Meeting the Needs of Formerly Incarcerated Survivors with Disabilities

People with disabilities are over-represented in our nation’s jails and prisons. And, most people who serve time in jail or prison were victims of some type of harm or abuse before they were convicted of a crime. This means that every year, many survivors with disabilities are returning to the community after a period of incarceration. When they come home, these survivors carry both the trauma of suffering violence and the burden of intense stigma that comes both from having been incarcerated and having a disability. This stigma can create real barriers to reentry, healing, and disability services. In this webinar, Allison Hastings and Kaitlin Kall of the Vera Institute of Justice will discuss the impact of incarceration on people with disabilities, the victimization experiences of people who have a history of incarceration, and barriers to services for formerly incarcerated survivors with disabilities. They will also engage the audience in a discussion of promising strategies for reaching more formerly incarcerated survivors with disabilities.