Our volunteer-run Equity Alliance chose to sponsor this book from Partnership for Safety and Justice, which is an organization advocating for public safety and criminal justice reform. We sat down with Talia Gad, Communications Director for Partnership for Safety and Justice to talk about their mission, working with the Equity Alliance, and how others can get involved.
Can you tell us a bit about Partnership for Safety and Justice?
Partnership for Safety and Justice is Oregon’s leading public safety and criminal justice reform organization. Our mission is to transform society’s response to crime with innovative solutions that ensure accountability, equity, and healing.
By engaging survivors of crime, people convicted of crime, and the families of both, we are advancing policies to stop the cycles of crime, curb the harmful growth of our prison system, and build healthy communities.
In the last few years alone, we have kept two Oregon prisons from opening and redirected savings into addiction treatment, victim services, and prison diversion programs that keep families together, all while saving taxpayers over half a billion dollars.
How did you get involved with the Scout Books Equity Alliance?
One of our staff, Development Director Cleo Tung, spoke with Cierra Cegielski, Scout’s Sales and Marketing Manager, about the meaningful work that we do. Cierra encouraged us to apply for the Scout Books Equity Alliance program grant, which we did in early 2019.
How are you using the books?
Our biggest advocacy day of the year is Safety and Justice Lobby Day, which takes place at the state Capitol in Salem. Crime survivors, justice-involved people, and other advocates come from across the state to share their stories with lawmakers about why they support public safety and criminal justice reform policies.
This year, people spoke to their elected officials about eliminating mandatory minimum prison sentences for youth, increasing crime survivor services funding, reducing Oregon’s prison use, and promoting racial equity in our public safety system.
Scout notebooks were a fun and meaningful part of this year’s Safety and Justice Lobby Day. Each advocate and all 90 state lawmakers received a notebook with our logo and our mission statement as a reminder that we must all take part in promoting accountability, equity, and healing in all our communities.
How can people who are interested get involved?
Everyone has a role to play when it comes to reforming our public safety and criminal justice system. To learn more about upcoming advocacy and community events, we encourage people to join our email list at safetyandjustice.org/joinus.
We also have a number of other volunteer opportunities throughout the year such as fundraising, tabling at community events, and organizing house parties. People who are interested in these opportunities are encouraged to contact Cleo Tung at info@safetyandjustice.org.