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Reentry News
  • Third death at Waupun prison reported

    Inhumane conditions in WI Gov. Evers'(D) Dept. of Corrections
    It is the third reported death in four months at the prison. A federal lawsuit has been filed alleging conditions in Waupun were cruel and unusual punishment. Waupun has a 52.8% staff vacancy rate.
  • Building Mental Strength!

    A NEW page on the FS website.
    Life is hard. It requires exploration, reflection, intention and self-determination. At every turn we are told what we 'need' and what we 'should' do. This page supports you to become fully you.
    "Ubuntu! I need you to be YOU, so that I can be me."
    - Archbishop Desmond Tutu
  • NATIONAL REENTRY HELPLINE! 844-916-2577

    The National Reentry Network
    A free, confidential 24/7 information service for employment, job training, family reunification, apprenticeship programs, food pantry, clothing, housing, mental health and substance abuse support.
  • ANTI-RECIDIVISM COALITION: 90 second PSA

    "Define people by who they choose to become."
    Check out this beautiful message!
  • TRANSLATE Fair Shake to other languages!

    Click on the blue words above, scroll down to Translate Your Website, choose the language you prefer, type fairshake.net in the Website box, and press 'Translate'. You'll see the entire website in your preferred language!
  • Fair Shake OWNERSHIP MANUAL (OM)

    Everyone deserves a fair shake at life!
    The OM is a primer to increase ownership and opportunity in our lives: when you own yourself, you own your future. Fair Shake will never tell you what you need or what you should do. Every person is unique; the OM provides plenty of information for you to peruse and choose. Everyone deserves a fair shake at life; so lets figure out – together – how to get it! (The OM replaces the Fair Shake Reentry Packet)
  • Improving Criminal Justice with Four Mindset Shifts

    Nicholas Powell shares a unique view!
    TEDx Talk: "Dr. Nicholas Powell fuses firsthand experience with criminal justice data to propose four urgently needed yet easily achievable mindset shifts to foster the well-being of people with criminal records and build stronger communities.
  • “Champion Of Change” Sue Kastensen Is On A Mission To Help People Succeed After Release

    Interview with Livin' the Dream Blog
    We recently had the honor to speak with Sue Kastensen, the creator of the re-entry resource Fair Shake which provides vast amounts of information and tips to help prisoners return to society successfully.
  • The People vs. Recidivism: Julius Campbell invites us to join hands to help returning citizens succeed

    TEDxDecatur
    Julius Campbell, who spent over a quarter of a century in the Georgia prison system before his recent release, shares invaluable insights into the causes of recidivism and what we the people - as individuals and as communities - can do about it.
  • The ‘Surreal’ Moment After Release From Prison

    For these former inmates in Texas, the rush of emotions that accompany freedom play out at a Greyhound bus station. (11 min. film)
    1700+ people are released from prison each day.
  • What Is the Spirit of Ubuntu? How Can We Have It in Our Lives?

    We all have a lot to learn from this beautiful southern African philosophy.
    Ubuntu. It speaks to the fact that we are all connected and that one can only grow and progress through the growth and progression of others. The Rev. Desmond Tutu reminds us that “We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world."
  • Sent to Prison by a Software Program’s Secret Algorithms

    The report in Mr. Loomis’s case was produced by a product called Compas, sold by Northpointe Inc. It included a series of bar charts that assessed the risk that Mr. Loomis would commit more crimes.
    …a report from ProPublica about Compas that concluded that black defendants in Broward County, Fla., “were far more likely than white defendants to be incorrectly judged to be at a higher rate of recidivism.”
    Compas and other products with similar algorithms play a role in many states’ criminal justice systems. “These proprietary techniques are used to set bail, determine sentences, and even contribute to determinations about guilt or innocence,” a report from the Electronic Privacy Information Center found. “Yet the inner workings of these tools are largely hidden from public view.”
  • Cascade Engineering, in western Michigan, discusses hiring the formerly incarcerated

    Michigan Public Radio Interview
    With the company's vice president, Kenyatta Brame, and Jahaun McKinley, formerly incarcerated and lean manager at Cascade who has been with the company for six years.