May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about mental health, reduce stigma, and promote understanding and support for those affected, including people impacted by the criminal legal system. One framework that helps us better understand cycles of harm is the study of Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs. ACEs are traumatic events that happen before age 18, like physical or emotional abuse, neglect, growing up around substance use, losing a parent to incarceration, or witnessing violence. These early experiences can have long-term effects on how people cope with stress, form relationships, and respond to conflict. They’re also closely linked to mental health challenges later in life. In the general U.S. population, about 61% of adults have experienced at least one ACE. Among people in prison, that number rises to over 90%. Understanding ACEs helps us see the bigger picture behind a person’s experiences and understand why trauma-informed support rooted in healing is essential to breaking cycles of violence and incarceration. Source: Compassion Prison Project Read full report: https://compassionprisonproject.org/childhood-trauma-statistics/ #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #ACEs #TraumaInformedCare #HealingJustice (fb)

Tomorrow, the Senate Appropriations Committee will decide whether SB 286 — a bill that excludes thousands of people with sex offenses from California’s statutory Elderly Parole Program — will move forward this year. The Elderly Parole program allows people over 50 who have served at least 20 years to be considered for parole. Those released through this process have a 2.4 percent recidivism rate, one of the lowest of any group released from prison. Our Senior Policy Manager Su Kim spoke to Capitol Weekly about the bill’s steep costs and the need for real solutions to improve public safety: “It is dangerous to pour billions into a policy that does nothing to improve public safety while California faces devastating cuts to victim services and violence intervention programs.” Read more: https://capitolweekly.net/should-older-sex-offenders-be-eligible-for-early-release-from-prison/ Sign up to receive updates about SB 286 and other harmful bills, or to get involved in our policy advocacy work: bit.ly/UCLPolicyAdvocacy (fb)