2009 Highlights

• National attention and awards for the Family Strengthening Project, working with prisons around Minnesota to ensure that incarcerated fathers remain connected to their children and are prepared for “reentry” and reintegration into their families.

• The design of the Family Restoration Project, examining the challenges faced by families - and in particular by children in families - dealing with domestic violence.

• The continued success of the Minnesota Justice Forum, which brings together some 250 public and private agencies each year, to establish a set of priorities for the next legislative session and to introduce and influence the passage of bills, such as the statewide public employer "ban the box" legislation, to support those priorities.

• The completion of a report and recommendations based on our Philanthropic Discussions around Reentry. Major Minnesota funders engaged in discussions about the challenges related to and intersections between “reentry” and their areas of interest (from housing, to employment, to education, to the welfare of children).

• The launch of a Deaf Community Victim Awareness Campaign, working with Deaf victims of crime, community agencies and criminal justice representatives to ensure better safety and services for this underserved population.

• The Art {In} Justice Exhibit, representing artists touched by the criminal justice system.

Plans in Process for 2010

• A key research project, the Youth of Incarcerated Parents Project, looking at the factors that influence the resiliency of children and teens whose parents are involved in the criminal justice system.

• The creation of the Fair Hiring Coalition, a group of businesses committed to fair and safe hiring practices with regard to persons with criminal histories.

• A Juvenile Records Study, based on our findings representing adults with criminal records seeking employment, will be in development in 2010.

• An important expansion of the Council’s victims’ services programs, including the Crime Victim Liaison (CVL) Project, which helps victims of misdemeanor crimes navigate the judicial process and the Crime Victim Hotline, providing resources to general crime victims.

• A larger focus on the social, emotional and academic success of children whose fathers receive services through the Family Strengthening Project.

• An ambitious Legislative Agenda including a major role in the Minnesota Second Chance Act, changes to expungement and juvenile records law, and capitalizes on collaborations with legislators developed through the MN Justice Forum.

• The launch of a major Public Information Campaign, resulting from the philanthropic discussions completed in 2009, aimed at shifting policy makers’, employers’ and the general public’s perceptions about prisoner “reentry”.

• Art {In} Justice Redux.