Marc Levin will be speaking in Houston at the “Charting a Path from Criminality to Opportunity” event on Feb. 27th-28th. The event will be hosted by the Philanthropy Roundtable, Texas Public Policy Foundation and the Conference of Southwest Foundations. Here is the agenda for the two-day event.
From the website: Charting a Path from Criminality to Opportunity will explore innovative solutions to the growing problem of incarceration and recidivism. Nearly 1 out of every 31 Americans is now in prison or on parole or probation, and correctional expenses nationally have grown from approximately $20 billion in 1980 to over $74 billion today. More the 700,000 prisoners are released each year; up to 70% will return to prison within a few years partly due to the challenges that they face at finding housing, getting jobs and rebuilding their lives. This is also a multi-generational issue, since the 7.3 million children who have a parent in prison are at extremely high risk of entering the criminal justice system themselves. How can we break this cycle? This program provides a forum for philanthropists to hear from public policy experts, nonprofit direct service providers, and donor speakers, as they share effective models and strategies for reform. It will also offer a site visit to the Cleveland Correctional Center to see how the Prison Entrepreneurship Program connects executive volunteers with prison inmates through a “mini MBA” program that has delivered an 80% reduction in recidivism.