Below is a list of DC criminal legal system advocacy reform organizations. Our goal for providing this is to support collaboration between advocacy reform groups and District residents that are interested in these issues.
(Click here to have your group added to this list.)

Community Family Life Services

Description: CFLS serves the needs of homeless families, survivors of domestic violence, and women returning to the community from prison or jail. Through wraparound services, we provide the tools needed to move beyond poverty and homelessness into permanent self-sufficiency. CFLS also operates a Speakers Bureau, a platform for survivors of trauma such as domestic violence, human trafficking, and incarceration to learn public speaking skills, progress in their healing journey, and become agents of change through paid speaking engagements.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Reentry
Contact Name: Katherine Sponaugle
Title: Director of Reentry & Victim Services
Email: ksponaugle@cflsdc.org
Website: www.cflsdc.org

Criminon New Life DC

Description: The Criminon program provides justice-involved individuals with real-world skills they can use to improve their decision-making and reverse negative life habits in order to successfully navigate reentry into their families and communities.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Reentry
Contact Name: Matt Robinson
Title: President
Email: president@criminonnewlifedc.org
Website: criminonnewlifedc.org

CURE DC

Description: The District of Columbia chapter of Citizens United for Reform of Errants (CURE), an international judicial reform and prisoner advocacy organization. This chapter represents incarcerated individuals and returning citizens from the District of Columbia.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Local Control of justice system, Reentry, Sentencing Reform
Other Issue Areas: DC citizens incarcerated in the Federal Bureau of prisons and commercially operated prisons or held by any other judicial entity.
Contact Name: Sam Kaplan
Title: Vice President
Email: Sam620@outlook.com

DC Justice Lab

Description: DC Justice Lab is a team of law and policy experts researching, organizing, and advocating for large-scale changes to the District’s criminal legal system. We develop smarter safety solutions that are evidence-driven, community-rooted, and racially just. We aim to fully transform the District’s approach to public safety and make it a national leader in justice reform.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Local Control of justice system, Police Reform, Police in Schools, Record Sealing & Expungement, Reentry, Sentencing Reform, Youth
Contact Name: Emily Cassometus
Title: Policy Advocate and Research Associate
Email: emily@dcjusticelab.org
Website: dcjusticelab.org/

DC Project Connect

Description: The mission of DC Project Connect is to provide crisis intervention and information resources to families affected by incarceration; we support reentry initiatives that strengthen families.
Issue Areas: Reentry, Youth
Other Issue Areas: Support for families, especially children affected by incarceration.
Contact Name: Dr. Avon Hart-Johnson, HS-BCP
Title: President
Email: avonhartjohnson@gmail.com
Website: www.dcprojectconnect.com

DC Reentry Task Force

Description: The DC Reentry Task Force includes returning citizens, individuals who advocate on behalf of returning citizens in the District of Columbia, individuals who have experience or expertise in matters related to the welfare of returning citizens, and individuals who are interested in making government and private organizations more responsive to the needs of returning citizens.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Local Control of justice system, Police Reform, Record Sealing & Expungement, Reentry, Sentencing Reform
Contact Name: Louis Sawyer Jr.
Title: Co-Chair, DC Reentry Task Force
Email: louis.sawyer.jr@gmail.com

Interfaith Action for Human Rights

Description: IAHR represents people of faith who educate and advocate in Maryland, DC and Virginia for corrections systems that avoid unnecessarily punitive practices such as solitary confinement and that instead focus on rehabilitation and successful reentry.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Local Control of justice system
Contact Name: Charles Feinberg
Title: Rabbi
Email: rebchuck@interfaithactionhr.org
Website: www.interfaithactionhr.org

Justice Policy Institute

Description: JPI is a national nonprofit organization that changes the conversation around justice reform and advances policies that promote well-being and justice for all people and communities. JPI's research and analyses identify effective programs and policies and we disseminate our findings to the media, policymakers and advocates, and provide training and technical assistance supports to people working for justice reform.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Local Control of justice system, Police Reform, Police in Schools, Record Sealing & Expungement, Reentry, Sentencing Reform, Youth
Contact Name: Tyrone Walker
Title: Associate
Email: twalker@justicepolicy.org
Website: www.justicepolicy.org

More Than Our Crimes

Description: More Than Our Crimes advocates for individuals convicted of violent crimes who deserve a second chance. Although its focus is on individuals from D.C. , its advocacy also benefits this population writ large. More Than Our Crimes uses storytelling and targeted outreach to: · Advocate for the inclusion of persons once convicted of violent crimes in criminal justice reforms discussed and enacted in D.C. and nationally. · Seek improvements in the prison conditions in which they are held. · Support their acceptance by and integration into their communities upon release. A foundational principle of More Than Our Crimes is to include people currently incarcerated as well as those recently released in every aspect of our operations and outreach.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Local Control of justice system, Reentry, Sentencing Reform, Youth
Other Issue Areas: Conditions of federal prisons in which D.C. residents are held, as well as their distance from home.
Contact Name: Pam Bailey
Title: Co-founder
Email: pam@morethanourcrimes.org
Website: www.morethanourcrimes.org

Neighbors for Justice

Description: Neighbors for Justice strives to be good neighbors to residents of the DC jail during COVID and beyond by: increasing awareness of their experience, providing support, advocating on relevant legislation, and amplifying local justice efforts. Neighbors for Justice was founded in 2020 by individuals who live a few blocks from the DC jail.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Local Control of justice system, Record Sealing & Expungement, Reentry, Sentencing Reform, Youth
Contact Name: Julie Johnson
Title: Founder
Email: julie@neighborsforjusticedc.org
Website: neighborsforjusticedc.org

The National Reentry Network for Returning Citizens

Description: Our mission is to build a strong, national network comprised of individuals returning from incarceration who support each others successful reintegration. We use a client-centered approach to identify basic needs and to create a continuum of care that can address barriers to reentry, promote restorative practices, and reduce recidivism.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Local Control of justice system, Record Sealing & Expungement, Reentry, Sentencing Reform
Contact Name: Courtney Stewart
Title: Executive Director
Email: cstewart@thereentrynetwork.org
Website: thenationalreentrynetwork.org

Thrive DC

Description: Thrive DC is a \"one stop shop\" for people in crisis. By providing everything from hot meals and a free mailbox to job training and transitional housing, we create a place where clients can efficiently and effectively accomplish their goals with the support of our staff. For DC residents coming home from incarceration, we offer life skills training, housing, employment certifications, and access to all of our other services.
Issue Areas: Record Sealing & Expungement, Reentry
Other Issue Areas: Homelessness, Victim Services
Contact Name: Greg Rockwell
Title: Director of Development
Email: greg@thrivedc.org
Website: www.thrivedc.org

Who Speaks For Me?

Description: WSFM, an advocacy-and activist-driven prison abolition organization, works to create alternatives to incarceration for women, girls, and LGBTQ people. We provide innovative programs to interrupt and dismantle the Trauma-to-Prison Pipeline™, reduce recidivism and provide successful reentry. Our programs center the voices of the people we serve, with the goal of Building a Trauma-Informed Justice System™. WSFM provides opportunities to heal for those impacted by trauma before, during and post incarceration with a focus on POC.
Issue Areas: DC Jail (present and future), Local Control of justice system, Record Sealing & Expungement, Reentry, Sentencing Reform, Youth
Contact Name: Taylar Nuevelle
Title: Executive Director
Email: taylar@whospeaks4me.org
Website: whospeaks4me.org