Utah Prisoner Advocate Network
UPAN | A nonprofit community advocacy group supporting the families of Utah inmates.
Please join the Utah Prisoner Advocate Network for our next monthly meeting. Our topic will be focused on inmate family issues. Free and open to the public. We hope to see you there! Questions? Contact Us
Attend a community gathering to discuss "Civilian Review Boards" and how they can be used to increase police accountability.
Please Attend the Next FOCUS Meeting
Department of Corrections Executive Director of Administrative Services Mike Haddon will be present to talk about the upcoming legislative session and how the process works.
About FOCUS
Each quarter, the Utah Department of Corrections invites interested community members to attend a discussion forum at the Region 3 Adult Probation & Parole office in Salt Lake City. The office is located at 36 W. Fremont Avenue and the FOCUS meetings are held in the conference room to the right of the main entrance.
Discussion topics are pre-determined to ensure the most knowledgeable presenters are on hand. Past topics have included the Drug Offender Reform Act (DORA), a presentation by the Utah Board of Pardons & Parole, an overview of Adult Probation & Parole's Northern Utah office, and an introduction to new wardens.
More information: Contact Steve Turley, special projects director, at [email protected] or 801-545-5633.
PLEASE NOTE: In addition to FOCUS, the department has set up numerous ways for the public to interact with us on a daily, ongoing basis — rather than wait months for another quarterly meeting.
These include phone calls, in-person meetings, e-mails, this website (Ask A Question forum via home page) as well as social media. Please see the home page for social media links and a "Contact Us" link with useful telephone numbers. You may also contact Public Information Officer Brooke Adams at 801-545-5536 or by email at [email protected].
Get to know your Legislator (Bring Your Legislator To UPAN Meeting)
We are asking our UPAN participants to contact their local representatives and senators and invite them to our January 2016 meeting. You can find out who they are by going to: le.utah.gov. E-mail them, call them, and send them a written invitation. This will only be successful if we all do our part to invite them!
If you wish to speak at this meeting, please arrive about 10 – 15 minutes early to sign up on the speakers list. We will begin on time at 6:30 p.m.
Agenda & Objectives:
1. This will put a face to the names we hear about up on the Hill. And they will get to put a face to the constituents they represent.
2. We can give first hand stories about the real people being affected by the laws they are passing.
3. We can let them know what we would like to see happen with new criminal justice reform. This will be accomplished the same way we did when Ron Gordon of the CCJJ came. There will be a list for participants (you) to sign up in order to speak. Each speaker will get up to five minutes to express their views. We would like this to be a positive experience for all involved, so no negativity will be accepted. Our representatives should come away with an appreciation of everything we as families, and our incarcerated loved ones, are going though. We hope to share, ideas that continue to facilitate positive change. We need their help, they need our experience, and we need them to be on the side of truth, fairness, and healing. Free and open to the public.
UPAN Monthly Meeting - February 2016
UPAN Monthly Meeting - March 2016 we welcome Kade Minchey from the Utah Office of the Auditor General to give a presentation on the Legislative Audit of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
UPAN Monthly Meeting - April 2016
Four of the new DOC leaders will be there to explain any new directions they may be bringing to their assignments. The guests are: Jim Hudspeth, Director of AP&P; James Chipp, Director of the Inmate Placement Program; Glenn Ercanbrack, Region 3 Administrator (Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties); and Jeremy Sharp, Law Enforcement Bureau Chief. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. so get there a little early in order to be taken back to the Training Room.
Please join UPAN for our next monthly meeting. Our guest will be Andrew McCullough who will be running for Utah Attorney General. We will hear from him about what the AG office does. UPAN families can share with him their concerns about Criminal Justice Issues in Utah. While the AG’s office doesn’t have a significant role in criminal justice reform, it does sometimes push legislation that impacts the criminal justice system, and not always for the better. It is also our understanding that the Attorney General’s office works under the Governor, so that office COULD have some influence in how the Governor approaches criminal justice reform. Free and open to the public.
Please join UPAN for our next monthly meeting. LEGISLATOR NIGHT. This will be another Share with your Legislator meeting. We will invite our state legislators (you are encouraged to invite your own as well as UPAN inviting them). We are also hoping to invite candidates who are running this year. UPAN families may sign up to share their concerns about the Criminal Justice System and Prison issues. Each person is asked to keep their comments to the point, (3 minutes) as we will also ask if any of our legislators want to share what they may be working on in terms of criminal justice related legislation for the 2017 session. Meet in Conference Rooms A-B-C downstairs below Main Library Foyer. Free and open to the public.
#Cut50 National Day of Empathy - Presented by League of Allies and UPAN
Britnee Webb of League of Allies, UPAN and others areorganizing an event focusing on creating empathy & humanizing the experience of prisoners and their families. Guest speakers, open forum, more info to come. Please invite anyone interested. We would love to have former inmates & their families present to speak in the forum. Ideally we want state officials, legislators & policymakers present, because this is who we are humanizing the experience for. We want them to see our inmates as more than numbers.
About #DayOfEmpathy
Day of Empathy is a national day of action to generate empathy on a massive scale for millions of Americans impacted by the criminal justice system.
In order to reform our criminal justice system, we must first humanize and empathize with those who are impacted by it.
The Day of Empathy will highlight the needs and share the perspectives of Americans impacted by the current justice system - from survivors of violent crime, those who are addicted or mentally ill, incarcerated individuals working to transform themselves, people with a criminal record desperately seeking a second chance, and all community members impacted by crime, public safety, and violence.
Without empathy, we cannot achieve meaningful policy changes that keep our communities safe, our families whole, and our economy strong.
There are thousands of people - mothers, daughters, children - who have stories to tell.
The Day of Empathy will shine a light on people impacted by the criminal justice system, uplift their voices, and win over hearts and minds towards the idea that transformation is possible.
HOW WE'LL DO THIS
On March 1st, 2017 organizations across the country will be activated for a single day of action to spotlight their local efforts and unite under a unified banner to highlight the strength of the bipartisan criminal justice reform movement.
"Ambassadors of Empathy" will meet with elected officials in State capitols and Governors' offices across the country. They will share their experiences and how they have been impacted by the criminal justice system. Legislators will gain first-hand experience of the human consequences of a criminal justice system that has gotten too big, too unfair, and too brutal.
The Day of Empathy will feature storytelling, digital media, and virtual realitycontent to humanize formerly incarcerated people, survivors of violent crime, and millions of others. By delivering a set of powerful, emotional experiences to lawmakers and fellow Americans, the Day of Empathy will accelerate the bipartisan drive to create more effective, efficient, and humane criminal justice system.
OUR TEAM
We have teamed up with storytellers, media industry insiders, technology leaders and policy experts with direct access to leaders in the U.S. Congress, the White House, criminal justice activists, major news outlets and technology pioneers.
NOT FOR RENT!, Metamora Films latest documentary film is being released and screened at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. The feature length documentary film looks at rental housing barriers ex-felons face as they attempt to rebuild their lives in our communities. With over 95% of the American prison population being released at some point in the future, millions of ex-inmates struggle with ‘red tape’ and strict criminal history rental requirements property managers and landlords enforce. In this unique and powerful film, you’ll meet several people who’ve been personally affected by housing restrictions due to felony convictions.
The film screening is scheduled for April 5th, 2017 from 12:30pm to 2:30pm at the Wildcat Theater. The event is FREE and open to the public including Weber State students who will receive community engagement credit for attending the event. Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Monica Williams, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Weber State, University, the film release is part of the Engaged Learning Series, which is a university-wide series of events designed to engage students, faculty, staff, and community in discussion, debate, dialogue, learning, and action around an issue of public concern. For 2017, the series aims to raise awareness, improve personal behavior, and increase public engagement around the issue of “privilege.” In addition to the screening of NOT FOR RENT!, there will be guest speakers, a Q&A with the film’s director, Matt Duhamel, and a social hour with free lunch catered by Sodexho.
The Utah Prisoner Advocate Network (UPAN) will be present as a vendor with information on their organization, mission statement and how you can get involved in prisoner advocacy work in Utah and beyond
