Brief

This first issue in P/PV's In Brief series focuses on the Amachi program, which partners faith-based organizations with public agencies and nonprofit service providers to identify the children of prisoners and match them with caring adult volunteers.Amachi In Brief touches on the program's development and recruiting strategies, its early results and its expansion into new cities

Leaving the Street In Brief

This issue of P/PV In Brief focuses on Lauren J. Kotloff's recent report, Leaving the Street: Young Fathers Move from Hustling to Legitimate Work. Based on an in-depth interview study of participants in P/PVs Fathers at Work initiative, the report provides a rare glimpse inside the lives of young urban men with criminal records, exploring how they got involved with hustling, their experiences in the labor market and their feelings about fatherhood.Leaving the Street In Brief describes the four distinct groups that emerged in P/PVs study (the Reluctant Hustlers, the Ambitious Workers, the Reluctant Workers and the Committed Hustlers) and presents early findings from the Fathers at Work evaluation. It also touches on the full report's recommendations for programs serving young fathers

Beacons In Brief

This second issue in P/PV's In Brief series focuses on the San Francisco Beacon Initiative and P/PV's recently released evaluation results. The Beacon Initiative established after-school programs in eight public schools in low-income San Francisco neighborhoods. P/PVs 36-month evaluation examined key developmental and academic outcomes. Beacons In Brief summarizes our findings and discusses their implications in the context of larger questions about the after-school field

Ready4Work In Brief Interim Outcomes Are In: Recidivism at Half the National Average

This issue of "P/PV In Brief' reviews interim outcomes from the Ready4Work prisoner reentry initiative. Funded by the US Department of Labor and the Annie E. Casey and Ford foundations, Ready4Work is a three-year national demonstration project designed to address the needs of the growing ex-prisoner population and to test the capacity of community- and faith-based organizations to meet those needs. Ready4Work programs are providing employment services, case management and mentoring in 11 adult sites around the country (data from seven juvenile sites are being analyzed separately). Interim outcomes from the initiative are extremely encouraging, with almost 60 percent of participants becoming employed and the majority of them staying employed for three or more consecutive months. Even more striking, recidivism rates for Ready4Work participants are considerably lower than those reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics for a similar population

Ready4Work In Brief: Update on Outcomes; Reentry May Be Critical for States, Cities

This issue of P/PV In Brief provides updated data from the Ready4Work prisoner reentry initiative, with a focus on the prison crisis occurring in many cities and states. While much more research is needed to understand the true, long-term impact of prisoner reentry initiatives, outcomes from Ready4Work were extremely promising in terms of education, employment and program retention, with recidivism rates among Ready4Work participants 34 to 50 percent below the national average.Funded by the US Department of Labor and the Annie E. Casey and Ford foundations, Ready4Work was a three-year national demonstration project designed to address the needs of the growing ex-prisoner population and to test the capacity of community- and faith-based organizations to meet those needs. Ready4Work programs provided employment services, case management and mentoring in 11 adult sites around the country (data from seven juvenile sites are being analyzed separately)

Policy Brief: Investing in Child Care Brings Gains for Providers and Children

This brief incorporates findings from the P/PV reportInvesting in Low-Wage Workers: Lessons from Family Child Care in Rhode Island; it also relies on interviews with advocates and providers in Rhode Island, as well as experts around the country. The brief argues that investments in family child care providers reaped big rewards in Rhode Island -- for providers and, by extension, the children they serve. Increases in reimbursement rates boosted the availability of subsidized child care, raised average incomes in the field and lifted many workers out of poverty. Other states may benefit from an examination of the Rhode Island experience, as they consider strategies to improve family day care (and other employment sectors)

Using Data in Multi-Agency Collaborations: Guiding Performance to Ensure Accountability and Improve Programs

A growing number of foundation- and government-funded initiatives are bringing together diverse partners within communities -- to create screening and referral systems, to coordinate and deliver services and to advocate for policy changes -- all in the interest of serving clients more effectively. Many of these efforts emphasize the use of evidence-based programs, and there is increasing recognition that to be successful, collaborating agencies must work together to collect relevant data and use it to inform and improve their programming

From Options to Action: A Roadmap for City Leaders to Connect Formerly Incarcerated Individuals to Work

On February 28, 2008, P/PV, along with The United States Conference of Mayors, the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU and the City of New York, convened the Mayors Summit on Reentry and Employment, where 150 city leaders, policymakers, practitioners and academics came together from more than 20 cities to share strategies for connecting formerly incarcerated people to the labor market. From Options to Action was inspired and informed by discussions that took place at the Summit, as well as P/PV's experience in the field and a review of pertinent literature. It is meant to provide a framework for reentry efforts, with guidance for cities in early planning phases as well as those implementing more advanced strategies. The report presents practical steps for achieving a more coordinated, comprehensive approach to reentry at the city level, including identifying and convening relevant stakeholders, addressing city-level barriers to employment, engaging the business community and working with county, state and federal leaders to implement collaborative approaches and produce needed policy change.Because mayors and other municipal leaders are confronted with the day-to-day reality of prison and jail reentry and see its detrimental effects in their cities, many have already begun to seek out, test and refine lasting solutions. We hope this publication will support their efforts, as they work to interrupt the revolving door of recidivism -- and offer hope to returning prisoners, their families and communities

Illuminating Solutions: The Youth Violence Reduction Partnership

Over the last decade, P/PV has undertaken several studies of the Philadelphia-based Youth Violence Reduction Partnership (YVRP), an intensive collaboration that targets young people deemed at highest risk of being involved in a homicide. YVRP provides young probationers with enhanced supervision and support, with the goal of keeping them out of trouble and putting them on a path toward productive adulthood