From Punishment to Restoration: Reimagining Criminal Justice to Improve the Health of Wisconsin’s Families and Communities

At a Glance

This project, From Punishment to Restoration, aimed to implement a comprehensive intervention to bring about policy and systems change in order to address barriers to successful re-entry in Wisconsin, where the incarceration rate is the highest in the upper Midwest, and the state’s rate of incarceration for African American males is the highest in the nation. Incarceration is a public health problem with widespread negative effects on individuals and communities, including effects related to mental illness, alcohol and other substance addiction and chronic disease, all of which reflect priorities in community health improvement plans across the state.

From Punishment to Restoration significantly transformed Wisconsin’s criminal justice landscape by boosting leadership and civic engagement among previously incarcerated individuals in Ex-Prisoners Organizing (EXPO) and performing a Health Impact Assessment (HIA). The HIA played a vital role in public education, highlighting the negative effects of parole and probation revocations on health, resulting in strengthened partnerships with public health organizations. The HIA also influenced agenda setting, legislative efforts and administrative changes at local and state levels, demonstrating its comprehensive impact on criminal justice reform in Wisconsin.

The Challenge

Wisconsin’s incarceration rate is the highest in the upper Midwest, and the state’s rate of incarceration for African American males is the highest in the nation. Incarceration is a public health problem with widespread negative effects on individuals and communities, including effects related to mental illness, alcohol and other substance addiction and chronic disease. These issues all reflect priorities of community health needs assessment and community health improvement plans across the state of Wisconsin.

Mass incarceration erodes social connectedness and family structure while diminishing opportunities and access to education, employment and housing. The economic cost of incarceration is extremely high, with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections annual budget of $800.3 million, estimated cost of prisons totaling $874.4 million and the average annual cost of imprisonment being approximately $37,994 per person. Current rates of recidivism are also high. As of 2019, 70 percent of those released from prison went back to prison within five years. Comprehensive approaches to addressing these challenges require changing pre-, during, and post-incarceration policies, systems and programs.

Project Goals

The overarching goal of From Punishment to Restoration was to implement a comprehensive intervention to bring about policy and systems change that address barriers to re-entry, including revocations policy, GPS monitoring systems and processes and social determinants of successful and healthy re-entry. This goal was addressed through five specific aims:

1. Increase the capacity and effectiveness of the collaborative campaign among WISDOM and its partners to reform the criminal justice system and end mass incarceration in Wisconsin.
2. Build on partnerships with public health professionals, employing a health equity frame to analyze the health impacts of re-entry processes and systems and gaining a greater understanding of the health impacts of incarceration.
3. Expand and develop a sustainable infrastructure for the Ex-Prisoners Organizing (EXPO) movement within WISDOM and enhance the leadership of formerly-incarcerated people.
4. Create and disseminate messages and analyses that will help decision-makers, public health collaborators and the broader public to understand the underlying health equity issues related to mass incarceration.
5. Bring about changes in the criminal justice re-entry processes and systems that directly improve the lives of currently-incarcerated people, formerly-incarcerated people and would-be-incarcerated people, their families and their communities.

Results

From Punishment to Restoration’s multifaceted approach had a significant impact on Wisconsin’s criminal justice landscape. This project enhanced leadership capacity and civic engagement among previously incarcerated individuals through leadership training and mentoring within the EXPO organization and laid the groundwork for positive policy, system and environmental changes related to community reentry and crimeless parole revocations. Additionally, an evidence-based Health Impact Assessment (HIA) was conducted and disseminated, contributing to a comprehensive public education campaign led by EXPO and a coalition of advocates.

The HIA identified the negative effects of parole and probation revocations on social determinants of health, resulting in six recommendations and 27 action items. The results were disseminated through various channels, including a statewise press release, an executive summary and infographic cards. Public education efforts included community forums by EXPO chapters and outreach to public health practitioners. The dissemination efforts of the HIA enhanced partnerships as the HIA connected incarceration issues with broader health discussions, highlighting the importance of involving those most impacted in leading the conversation about health and criminal justice.

The HIA also played a pivotal role in agenda setting, introducing the term “crime-less revocations” and influencing stakeholders toward alternative responses to non-compliance. Legislative efforts directly influenced by the HIA included defeating a bill that would require Department of Corrections supervising agents to pursue revocations for any violations of supervision. The HIA also inspired administrative changes at both local and state levels in Wisconsin’s criminal justice system. Efforts in Milwaukee led to the engagement of the regional Division of Community Corrections (DCC) representatives in meetings addressing the connections between incineration, health and justice-involved individuals. Statewide, the governor’s office and the Department of Corrections made changes in how they handle rule violations including updating the way they respond to violations, allowing shorter-term sanctions and offering more community-based alternatives to revocation.

EXPO members participated in the Restore Our Communities (ROC) campaign, and their lived experiences positively influenced the campaign’s impact through increased recruitment and funding. EXPO was active in the Unlock the Vote campaign where members built relationships with champions, County Supervisor Kim Cronk and Assemblywoman Jodie Emersion, who actively support restoring voting rights for individuals on supervision. Additionally, members became involved in various criminal justice coordinating committees across the state, further solidifying their impact on criminal justice initiatives in Wisconsin.