How We Help

Education & Advocacy

Our advocacy efforts drive important conversations on prison conditions and frame the debate on incarceration. We provide information that’s critical for the public, our elected representatives, and prison administrators to make informed decisions.

How Our Advocacy Works

Our unique access gives us the ability to tell the truest story of prison conditions, increasing transparency and accountability. We use the information learned directly from those experiencing incarceration to inform advocacy. Through information gathering, communication, coalition building and outreach, we spark empathy and action that promotes the health, safety and dignity of people living behind bars.

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CURRENT ISSUE

Ending the $5 Medical Copay

Medical copays for incarcerated people are a barrier to medical treatment and a serious public health issue.

Avoiding medical care for minor issues can lead to serious consequences for incarcerated individuals and their prison community, as their health further deteriorates or leads to the infection of others. Illnesses worsen when people avoid the doctor, which means more aggressive and more expensive treatment when they can no longer go without it. Moreover, copays put correctional staff and the greater community at risk. If incarcerated people are sick and suffering staff will be too.

Along with our partners at Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) we are calling on all state and county officials to permanently eliminate all medical copays in prisons and jails. At the state level, we urge elected representatives to pass legislation ending the $5 copay in state prisons.

With the constant stress of worrying about medical co-pays I find myself having to sacrificing my phone calls with my daughters which is not fair to the so then I am forced to make a even bigger choice do I go without food or soap so that I can still make calls to my daughters. ^{-INCARCERATED INDIVIDUAL,}

CURRENT ISSUE

Removing Barriers to Visiting

Visiting incarcerated loved ones promotes safe prisons, healthier communities, and reduced recidivism.

Mass incarceration disproportionately impacts poor families of color, who often lack the resources necessary to visit a loved one. Over 23,000 Philadelphians are incarcerated in prisons that are more than three hours away.

Staying in touch and visiting a loved one has long been a problem for people impacted by incarceration. Visiting is expensive, requiring access to a car, time off of work, and oftentimes a hotel stay. Prison visiting policies are far more restrictive now than before the pandemic, when it was already a challenge for loved ones to stay connected.

We are working to dismantle barriers to connection and unite PA families by resuming transportation programs and by eliminating the burdensome and discriminatory scheduling system.

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All people deserve access to the people they love. My Dad was in prison and being able to see him regularly made all the difference." ^{-FAMILY MEMBER}

CURRENT ISSUE

Humanize Prison Food

Meals in state prisons do not meet the nutritional needs of incarcerated people, leading to widespread hunger behind bars.

Food in prison is more than just a meal–it has major implications for health, safety, and rehabilitation. An independent evaluation of prison food by the Pennsylvania Prison Society found that:

Food served in state prisons leaves incarcerated people hungry. Meals do not provide enough calories to meet incarcerated people’s needs, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), the nutritional benchmarks that guide U.S. government policy. In a new survey of people in Pennsylvania state prisons, 80% of men and 70% of women reported being hungry every day between meals.

Menus likely contribute to diet-related illnesses. They contain twice the recommended amount of starchy vegetables and refined carbohydrates and half the fruit and vegetable servings recommended by the DGAs, exacerbating disease risk for a population disproportionately affected by chronic illnesses.

Hunger forces incarcerated people to buy expensive junk food from the prison commissary. Seventy percent of incarcerated people surveyed said they rely on commissary items, such as instant ramen, honey buns, and potato chips, to get enough to eat. These foods are high in sodium, added sugar, and refined carbohydrates, adding to the risk of chronic diseases.

We will continue to partner with the Department of Corrections to ensure that people in custody have access to enough fresh, nutritious food.

[In the dining hall] I get to sit and eat a meal at a table like a human, and not on my bed next to a toilet.” ^{-INCARCERATED INDIVIDUAL, SCI FRACKVILLE}