The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/tag/rural-justice/)
Sharp disparities between the imprisonment rates of urban and rural Americans illustrate the “new dynamics of mass incarceration” in the U.S., the Vera Institute of Justice said Friday.
With growing numbers of women incarcerated around the country, some local authorities are developing innovative programs to help ensure they never return once they’re released. Floyd County in southern Indiana opened a jail-based counseling unit this year that appears to hold promise.
The growing population of offenders with mental health or substance abuse issues is a nationwide problem, but it’s especially challenging in rural communities. One Wisconsin jail has risen to the challenge.
In rural Nebraska, police and medical providers have teamed up to divert troubled individuals from the justice system, but it’s still a struggle to get adequate resources.
Almost a quarter of rural Americans consider drug addiction or abuse as the most urgent health problem facing their communities, and more than half reported they knew someone struggling with addiction, according to a Harvard survey released this month.
Citing “significant progress and growing interest in criminal justice reform,” the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) has announced it is giving an additional $22 million in grants to cities and counties for projects aimed at reducing jail incarceration.
Rural communities are quietly getting funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to build jails that in some cases far exceed their needs, according to a new study released by the Vera Institute of Justice.
Most common alternatives to incarceration are failing women and rural communities as they traditionally focus on men and nonrural jurisdictions, but a case study by the Urban Institute examines innovative approaches to meeting the need.