John Jay College Of Criminal Justice | The City University of New York

   

Ann Jacobs, Director of the Prisoner Reentry Institute (PRI), provides commentary in the Gotham Gazette article, “Can Empty Prisons Be Repurposed To Help Ex-Cons Reintegrate Into Society?” on the new initiative to transform closed, empty prisons in the Bronx and Manhattan into centers for prisoner reentry programs offering services to former inmates, such as employment training and temporary housing.

To read the full article, click here.

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Jacobs joined the Prisoner Reentry Institute in 2011 with over forty years of experience in the criminal justice field. For nearly two decades, she served as the Executive Director of the Women’s Prison Association (WPA) in New York. Jacobs has served as a national spokesperson, consultant and trainer on a range of issues including gender, families and criminal justice, as well as associated issues of substance abuse, mental health, health, housing, child welfare and employment. She has designed and implemented innovative programs for women and families involved in the criminal justice system and has also served as a consultant to the National Institute of Corrections and Annie E. Casey Foundation, among others. As a recognized advocate and reformer, Jacobs also founded the Women’s Justice Alliance, a consortium of over 100 service providers in New York State; she created the Institute on Women in Criminal Justice, a national policy center dedicated to improving the policies and practices affecting women in the criminal justice system; and the Women’s Advocacy Project, a program in public policy and civic involvement for formerly incarcerated women.