One in Four with Bea Spadacini

One in four adults in the U.S. has a criminal record and Bea Spadacini, a social justice advocate and writer, whose work in Bosnia and sub-Saharan Africa centered on international development and humanitarian relief created the One in Four podcast to help humanize and elevate the voices of those who have been recently released from prison. Every year when the roughly 650,000 incarcerated men and women return to their communities their successful reintegration depends not only on their need for food, housing, and work but vital mental health services and support to help them cope with trauma and depression so they can sustain a very difficult period of reentry.

 

In this episode Bea talks about her work documenting stories of drought, poverty, and human rights abuses globally, why she views every story shared with her as a gift, the moment she decided to adopt her daughter, and what working with the formerly incarcerated has taught her: That people are not defined by their worst mistakes.

 

"One out of every three Black boys born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime, as can one of every six Latino boys—compared to one of every 17 white boys. At the same time, women are the fastest growing incarcerated population in the United States.”

 

‪There are twice as many people sitting in local jails awaiting trial and presumed innocent than in the entire federal prison system. And each year, 650,000 men and women nationwide return from prison to their communities. They face nearly 50,000 federal, state, and local legal restrictions that make it difficult to reintegrate back into society."

 

RESOURCES:

 ACLU Mass Incarceration

 

To learn more about this episode Click Here!

 

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Restorative justice/Adoption/Human rights