The Beyond the Bars Conference is an annual student-driven interdisciplinary conference on mass incarceration held at Columbia University. Each year the conference brings together students, faculty, activists, advocates, practitioners, those who have experienced and/or been impacted by incarceration, community members and more to connect, galvanize, and deepen the work of building justice and equity and ending mass incarceration.
This workshop detailed the problems Returning Citizens face as they try to reintegrate into their local economies. Leading this discussion was several Formerly Incarcerated People who will detail their personal struggles to reestablish their financial identities after they were released from prison.
This workshop will also explain how and why the New Leaf Coalition was created – and the role it will play in helping Returning Citizens reintegrate into their communities and avoid reincarceration. Among other things, the Coalition will:
– Co-sponsor workshops on Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, Self- Employment and related topics; and
– Make referrals to organizations that provide assistance and services to Returning Citizens and their families
Finally, this workshop described how the proposed New Leaf Federal Credit Union will address the unique financial needs of Formerly Incarcerated People – and answer questions from participants about the specific services and employment opportunities it will provide for this population.
Learning Outcomes
Participants in the workshop will learn about the unmet financial services needs of Formerly Incarcerated People and their families. And they will learn what the New Leaf Coalition – and the proposed New Leaf Federal Credit Union – will be doing to help address those unmet needs. In addition, participants will also learn about the differences between credit unions and banks – and the differences between federally-chartered credit unions and state- chartered credit unions. They will also learn how the various services that the proposed New Leaf Federal Credit Union will be able to provide to its members. Those participants who have been incarcerated will also have an opportunity to share their own stories about the difficulties they faced in trying to obtain basic financial services after they were released from prison or jail. And they will be asked to identify the various types of financial services that would have made it easier for them to reintegrate into society after they were released.
