SAFE RETURN
PROJECT
MISSION
Safe Return project is focused on ending mas
targeted incarceration and criminalization of
BIPOC and poor communities and refranchising
individuals and communities that have been
disenfranchised by the criminal legal system.
Safe Return accomplishes these goals through
community organizing, research, and advocacy.
We invest in the leadership development of
those directly impacted by the criminal legal
system to create the equitable change in their
communities.
CONTRA
COSTA
COUNTY
REENTRY
STRATEGIC
PLAN MARCH
30, 2011
ORIGIN
OF SAFE
RETURN
WHAT DO WE
WANT?
• Safe communities
• Economic dignity
• Housing equity
• Family reunification
• Reintegration resources post and prerelease
• Fair education
• For formerly incarcerated persons to have a
seat at the table of power
• Changing the narrative
• Ending racial injustice in the criminal legal
system
GREETING
STARTED
Capacity building for research and
advocacy
Community organizing to support
grassroots leadership
Research on community needs and
policies
Advocacy for improved policies
and programs
25% of people in
California have a
criminal history
Prison
admissions in
Contra Costa
County grew
486% between
1970 and 2000.
Population of
formerly
incarcerated
residents is well
over 50%
Recidivism is
approximately
70%
PROBLEM
“REALIGNMENT” LEGISLATION
(AB109)
State Prison and Parole
County Jail and
Probation
People with:
Non-serious
Non-sexual
Non-violent
INVEST IN PEOPLE NOT
PRISONS.
Over the past 10 years the County of Contra Costa
received an estimated $229,085,182 or more in AB109
realignment funding.
Our justice reinvestment campaigns lead to the
establishment of the Community Advisory Board to the
Community Corrections partnership the first community
lead body in the state of California to advice on how to allocate these monies back to the community.
Through this body and continued organizing efforts an
estimated $45,304,809 has gone to reentry services that didn't exist more than 10 years ago.
RACIAL JUSTICE
Co-founding organization of the Contra Costa
Racial Justice Coalition. Collectively organized
with allies for the establishment of the Contra
Costa’s Racial justice taskforce now the Racial
justice oversight body.
CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT
SETTING PEOPLE FREE
Reclassifying the records of thousands of individuals disenfranchised by incarceration and helping many more folks successfully through the clean slate process partnering with the Contra Costa Publuic Defenders office.
HEALING
SRP supported efforts that
reduced homicides to its
lowest in 33 years in the city
of Richmond CA.
SAFE RETURN
GO’S TO
WASHINGTON
Employment, housing, clemency,
and gun violence.
Educated thousands of Contra Costa
residents in the roll of the DA’s office.
Lead organization of Contra Costa’s District
Attorney Accountability and co-governance
table for procedural justice.
CONTRA COSTA RACIAL JUSTICE
COALITION
• Racial Justice Taskforce
• Ending Juvenile fines
and fees in Contra
Costa County
POLICY
CHANGE WE
FIGHT FOR
• Eliminate policies and practices that discriminate
against people with a record and increase
advocacy support for people with a record who
face discrimination.
• Remove barriers to employment for formerly
incarcerated people and improve employer
practices in recruiting and hiring this community.
• Create County wide networks of services for
people coming home from incarceration that
includes accurate up to date information on
existing services, and eligibility.
POLICY
CHANGE
• Increase funding for reentry housing. The largest
impact on reentry housing could be made by
increasing the amount of reentry housing
resources available to the community.
• Develop specific and sustainable reentry housing
programs. With or without increased funding,
Contra Costa County would benefit from more
housing programs that are specific to the reentry
population.
• Ban the Box on housing applications. Many
landlords may filter out individuals with criminal
backgrounds without giving them a fair chance,
given the climate of housing competition in the
Bay Area.
COLLECTIVE IMPACT
Institute Workshops Graduation Day Community Action
RICHARD B.
EMPOWERMENT
PATHWAYS
FELLOWSHIP 2018
The fellowship where
your only obstacle
would be your
inability to imagine a
world where your
leadership matters.
HOW DO WE DO
IT?
Grass Roots Organizing
Community partnerships
Leadership development
Education
SAFE RETURN RESEARCH
WHERE ARE WE HEADED
The overarching goal of this organization is to
empower and increase the visibility of all those
that have been impacted by the criminalization,
racial disparity, poverty, and the injustice system.
Building a base of power to address the root
causes of poverty and the impact that the criminal
justice system has had on black people and
communities of color.
We remain committed to fighting for the rights
and opportunity for all persons coming home
from incarceration and negatively impacted by
mass targeted criminalization to be protected
from discrimination, mass disenfranchisement,
and economic inequity.
THE FOUNDERS
OF THE WORK WE
HOLD DEAR
TODAY