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weekly update – july 12, 2019

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In this issue…

In CT: July Monthly Member Meeting Synopsis

In Hudson: Supporting Youth in Developing Their Visions and Voices for Change

In Case You Missed It: Turn On Care! Webinar on Medicaid for Incarcerated People

In Connecticut: July Member Meeting Synopsis

Katal team and members discuss resources and opportunities to collaborate with partners from across the Connecticut criminal justice reform field at our office in Hartford.

On Tuesday, July 2nd, we held our monthly member meeting in Hartford. The meeting opened with a re-cap and reflection on the organizing and advocacy work we’ve done over the last few months during session from outreach in Hartford to speaking at the Social Justice Advocacy Day.

We walked through a variety of topics, including halfway house reform, housing reform and statewide legislation that expands the criminalization of people who sell and use drugs. The latter topic took up most of the meeting, as members discussed the potential outcomes that will surface due to over-criminalization of Black, Brown, poor and rural communities. In closing, we laid the foundation for organizing work over the summer, specifically to build power among neighborhood residents throughout the state.

For more information on our work in Connecticut and to join us for our next monthly meeting, contact Kenyatta Thompson at kthompson@katalcenter.org or at 860.937.6094. 


In Hudson: Supporting Youth in Developing Their Vision and Voices for Change

Wednesday, July 10, our Community Organizer, Cedric Fulton, alongside Katal Leader, Marketa E., joined the Social Justice Leadership Academy (SJLA) — in which Cedric helped to found in 2013– for a presentation and tabling on our #LessIsMoreNY bill and our effort to pass parole reform, our work to end mass criminalization, mass incarceration, and the failed war on drugs across New York State.

SJLA is a five-week summer leadership training for teenagers growing up in Hudson, based on the principles of social justice and youth-led change. The training is led by Kite’s Nest, a center for liberatory education in Hudson, NY. We thank the SJLA staff for the opportunity to present to and further educate our young future leaders and changemakers on the issues deeply affecting their families and communities, and how they can drive real change.

SJLA staff and students join for a photo with our team after our presentation.

For more information on our work in New York and to join us for our next Capital Region Monthly Meeting, please contact Cedric Fulton at cfulton@katalcenter.org or at 518.965.6771.


In Case You Missed It: Turn On Care! Webinar on Medicaid for Incarcerated People

On June 26th, our Director of Health and Harm Reduction, Keith Brown, co-hosted a webinar alongside Legal Action Center on New York’s application to waive the federal Medicaid “Inmate” Exclusion provision. New York State’s Department of Health is in the process of submitting an amendment to its 1115 Medicaid Waiver in an effort to use federal Medicaid dollars to finance certain health care services for incarcerated people 30 days before release. If approved, New York would be the first state in the country to use Medicaid “inside the walls,” helping to improve both health and criminal justice outcomes.

Be sure to watch the Turn On Care! Webinar now available online here. We thank the Legal Action Center for partnering with us on this discussion. We hope that much can be learned from this important conversation by our colleagues across the field working towards improving health care access to justice-involved people nationwide.

For printing and distributing, PDF version of Katal Weekly Update.

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