Three words that describe you? Resilient, intelligent, passionate What are the top challenges that you faced when reentering? The top challenges I faced upon my release were lack of experience with recovery, adequate and affordable housing, guidance for realistic employment options, no immediate means of supporting myself, inner fears, unsupportive family, ill-informed understanding of the […]
Read MorePlease join us in welcoming Laurie Pherigo as the newest Reentry Advocacy Fellow! Laurie brings a wide variety of experiences to this position, both from her past employment and from her life itself. Laurie has worked in the administrative/customer service field most of her adult life in environments ranging from law firms to automotive shops. As […]
Read MoreWe are adjusting the timeline for the next Roundtable Advocacy Fellowship to begin this fall. This is a part-time, contracted position for persons with significant lived experience navigating the criminal justice system and reentering the community. The goals of the Fellowship program are two-fold: To enhance the capacity of the Roundtable to address the challenges […]
Read More“Criminalizing mental illness is expensive [and] it is ineffective” Sally Hernandez, Travis County Sheriff People with mental illness are greatly overrepresented among the millions of individuals cycling through our criminal justice system. Travis County is no exception, with the number of jail inmates with mental illness trending steeply upward over the past ten years. […]
Read MoreAccording to the speaker, the United States and the majority of state governments have created a justice system that promotes incarceration to drive profit. Our society has made it profitable for corporations to incarcerate people, with prisoners calculated as growth commodities on corporate balance sheets. Shareholders are fiscally rewarded when private prison populations increase. […]
Read MoreLeonard Manzella’s CAGES January 19-29th While counseling mentally ill patients in a corrupt prison system, a psychologist is challenged to evaluate his own life by the very inmates he came to help. When Dr. Tom Morri returns to the prison he had previously been terminated from, he begins to see the system – and himself […]
Read MoreIn 2016, with the support of Shield-Ayres Foundation, the Roundtable launched an Advocacy Fellowship Program for formerly incarcerated persons with lived experience navigating the criminal justice system and reentering the community. The Fellowship program was such a success that we are expanding it to include an additional Fellowship position for 2017. The new Fellow will […]
Read MoreWhen someone has been convicted of a crime and has paid their debt to society, then they ought to have an effective second chance in life. The ability to find housing is an indispensable part of that second chance. HUD Secretary Julián Castro In 2015, the Austin/Travis County Reentry Roundtable undertook the task of assessing […]
Read MoreWe are happy to announce that we have a 2015/2016 Annual Report and new officers for the Roundtable! We would like to welcome the incoming officers in their new positions: Helen Gaebler, JD, UT School of Law – Chair Melissa Orren, Community Representative – Vice-Chair Sarah Pahl Worthington, MSSW, JD Texas RioGrande Legal Aid – Immediate Past Chair Reggie […]
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Three words that describe you. Tenacious, Loyal, and Empathetic What are the top challenges that you faced when reentering? The perception people have of individuals with criminal histories and how difficult it is to prove yourself as a worthy member of society in the face of such critical and ignorant judgment from the general population […]
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