Empowering Communities Through Restorative Practices: Beyond Bars Project Summary

Beyond Bars Beyond Bars Project Summary: Beyond Bars works to mitigate the effects of the school to prison pipeline through the use of storytelling as a restorative practice. We have developed a workshop toolkit which is designed use creativity in order to build community. We hope to distribute this toolkit on a large scale as a restorative practice tool.

#1 Multilaterals: Part 2 #1 Multilaterals: Part 2 Specific Example 1: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has the mandate to reform prison systems through the implementation of alternatives to prison. By advocating with this organization with regards to the importance of preventative measures as a form of healing society, we may be able to promote our toolkit and similar forms of restorative practices. Specific Example 2: Penal Reform International works to promote a safe environment where accountability is centered within society rather than punishment. This organization produces resources which are distributed to governments for policy implementation. Presenting them with research on storytelling as a restorative practice may promote this research and put it into the sphere of legitimate discourse

#2 Government: Part 2 #2 Government: Part 2 Specific Example 1: Pennsylvania Department of Education: We will connect with the department of education to collaborate on their equitable practices initiative. If we are able to integrate our workshops into the official curriculum of the state, we would drastically expand our reach within the community Specific Example 2: Pennsylvania Department of Health has a department which focuses upon teen health. Mitigating the effects of the school to prison pipeline through the implementation of more tools for teen mental health can be imperative to advancing our goals of preventative practices

#3 Non #3 Non- -Profits: Part 2 Profits: Part 2 Specific Example 1: Pathways to Restorative Communities: this group provides community based restorative circles to schools, and provides consulting for restorative practices within schools. Reaching out and putting Beyond Bars on their radar would increase the likelihood of them recommending the resource to the schools which they serve Specific Example 2: American Civil Liberties Union: Lehigh Chapter. This collaboration would allow for members of the ACLU chapter to gain the tools necessary in order to promote restorative practices in school. They could become trained administers of the toolkit if that is a route we choose to go down.

#4 Foundations: Part 2 #4 Foundations: Part 2 Specific Example 1: The International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation promotes research on the prevention of crime and the treatment of those involved with the criminal legal system. Working with a foundation may provide us a place for the publishing of our manuscript on the links between storytelling as a restorative practice, or for our overall toolkit, as they work to promote publications regarding carceral reform. Specific Example 2: Excellence and Advancement Foundation supports students who are at an increased risk of becoming involved in the juvenile legal system by providing them the funding and resources needed to maintain their independence.

#5 Academia: Part 2 #5 Academia: Part 2 Specific Example 1: International Institute for Restorative Practices: we have met with this academic group and are working to collaborate in the publication of our toolkit on a larger scale through discussion with their publishing partners. Specific Example 2: Lehigh University College of Education. By collaborating with pre-service teachers who are still gaining knowledge on the school system, we can begin to embed restorative practices into the very framework that is teaching in order to know the best resources

#6 Social Ventures: Part 2 #6 Social Ventures: Part 2 Specific Example 1: The Second chance business coalition: Second Chance Business Coalition is a collaborative effort among businesses, organizations committed to providing opportunities and support for individuals who have been involved with the justice system. The coalition's goal is to promote reintegration, rehabilitation, and empowerment for these individuals, often through employment, mentorship, education, and various support services. We could possibly collaborate with them to find experts or people . Specific Example 2: Social Justice Parenting: Social justice parenting is a social media tool that helps parents introduce way in which they can share what social justice is and what it entails. It is a guide for parents. Ways in which we could collaborate would be to use this platform as a way to get our storytelling workshops out in the world. It would be a great place to market our project.

#7 Think Tanks: Part 2 #7 Think Tanks: Part 2 Specific Example 1: Center for nonviolent communication: The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) is an organization that could be valuable to our project. By possibly collabing with them, we can increase our expertise on storytelling and supporting restorative practices. CNVC is dedicated to allowing individuals to express their needs and feelings effectively, fostering understanding and compassion. This approach creates an environment that promotes healing, reconciliation, and transformative growth for those affected by the criminal justice system, enhancing the impact of the storytelling component. Specific Example 2: National Center for restorative justice: The National Center for Restorative Justice could greatly benefit the our project.The center is a leading organization dedicated to advancing restorative justice principles and practices.Their knowledge and research on restorative justice can help support out project.

#8 K #8 K- -12 Schools: Part 2 12 Schools: Part 2 Specific Example 1: Centennial Schools: Collaborating with this school has provided us with the opportunity to test our toolkit with more students and has provided us with more knowledge on how to adapt the workshop for students with specific needs. Specific Example 2: Broughal Middle School: Broughal is our target age group and is very close to Lehigh, which makes it the perfect collaborator for Beyond Bars. By working to implement our toolkit in these classrooms, we can gather more valuable data and expand our impact.

#9 Corporations: Part 2 #9 Corporations: Part 2 Specific Example 1: Ben and Jerrys: Ben & Jerry's has a long history of social and political activism and has used its platform to raise awareness about various social issues, including mass incarceration. The company has highlighted the disproportionate impact that mass incarceration has on communities of color and has advocated for policies that focus on rehabilitation and reducing recidivism rates. They have partnered with advocacy organizations, supported campaigns for criminal justice reform, and used their brand and influence to raise public awareness on the issue. We could possibly look into them supporting our project. Specific Example 2: Apple: Apple has policies within their company they have a re-entry policy, a concrete action that companies can take to hire the formerly incarcerated. We could possibly look into them help us get more technological devices for our workshops.

#10 Consulting Firms: Part 2 #10 Consulting Firms: Part 2 Specific Example 1: Deloitte: Deloitte is a multinational professional services network that provides a wide range of services, including audit and assurance, consulting, tax advisory, risk management, financial advisory, and more. It is one of the "Big Four" accounting firms. Deloitte can help us by informing us on the best decisions we can make financially for the project. Specific Example 2: EY EY: EY is a multinational professional services network that provides a wide range of services, including audit and assurance, consulting, tax advisory, risk management, financial advisory, and more. It is one of the "Big Four" accounting firms. EY can help us by informing us on the best decisions we can make financially for the project.

#11 Start #11 Start- -Ups: Part 2 Ups: Part 2 Specific Example 1: Reconnect https://reconnect.io/ Reconnect is a start up dedicated to Software and hardware to connect probation programs and their participants from anywhere. It helps get incarcerated individuals get back to to integration with society. We can collaborate with them by gathering data, and also interviewing their users to see how impactful they feel like our project could be. Specific Example 2: Recidives https://www.recidiviz.org/ The Recidiviz platform gives leaders a real-time picture of their criminal justice system so that they can diagnose issues, make changes, and safely navigate to a new baseline.We can possibly collab with this organization by making our workshop more digital. We can also use this platform to gather data about mass incarceration.