More timely new Prison Policy Initiative briefings on the many challenges of incarceration

I am often not able to keep up with all the great "briefings" produced by the folks at Prison Policy Initiative. Last month in this post, I noted a set of important recent work detailing ugly economic realities and disparities intertwined with prison experience. I am pleased now to have a chance to flag three more important and timely new briefings about other incarceration realities:

"Research roundup: The positive impacts of family contact for incarcerated people and their families: The research is clear: visitation, mail, phone, and other forms of contact between incarcerated people and their families have positive impacts for everyone — including better health, reduced recidivism, and improvement in school. Here’s a roundup of over 50 years of empirical study, and a reminder that prisons and jails often pay little more than lip service to the benefits of family contact."

"Since you asked: What information is available about COVID-19 and vaccinations in prison now?: Despite the new variants of COVID-19, prison systems are failing to publish up-to-date and necessary data and we don’t know much about booster shot access."

"Recent studies shed light on what reproductive 'choice' looks like in prisons and jails: States that are otherwise hostile to abortion rights are especially likely to make it difficult for incarcerated people."