Alexander Brown
Diversion and Reentry Advisory Council Member
Mission:
The mission of the Access Living – Diversion and Reentry Advisory Council is to empower justice impacted people with disabilities and their family members to advance the disability-centered criminal justice reform.
Vision:
The vision of the Access Living Diversion and Reentry Advisory Council is to provide a space for impacted people with disabilities impacted to strengthen their capacity to advocate for systemic improvements and advancements in criminal justice reform. Through direct engagement with cross-disability analysis, public education, and application of their lived experience those who are most impacted by the criminal justice system will be more prepared to help bring about a more effective justice system.
Purpose:
The Access Living Diversion and Reentry Advisory Council Justice purpose it to help harness the experience, knowledge, and expertise of formerly incarcerated people with disabilities to assist with and inform Access Living’s Diversion and Reentry-centered criminal justice efforts.
Goals:
- Build the capacity of justice impacted people with disabilities to be able to inform local, state, and national policies and programs related to diversion and reentry efforts in the criminal justice system.
- Provide input and feedback for Access Living’s Diversion and Reentry Policy Analyst and internal team on criminal justice priorities and engagement
- Engage key decision makers and stakeholders in the criminal justice system to exchange knowledge related to disability-centered Diversion and Reentry to deepen the relationship between existing supporters and develop new ones as well.
Membership:
Th Access Living Diversion and Reentry Advisory Council consists of 5 members who were selected through Access Living’s application and interview process. Each of the members are required to be an impacted person with a disability and/or be a caregiver/close family member to a impacted person with disability. Furthermore, all members are required to attend each of the four quarterly meeting to share input and feedback on Access Living’s Diversion and Reentry advocacy efforts. Members are paid a combined minimum of $1000 ($250 per) for four meeting commitment, with potential for more based-on engagement in between quarterly meetings.
Meetings:
The Access Living Diversion and Reentry Advisory Council meets a minimum of 4 times per year to gather to receive training and advise on Access Livings Diversion and Reentry efforts. Each meeting is approximately 3 hours long and is broken down into two parts. The first part of the meeting is dedicated to training and development efforts for members to learn about cross-disability analysis, policy work, and legal protections for people with disabilities. The second part of the meeting is dedicated to discussion designed to receive input and feedback on Diversion and Reentry Advocacy efforts.