COVID-19 is creating unprecedented conditions for people incarcerated. The Alliance is working to collect and disseminate information and resources from higher education in prison programs that are taking action to support their students and working to adapt their programming. Our COVID-19 Action page contains materials and resources created by/for or that are meaningful for higher education in prison programs from across the United States.

‍

Read the Alliance's Public Statement on COVID-19 and Request for Immediate Action to Ensure the Health and Safety of All People Who Are Currently Incarcerated

‍

Community Calendar: During the COVID pandemic the Alliance is keeping a calendar of events that are relevant to the higher education in prison community

‍

Weekly Debrief: During the COVID pandemic the Alliance has transitioned its Newsletter into a Weekly Debrief in order to keep the higher education in prison community informed and connected. The Weekly Debrief is shared with our mailing list each Friday.

Join the Alliance's mailing list/Newsletter (Newsletter Sign-up) or follow us on social media (@AllianceforHEP)

‍

To join a Community Conversation

In an effort to create a space to share information and resources and share experiences and lessons learned, the Alliance will host community conversations. The calls are open to anyone who would like to share how their program is responding and/or learn from others across the country. Community Conversation dates and times will be shared via the Alliance's mailing list/Newsletter (Newsletter Sign-up), social media (@AllianceforHEP) and the Prison_Ed Listserv (Join the Listserv). Notes from each call will be shared here.

Community Conversation Notes

‍

Community Initiatives Archive, Journalism, Documentary, Resource and Writing Projects

‍

COVID-19 Executive Leadership Support Program

Note: The program is no longer taking applications and will begin meeting the week of March 30, 2020

‍

Public Resources and Information

To share a resource

• Email: alliance@higheredinprison.org
• Attach the resource as a .pdf or .doc
• Provide a 2-3 sentence description of the resource including: person/group/program it was created by; who it was created for; how it was distributed; and any other relevant information

‍

National and Statewide Advocacy Efforts

• Open Letter to NY Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
• Open Letter to Governor Newsom (CA) on incarceration and coronavirus (shared by Kirsten Pickering) 
• Open Letter to Governor Holcomb (IN) about prisons and Covid-19 (shared by Kelsey Kauffman) 
• Public Letter from Sean Pica, Alliance for Higher Education in Prison Advisory Board Member and Executive Director, Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison
• Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (Letter on Mitigating Disaster and Just Response to Covid) and Open Letter and Petition to Texas Governor Greg Abbott (Change.org)
• Letter from the Southern Center for Human Rights to Georgia state prison and parole officials asking for release of elderly/sick people in prison, an end to technical violations, and for a whole slew of important measures to protect those who are left inside
• COVID-19 and Jail Release Webinar (Vera Institute of Justice) 

‍

Crowdsourcing Efforts

• COVID-19 Prison and Jail State-by-State Tracker (Prison Policy Initiative)‍
• Tracking Prisons' Response to Coronavirus (The Marshall Project) ‍
• Incarceration and COVID-19 Annotated Bibliography (created by Sheri-Lynn S. Kurisu) ‍
• The Appeal is tracking demands and local and state government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic‍
• The Justice Management Institute has catalogued updates on criminal justice system responses to COVID-19 at the state and local level
• Existing Research on the Risks of COVID-19 for Incarcerated People (Information being collected to support advocacy efforts)
• COVID Prison Data: State-by-State

‍

COVID-related Guidance

• Coronavirus Guidance for the Criminal and Immigration Legal Systems (Vera Institute of Justice)
• Toolkit to Support Local Demands for Mass Release of People in ICE Custody (Detention Watch Network)
• COVID-19 Responses and Resources (The Justice Collaborative) 
• Department of Education Guidance on COVID-19
• COVID-19 General Decarceral Guidelines (Justice Collaborative) 
• #COVID19 Decarcerate Syllabus: A Political Education Resource (Curated by: California Coalition for Women Prisoners)
• The Justice Collaborative Fact Sheets: Practices for Jails and Prisons; Practices to Avoid in Jails and Prisons; Practices for Prosecutors; Practices for Law Enforcement; and Practices for Protecting Immigrant Communities
• Decarceration Toolkit (Showing Up for Racial Justice) 
• Release During COVID-19: What You Need to Know (Education Justice Project) 
• Liberación durante COVID-19: Lo que necisitas saber (Education Justice Project) 
• Center for Cultural Power “COVID-19 Cultural Strategy Activation Guide for Artists and Activists”, which you can read here
• Color of Change: COVID-19 Relief Priorities

‍

Public Advocacy (downloads below) 

• Letter to Washington State DOC Secretary Stephen Sinclair (from a coalition of community-based organization, legal service provides and concerned stakeholders)
• Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prison (IL-CHEP) sent a letter to the Governor, Lt. Governor, all state legislators, all state’s attorneys, and wardens and sheriffs asking for, among other things, review and early release of vulnerable populations in prisons and jails; reduction in jail intakes; and distribution of cleaning materials.
• IL-CHEP Statement on Advocacy and Mutual Support for Returning Citizens During COVID-19 (Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prison) 
• COVID-19 Emergency Plan To: Save Thousands Of Lives, Make Prisons Manageable during the Pandemic, Generate Jobs, Minimize Societal Disruption, & Protect Prison Employees and Their Families

‍

Pedagogy, Communication and Student Letters

• Second Chance Pell: Reshaping Course Delivery in Response to COVID-19 (Vera Institute for Justice and U.S. Department of Education) 
• Second Chance Pell: Reshaping Course Delivery in Response to COVID-19 - Webinar Recording (Vera Institute for Justice and U.S. Department of Education) 
• Using Zoom Instructional Delivery for Higher Education in Prison Programs: A Rationale and Proposal (Tennessee Higher Education in Prison Initiative)
• THEI Letter to Students, Re: Coronavirus
• NJ-STEP Covid-19 Response Letter (written in collaboration between the NJ-STEP administrative team and the matriculating colleges (RVCC and RU) along with input from NJDOC and instructional partners and posted on a bulletin boards in all NJ-STEP facilities and distributed to students via JPAY)
• Communicating with Empathy in a Crisis (Becky Brun, Pitchfork Communications)

‍

Health and Wellness Resources for People who are Currently Incarcerated: 

• Building Resilience Through Contemplative Practice: A Field Manual for Helping Professionals and Volunteers (Bobbi Patterson
  Emory University). FREE RESOURCE:  Self-Care for Mental Health Professionals
• ‍Prisoner Support Guide For The Coronavirus Crisis (Beyond Prison), to help Beyond Prisons build a national resource: fill out this form
• ‍Holistic Self Care/COVID-19 Protection in Prison resource (source unknown) ‍
• Preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19in prisons and other places of detention, World Health Organization‍
• Interim Guidance on Management of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Correctional and Detention Facilities, Center for Disease Control and Prevention‍
• Choose Love Lessons and Recordings, Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation‍
• Compassionate Integrity Training Course Material, Compassionate Integrity Training
• Self-care on the Inside Guide (Sylvia Rivera Law Project)
• Coronavirus Manual for People Incarcerated (Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Shared by: All of Us or None)
• The Community Resilience Model (Trauma Resource Institute) 
• Calming Body and Mind Resources (Center for Compassion, Integrity and Secular Ethics, Life University)