Development and Accomplishments:
Since 2016, the TPW has grown from an experimental think-tank into a statewide unified front of practitioners, formerly incarcerated individuals, and movement leaders, advocating in one voice to shift policy, practice and culture in the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) and state legislature
Organizing & Coalition Building
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Grows from nascent think tank to 36-member growing statewide coalition;
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Hosts Breaking Isolation and Building Collective Power: A Statewide Convening in Support of In-Prison Programs, with 60 leaders from 34 organizations;
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Develops Leadership and Advocacy Committees.
Legislative Advocacy
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Secures $4 million in ongoing funding for CBO in-prison programs (2018-2019);
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Launches 2019-2020 budget campaign to advocate for $15 million in funding for CBO in-prison programs;
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Partners with lobbyists and policy experts from Re:store Justice and Initiate Justice;
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Successfully advocates for introduction of budget change proposals in Senate and Assembly;
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Partners with Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer’s office to support a budget change proposal of $15 million for CBO programs and to strengthen TPW advocacy strategy by calculating return on investment figures for CBO programs;
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Partners with Senator Bradford’s office to support his budget change proposal of $15 million for CBO programs;
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Meets with Governor Newsom’s Legislative Director, Anthony Williams, and Deputy Cabinet Secretary, Daniel Seeman, to gain support for trauma-informed CBO prison program funding;
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Holds meetings with Senator Nancy Skinner, Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber, Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, and Senate and Assembly budget committee staff;
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Provides regular testimony in Senate and Assembly hearings on public safety funding;
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Educates public safety legislators and gained substantial support for 2019-2020 budget campaign while building traction for 1% Campaign.
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Secures an additional $5 million in permanent state funding for community-based in-prison programs beginning in 2019.
CDCR Advocacy
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Advocates to build a culture of healing and reduce the barriers that CBOs face in delivering prison programs, including ensuring that formerly incarcerated leaders are able to access facilities;
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Organizes to stop CDCR from using racially biased research design, and advocates for communities to inform the design of upcoming evaluation of CBO-run programming.
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Through regular meetings with high-ranking CDCR officials, establishes TPW coalition as key political and social force in California criminal justice reform movement.
Communications
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TPW and Re:store Justice author Capitol News Weekly Op-Ed calling for investment in healing and a culture of rehabilitation;
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Hosts messaging and advocacy training webinar for members.
Research
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Partners with community researcher and criminal justice evaluator Angela Irvine to train coalition members on designing rigorous evaluations of TPW programs.
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Partners with University of California Los Angeles to launch independent evaluation of TPW programs to provide accurate data on the transformative impacts of trauma-informed interventions in state prisons.