Seizing the Moment: Policy Advocacy to End Mass Incarceration in the Time of COVID-19

The mass human and economic casualties wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the deep inequities at the base of the disproportionate losses and suffering experienced by diverse U.S. populations. But the urgency and enormity of unmet needs requiring bold policy action also provided a unique oppo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health education & behavior 2020-08, Vol.47 (4), p.514-518
Main Authors: Minkler, Meredith, Griffin, Joseph, Wakimoto, Patricia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advocacy
African Americans
African Americans - statistics & numerical data
Betacoronavirus
Casualties
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
Coronaviruses
Correctional Institutions
COVID-19
Detention
Detention centers
Health Education
Health problems
Hispanic Americans
Hispanic Americans - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Imprisonment
Institutionalized Persons
Mass incarceration
Minority Groups
Models, Theoretical
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
Policy Formation
Policy Making
Politics
Prison overcrowding
Prisons
Prisons - legislation & jurisprudence
Public Health
Public Policy
SARS-CoV-2
Suffering
Tactics
Teachers
United States - epidemiology
Unsafe
Urgency
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Summary:The mass human and economic casualties wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the deep inequities at the base of the disproportionate losses and suffering experienced by diverse U.S. populations. But the urgency and enormity of unmet needs requiring bold policy action also provided a unique opportunity to learn from and partner with community-based organizations that often are at the frontlines of such work. Following a review of Kingdon’s model of the policy-making process, we illustrate how a partnership in a large California county navigated the streams in the policy-making process and used the window of opportunity provided by the pandemic to address a major public health problem: the incarceration of over 2 million people, disproportionately African American and Latinx, in overcrowded, unsafe jails, prisons, and detention centers. We highlight tactics and strategies used, challenges faced, and implications for health educators as policy advocates during and beyond the pandemic.
ISSN:1090-1981
1552-6127
DOI:10.1177/1090198120933281