Project Rebound

Media and News

Prisoner Reentry Network: Promoting Successful Transitions From Incarceration to the Community

Over 90% of people leave prison and return to the community.

Prisoner Reentry Network is dedicated to promoting successful transitions from incarceration to the community through advocacy, public education, community building, and distributing information to people anticipating release. 

prisonerreentrynetwork.org

The Education Trust: A Toolkit for Advancing College Opportunity for Justice-Impacted Students – California

Published March 8, 2022 by , , , and

Together with colleagues at The Education Trust, and with support from partners in the field, we’ve identified several unjust barriers that keep incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals from accessing a higher education and benefiting from it and participating fully in society. While we’ve gathered detailed information for eight states, we are calling on elected officials — governors, state legislators, heads of statewide higher education and corrections departments, and others — to immediately remove these barriers wherever they exist and enact more civil and humane policies that will make it easier for students who are, or have been, incarcerated to pursue a higher education. Congressional delegates can also use their influence at the state level to make a positive impact. For advocates engaged in this work, we’ve included tools, such as an op-ed writing guide and a template for creating a “power map” in each state (see our State Decision-Making Agency and Organization Tracker).

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AP Article: California inmates study at 1st college based behind bars

Article published April 19, 2022 by AP Staff Writer Olga R. Rodriguez

SAN QUENTIN, Calif. (AP) — Behind a fortress wall and razor wire and a few feet away from California’s death row, students at one of the country’s most unique colleges discuss the 9/11 attacks and issues of morality, identity and nationalism.

Dressed in matching blue uniforms, the students only break from their discussion when a guard enters the classroom, calling out each man’s last name and waiting for them to reply with the last two digits of their inmate number.

They are students at Mount Tamalpais College at San Quentin State Prison, the first accredited junior college in the country based behind bars. Inmates can take classes in literature, astronomy, American government, precalculus and others to earn an Associate of Arts degree.

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CSU Article: PROJECT REBOUND: THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION The CSU’s groundbreaking program offers formerly incarcerated students a hand up.

Published for CSU by Staff Writer Michelle McCarthy

Project Rebound has played a pivotal role in Oshiro's success, from those shaky first days to her recent graduation with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. In the fall, she'll enter University of California, Irvine's Criminology, Law, and Society Ph.D. program. “The CSU prepared me to go directly into a Ph.D. program as opposed to getting my master's and then going in," she says. “If Project Rebound hadn't looked holistically at my application, chances are I wouldn't have been at Cal State Fullerton. It changed my life completely."

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CSU Article: PURSUING A BACHELOR’S BEHIND BARS Students become higher-education advocat​​es in Cal State LA’s Prison BA Program.

Published for CSU by Staff Writer Michelle McCarthy

It's 1 o'clock on a Friday afternoon in November 2019, and students are starting to file into their health communications class. Some arrived early and are typing away at computers while others chat with the professor at his desk. This seemingly ordinary scenario wouldn't stand out from any other university across America, if it weren't for the fact that the site is housed at Lancaster State Prison.

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EdSource Article: How California’s colleges are supporting formerly incarcerated students

Published EdSource Dec. 22, 2022 by Arabel Meyer, California Student Journalism Corps

California public universities are becoming more equitable and inclusive as programs emerge to help formerly incarcerated students earn college degrees. These programs include the California State University system’s Project Rebound and the University of California’s Underground Scholars, both of which have shown promising results in the successful reintegration of people into the education system.

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LA TIMES Article Featuring CPP Project Rebound's Sara Rodriguez

Published LA Times, Jan. 13, 2022 by Staff Writer Kiera Feldman

LA TIMES Article - "California was supposed to clear cannabis convictions. Tens of thousands are still languishing"

Featuring Cal Poly Pomona Project Rebound's very own Sara Rodriguez.

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Dr. Reese's Documentary feat. Mario Quintana

Political Science Professor, Dr. Renford Reese's Documentary, Examines American Myth in Wake of George Floyd - Featuring Mario Quintana. 

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2020-21 President's Scholars - Victor Baserga

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Project Rebound Consortium Video

Project Rebound-DJJ Mentorship Program

Unique Program Provides Housing To Formerly Incarcerated Cal State Fuller Students

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New college program gives ex-convicts support to earn degrees

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"They Call Us Monsters"

CPP’s Project Rebound hosts ‘They Call Us Monsters’ film screening

By Sofia Garcia, Dec. 13, 2022

On Friday, Dec. 2, Cal Poly Pomona’s Project Rebound hosted a film screening of the documentary ‘They Call Us Monsters’ including a Q&A session following the screening with one of the subjects, Jarad Nava. 

The film followed three teenage boys’ journeys through the juvenile justice system and showed their day-to-day processes behind bars. 

For attendees, like criminology student Karina Jimenez, the screening sparked conversations regarding juveniles in the prison system, as well as the experiences and hardships they face while in jail. 

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COVID-19 Increased Housing Insecurity Among Formerly Incarcerated Students–Project Rebound’s Toolkit Can Help

Apr 5, 2022 | Smart Justice, Spark Grants

Pre-pandemic, 1:10 California State University Students and 1:5 students in California’s community colleges faced housing insecurity. In 2021, the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice found that half of #RealCollege survey respondents in two-year colleges and 2:5 in four-year institutions reported housing insecurity—numbers that become grimmer in regards to formerly incarcerated students. 

As students who lived on campus found themselves homeless in the last two years and many others lost all or some of their income while the world quarantined, civic leaders responded with historic investments in basic needs. In California, Governor Newsom earmarked $500 million of the state’s budget for colleges and universities to increase and/or improve affordable housing options for students. Additionally, California’s efforts included establishing a grant process for two- and four-year colleges to apply for and receive basic needs funding and rent caps for low-income students.

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Grant to Help Project Rebound Find Affordable Housing for Formerly Incarcerated Students

Article Posted on PolyCentric March 28, 2022:

For many college students, juggling multiple classes, participating in activities on campus and working around their school schedule to pay bills is challenging enough.

Formerly incarcerated students face all the same pressures, but often deal with the additional stress of finding a secure place to study and sleep that can meet their specific needs.

Thanks to a shared $25,000 grant from the Michelson 20MM Foundation, Cal Poly Pomona will team up with Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Northridge, Fresno State, Sacramento State, and San Francisco State University to develop a data-informed toolkit to help formerly incarcerated, currently enrolled CSU students find housing. The foundation funding the effort is a nonprofit aimed at improving access to higher education.

 

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