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Read the 2022 Report: “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie”

This report pieces together the most recent national data on state prisons, federal prisons, local jails, and other systems of confinement to provide a snapshot of mass incarceration in the United States. Since we decided not to do a Whole Pie report in 2021 (due to pandemic-related delays in government data), this new edition offers the most comprehensive view of mass incarceration since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Prison Policy Initiative: Wendy Sawyer and Peter Wagner

A detailed pie graph: How many people are locked up in the United States?

Download “A Toolkit for Advancing College Opportunity for Justice-Impacted Students”

The Education Trust's Justice Fellows Policy Program has produced a toolkit identifying several unjust barriers that keep incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals from accessing a higher education and benefiting from it and participating fully in society.

Omari Amili, Alexa Garza, Mary Baxter, Rabia Qutab, Montrell Carmouche, Patrick Rodriguez, William Freeman III, and Jarrod Wall

Sign up for The Warbler (Newsletter)

The Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project newsletter, The Warbler, is available to anyone interested in being on their weekly distribution list and/or to receive copies to distribute to current students.

February 16, 2022

Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project

Listen to the podcast “On The Tier”

Listen to the New Podcast “On The Tier” produced by the UC Underground Scholars program.

January 23, 2022

Underground Scholars at UC Berkeley

Read “The Sentences That Create Us”

The book, “The Sentences That Create Us”, features original pieces from Dwayne Betts, Mitch Jackson, Luis J. Rodriguez, Alejo Rodriguez (Zealous), and Vivian D. Nixon. With the support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation PEN America is giving away 75,000 copies to incarcerated people. We encourage readers to also submit a request to send a free book to a person who is currently incarcerated. Details available in the link included.

January 23, 2022

Watch “Mass Incarceration is a Feminist Struggle: Voices of Formerly Incarcerated Women”

The webinar “Mass Incarceration is a Feminist Struggle: Voices of Formerly Incarcerated Women” centers on the voices and experiences of incarcerated women and their work to build communities free of mass incarceration. As society pushes for an end to mass incarceration, what do we want a future society to remember about the abolitionist efforts of today? Watch a recording of this panel discussion to learn more.

December 13, 2021

Mass Incarceration Lab Archive at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America

Download the Curriculum Guide for "Don't Shake the Spoon: A Journal of Prison Writing"

The Curriculum Guide for "Don't Shake the Spoon: A Journal of Prison Writing" is an attempt to connect users with the stories from the students of Exchange for Change and to inspire others to create their own stories to share the power of the written word.

November 27, 2021

Exchange for Change

Visit CUNY's "Supports for Students with Conviction Records" webpage

On Wednesday October 27th CUNY launched the Supports for Students with Conviction Records webpage. The webpage is a project of the CUNY Justice Learning Collaborative, convened by the John Jay College Institute for Justice and Opportunity.

November 7, 2021

CUNY Justice Learning Collaborative

Download Two New Reentry Guides

The Education Justice Project has publishes two reentry guides, "Mapping Your Future: A Guide to Successful Reentry in Illinois" and "A New Path: A Guide to the Challenges and Opportunities After Deportation".

October 29, 2021

Education Justice Project

Read Cultivating Relationships and Building Support: A Guide to College-in-Prison Program Sustainability

This guide discusses how cultivating relationships with key stakeholders is critical for building a strong infrastructure for your program. Focusing on four categories of stakeholders, this guide is designed to help those new to the field to navigate and manage the different community members whose support is critical to the success and sustainability of college-in-prison programs. This guide is designed for anyone in the planning stages of their college-in-prison program or who have a program underway but are looking for ways to enhance or garnish more support for it.

October 1, 2021

College-in-Prison Reentry Initiative

Read Critical Resistance's New Resource Guide for Teaching and Learning Abolition

Read Critical Resistance's New Resource Guide for Teaching and Learning Abolition

September 12, 2021

Critical Resistance

Hear from Five Formerly or Currently Incarcerated Writers on What Freedom Means to Them

BAZAAR in partnership with PEN America's Prison Writing Program, the women reflect on finding community behind bars, seeking refuge in the arts, and the liberating power of language.

Search the Higher Education in Prison Research Database

Visit the Higher Education in Prison Research website and explore this digital space centered around the creation of a robust, ethical, and sustainable higher education in prison research infrastructure.

Listen to "The Freedom Takes": A Podcast from Freedom Reads

The Freedom Takes is a podcast from Freedom Reads (formerly the Million Book Project), produced for listeners in prison and out, that explores the relationship between literature and freedom. The Freedom Takes podcast is available for download on Apple Podcasts. A still-image movie version of The Freedom Takes podcast is also available on YouTube for closed-circuit TV channels to broadcast the show. Higher education in prison programs and any other in-prison education programs should contact Freedom Reads at freedomreads@yale.edu for the captioned video file versions for play on closed-circuit TV channels.

December 28, 2020

Download Lessons from Second Chance Pell: A Toolkit for Helping Incarcerated Students Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Education announced the Second Chance Pell (SCP) experiment under the Experimental Sites Initiative, which allows incarcerated students who would be eligible for Pell Grants—a form of federal financial aid—if they were not incarcerated to access them while attending an eligible academic program offered by one of the colleges participating in the experiment. But filing for financial aid while incarcerated can be a formidable challenge. Drawing on the experiences of the first group of SCP colleges, this toolkit, drafted in collaboration with the Chemeketa Community College, is designed to aid new and existing participants as they guide students through the complexities of filing for federal financial aid in prison, including completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA.

December 2, 2020

Read "Social, Emotional, and Academic Development Through an Equity Lens" a Report from The Education Trust

In "Social, Emotional, and Academic Development Through an Equity Lens", The Education Trust outlines how to shift the focus away from “fixing kids” and toward addressing adult beliefs and mindsets as well as school and district policies to create an equitable learning environment.

The Education Trust

Get DVDs of "College Behind Bars" for You Higher Education in Prison Program

College Behind Bars (originally on PBS) is now streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime and can be sent to your program.

Download the Report "Tips to Support Children When a Parent is in Prison"

Having a parent in prison is an adverse childhood experience, a childhood trauma that can lead to poor health and wellbeing as an adult. Yet, these children can thrive if they build resilience.

By: Rosemary Martoma, MD, FAAP

Read "Unlocking the Potential of Prison Education" from Inside HigherEd

People in prison have often been relegated to “better than nothing” education, writes Tanya Erzen, and the inequities could become more prevalent during the pandemic.