Photo courtesy of Saulo Mohana on Unsplash
What: Launch of Walk With Us listening tour, a year-long partnership with the local advocacy groups and Vera Institute of Justice designed to better understand the drivers of incarceration in Berks County — and ultimately, to improve public safety while permanently reducing our jail population.
Who:
- Building Justice in Berks (BJB), an advocacy group focused on criminal justice reform.
- TheRealDeal610, a local organization supporting returning citizens.
- Vera Institute of Justice, a national organization dedicated to ending the overcriminalization and mass incarceration of people of color, immigrants, and people experiencing poverty.
When: Monday, Dec. 4, 12 p.m., with lunch provided. (The listening tour and job fair run from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.)
Where: WCR Center for the Arts, 140 N. 5th St., Reading
On Monday, Dec. 4, Building Justice in Berks (BJB), an advocacy group focused on criminal legal system reform, will kick off a year-long listening tour around the Berks County Jail with a job fair featuring second-chance employers, re-entry services, and a free lunch. The event is the first stop on a listening tour of Berks County aimed at documenting the stories of residents and their families who have lived experience with the criminal legal system. The event is at the WCR Center for the Arts in Reading from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with beverages and lunch provided. Launch announcement is at noon.
Funding for the project comes from a multi-faceted grant and technical assistance from the Vera Institute of Justice, a national organization dedicated to ending the overcriminalization and mass incarceration of people of color, immigrants, and people experiencing poverty. Following a highly competitive process, BJB won the grant to better understand the local criminal legal system and the drivers of jail incarceration in Berks County.
“We are thrilled to partner with Vera at this important time,” said BJB founder Crystal Kowalski. “The community is understandably concerned about public safety, but the solution is more complex than simply locking people up. With Vera’s support, Berks can improve community safety while permanently reducing incarceration, which will, in turn, save taxpayer dollars.”
In November 2022, Berks County Commissioners and the Berks County Correctional Facility Steering Committee set as a goal for the next year the permanent reduction of the jail population to below 700 people. But since then, the jail population has been steadily increasing to a high point of 799 people in late September. On average, more than two-thirds of people in our jail are pre-trial, with a third of those unable to post bail.
“Now is the time to make good on the commitment to reduce the jail population once and for all,” Kowalski said. “Thanks to Vera, we can get the information we need to reduce the number of people in the system, determine what interventions are most effective in maximizing community safety, and ensure that everyone is treated with dignity.”
“A short time in jail is so disruptive that it often leads to future involvement in the criminal legal system,” said Monica Smith, Associate Director of the Beyond Jails Initiative at Vera Institute of Justice. “That’s why we’re excited to work with Building Justice in Berks, TheRealDeal610, and local leaders to better understand the criminal legal system in Berks County and offer actionable solutions to permanently reduce the jail population.”
The project will include an analysis of the current jail population and information gathering through the countywide listening tour. Managed by TheRealDeal610, a local organization supporting returning citizens, the listening tour will be the first time in Berks that the views and experiences of impacted people will be reported on a large scale.
The findings of the listening sessions will be used to address the root causes of violence, such as lack of stable housing, educational opportunities, workforce development, and food security through evidence-based, community-curated responses to harm. Berks County Community Foundation will serve as the fiscal sponsor of the Vera Institute of Justice grant.
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