———- Forwarded message ———- From:
Date: Mon, Mar 27, 2017 at 1:36 PM
Subject: Re: Criminal justice system
To:

Hi Sue,

I think that's wonderful that your church is getting involved with criminal justice work! I think it's true that Essie Justice Group is not equipped to handle groups of volunteers at the moment, but it was nice of you to check it out!

As I'm sure you guys know, it can sometimes be hard to find a programs that are equipped to make productive use of volunteers. As always, the more time you can commit, the more likely an organization is to be willing to invest in training you or relying on you. So, my recommendations depend on the level of time commitment that people have to give. Generally, the more time you can give, the more meaningful and rewarding the experience is going to be. But there are opportunities out there at a variety of levels!

Several years ago, I volunteered as a teacher at the Prison University Project, the higher education program inside San Quentin. This is a significant time commitment, as it involves getting trained, developing a curriculum, and going all the way up there once or twice a week (I co-taught a class, so I only went once a week, but even that was a big commitment). As you can imagine, it is not an option to cancel or reschedule classes, because the prison is super strict about schedules and permissions for everything. That said, it was absolutely one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I still get the PUP newsletter, and I cry every single time I read it. The extent to which the students in the program work hard and thrive and do well when they are released is just incredible. If you or any of your cohort has the ability to commit to doing this, I highly recommend it!

The California Reentry Program does crucial work for people being released from San Quentin. It appears that they take on volunteers to be Reentry Advisors, if they can make a 1-year time commitment of 3 hours on site, plus 3-5 hours of research per week. For a lower-commitment option, it sounds like they are also looking for help with their parole clothing program, mostly managing and soliciting donations. I don't know anyone who has volunteered with CRP, but I know people who have used the program, and it really makes a difference.

Another opportunity related to San Quentin is the Insight Prison Project. They run the Victim/Offender Education Group (VOEG) up there, and do amazing work around restorative justice in general. The downside there is that there is a lot of demand for volunteering inside the prison, and they cannot accommodate everyone who is interested in that. They do take on more general purpose volunteers for help with office management, PR, fundraising, and research (all of that unglamorous stuff that actually keeps a low-budget organization going!). So, I do think this is a great organization to support, and that they may be able to use people who have time to give. I think if you become a longer-term volunteer and go through their training process, you can eventually become someone who volunteers inside, if that is something you're interested in. I also suspect that becoming involved with this group would open the door to getting involved with various restorative justice projects (I got to attend the San Quentin Restorative Justice Symposium once, and it was really amazing!).

Another volunteer opportunity that I hear great things about is Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for foster children. While this is not (technically) directly related to criminal justice, as you can imagine, the foster care system and the criminal justice system are deeply intertwined. If your goal is to address structural issues related to criminal justice, I actually think this would be a really worthwhile approach. You do not have to be a lawyer to be a child advocate–you just have to go through their training, and usually commit to being involved for two years. I have friends who have done it, and they all say it has been a life-changing experience. I think this one might be a really great opportunity in terms of the fact that they really welcome volunteers who can commit their time, and you get to work directly with kids who most need it!

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is a really excellent organization. Essie has partnered with them on various projects, and I know some great people who work there. However, to be honest, the opportunities for volunteers seem kind of vague and unstructured, so I'm not sure I would trust that they are going to make the best use of your time. That said, it seems like they might have some lower-commitment-level options, so it might be worth getting in touch if my other suggestions require too much time (I know making the trek up to San Quentin is no joke!). And they really do wonderful projects, so I might suggest at least checking it out.

Hopefully one of these options will appeal to your group! I will say that there are a lot of criminal justice groups out there doing great work who need money more than they need time, so donating is of course always a helpful option. But, particularly if you have people who can make a significant commitment in terms of time and training, I do think there are great ways to make a contribution as a volunteer, and I know it can be a lot more rewarding to do something yourself.

I think it's great that you guys are working on this stuff! Let me know if you want to discuss or brainstorm more about this. The impact of the criminal justice system is so complicated and far-reaching that sometimes it can be hard to know where to start. But, there are so many great people working on making the world better and more just, and I have faith that you guys can find the right way to get plugged in to that!

Lots of love!

V…

On Mon, Mar 27, 2017 at 8:04 PM, S… wrote: Hi V…, Like many liberal churches, ours is becoming more involved in social justice action since the election. I'm in a group that is concerned with the criminal justice system. We are looking for ways that a group of 5-10 people can contribute. We were advised, and it makes sense to me, that we would do better to join an existing activity than try to start something on our own. Your mom reminded me this morning that you have been involved in this already. I checked out the Essie web page. Looks like what they are doing is great, but not an obvious way that we could participate. Do you have any suggestions – either actual organizations or the kinds of things we might look for. Take care, S…