InnocenceOK Nonprofit: Legal and Social Support for Women Affected by Oklahoma’s Justice System

Executive Summary

The organization’s name is InnocenceOK, and it will be established to negate the effects of policies that harm the local population. The problem that it will strive to alleviate is the issues women encounter with the justice system in the State of Oklahoma. There are severe disparities in this location that lead to unreasonably high rates of imprisonment and probation that exceed the United States average statistics by approximately 60% (“Oklahoma profile,” n.d.). This situation leads to countless cases where individuals are trapped in a cycle that perpetuates criminal behavior due to their excessive exposure to this environment.

The project will provide women in this area with legal and social assistance to prevent adverse effects of the current policies related to incarceration and reintegration. There are well-documented outcomes of the official programs in this sphere, which lead to the loss of women’s motherly identity, their exposure to violence and drugs, and behavioral problems (Breuer et al., 2021). The exact objective is to stop these problems from occurring by connecting people who enter the legal system with specialists and advisors who can help them avoid common pitfalls and defend their rights. Temporary housing, job agencies, and law schools can serve as a social net for women in Oklahoma. The focus will be on preserving family units by using a network of professionals who are willing to protect the community against unfair practices.

The anticipated outcome is the reduction of families divided by the unfair practices in prisons and questionable reintegration strategies that prevent people from returning to everyday lives after their encounters with law enforcement. Women in jails will have more chances to stay connected with their relatives, children, and friends, while those on parole will have readily available job and housing opportunities. Moreover, the knowledge regarding the methods that alleviate these problems will be distributed among the public. The significance of this project lies in the necessity to protect families and individuals from policies that exist due to rampant gerrymandering within the state (“Oklahoma profile,” n.d.). While the size of the organization is small, its coverage and the annual report are intended to provide other nonprofits with a blueprint for similar interventions.

The organization will be qualified to perform the goals outlined for this program due to its in-depth comprehension of the issue and the connections it strives to build with companies focused on assisting the target population. Therefore, it will be able to expand into the sphere of both social and legal services and promote positive changes within society. The first cycle of this intervention will require a year to be completed and for results to demonstrate its impact in full. These outcomes will be used to evaluate the overall efficiency of the chosen strategy and lead to adjustments for better coverage and consistency. In the long run, the organization aims to operate for as long as the harmful policies remain intact and focus on changing them for more humane ones.

The requested budget for this project is $156,390, which will cover essential specialists, managers, space, equipment, and materials for one hundred clients within a span of twelve months. There are plans for the program to generate revenue through partnerships and data sharing, although it is not expected to become entirely self-sustainable. Therefore, it will remain vital for the organization to seek support from individual donors and philanthropic entities continuously.

Introduction

The State of Oklahoma has created a challenging environment for women who encounter legal issues. With its staggering rate of incarceration, the area makes it difficult for individuals to uphold their everyday lives in situations where they are being disrupted by the judicial system. Therefore, there is a need for an intervention that will negate the adverse impact of imprisonment and probation that women are subjected to unreasonably. A new nonprofit company, tentatively named InnocenceOK, can become a catalyst for meaningful changes in this situation. In case of its approval, this proposal will lead to the creation of an organization that will defend women’s rights in the state by providing services that people otherwise are unable to obtain.

Statement of Need

Oklahoma is a U.S. state that is located north of Texas that has a worrying trend that must be addressed. Despite its relatively small number of inhabitants, it has the highest rate of imprisonment or probation among women, 993 per 100,000 residents, with over 96,000 people passing through the state’s legal system on an annual basis (“Oklahoma profile,” n.d.). The program will aim to assist women who are currently incarcerated or put on a suspended sentence and experience challenges in upholding their regular lives or remaining connected to their families.

It aims to provide legal assistance in ensuring better conditions in prisons and erasing criminal records for those who already served. The root cause of the issue of unreasonable incarceration rate is the priority to put people behind bars for local jails’ profit and the gerrymandering of this approach by politicians (“Oklahoma profile,” n.d.). Thus, the resolution calls for an attempt to balance the scales.

While there are organizations that strive to alleviate the problem, it remains essential to cover the areas that remain underdeveloped. ReMerge and Still She Rises fight against this worrisome trend, although they do not cover all necessary points due to their limited scope. There are failures in the current system that need to be addressed simultaneously since they perpetuate one another.

There is an opportunity to expand the legal assistance provided to the target population, as the funds for many individuals who find themselves in such a situation are lacking. Furthermore, the racial profile of women covered by the proposed intervention needs to be addressed by ensuring their sufficient representation among individuals receiving assistance (“Oklahoma profile,” n.d.). The initiative will connect threatened groups of people with services they require to defend their human rights and provide a foundation for reintegration into society after their release or probation.

Logic Model

Resources

The following assets are required for this project to become operational:

• Rented property for frequent meetings with clients of at least two small-sized office rooms;
• Employees with a degree in criminal justice, potentially acquired through a partnership with a law school (“Starting an innocence organization,” n.d.);
• Employees for the project’s administrative needs, including managers, accountants, and public relations specialists;
• Social workers with a comprehension of issues encountered by people from different backgrounds;
• A rented web hosting with a website for sharing resources with current and potential clients;
• Computers and telephones;
• Essential office furniture and appliances.

Activities

The scope of the issue will require the following activities to be planned at a regular pace:

• Public conversations about crime in Oklahoma will be conducted to change the perceptions of citizens on the current laws that follow gerrymandering politics (“Oklahoma profile,” n.d.);
• The continuous analysis of the profiles of arrestees in the State of Oklahoma will connect clients with specialists;
• The meetings with imprisoned or recently released women fitting into the program’s scope will be scheduled depending on their current confinement status;
• The contacts with temporary housing facilities will be established and upheld to provide individuals who struggle to return to their regular lives with a shelter and a support system;
• Family counseling sessions will be established for women on probation or after incarceration to help them reconnect with their relatives;
• Collaborations with ReMerge and other nonprofit organizations whose interests align with the program will be planned to draft a long-term solution to the current situation;
• Social workers will construct a maternal identity recovery strategy and apply it in practice with the program’s participants (Breuer et al., 2021);
• Partnerships with job agencies will be made in order to direct women who are struggling to find employment after being charged.

Outputs

These activities will cause the program to produce the following perceivable evidence:

• The sentence length for women who are first-time offenders and are arrested on charges related to drugs or minor violations will be decreased;
• The rate of imprisonment of women with children under the age of eighteen will be lowered, while expectant mothers will receive reduced jail time;
• Families that are broken apart due to arrests would be rarer in Oklahoma;
• The percentage of women under community supervision will increase, while the number of people in private jails will be reduced (“Oklahoma profile,” n.d.);
• The occurrence of public meetings that focus on the issue with the prison system in Oklahoma will increase, and campaigns against the support of private jails will appear frequently;
• Women will cooperate more frequently with legal advisors before their trials;
• The phone fees in jails will be reduced or covered by the program to help prisoners keep in contact with their families (Finkel, 2019).

Outcomes

The intended shifts in behavior of the attendees and the public, as well as their expanded knowledge base, include the following:

• Understanding of potential criminal charges stemming from minor violations and possession of illegal substances will increase among women targeted by the system;
• Public knowledge regarding the current situation will give people a possibility to affect their representatives’ position regarding private prisons operating in the state;
• Partnership activities with public defender offices and law schools will provide new evidence regarding the situation in Oklahoma;
• Lawmakers will acknowledge the adverse impact of their current approach to managing state and private prisons as businesses;
• Women on parole or probation will know where they can find assistance with stabilizing their lives;
• Employers will be more inclined to consider hiring women with minor criminal records to support communities damaged by the current policies;
• Women who have criminal records will attempt to have them erased for situations where they can prove that there are adverse consequences for their families;
• Social workers will outline strategies that provide meaningful support for previously incarcerated individuals who had their families break up due to their past criminal activities;
• Other nonprofits that focus on innocence initiatives will have a blueprint for a working solution that efficiently alleviates women’s suffering.

Goals/Impact

Within the following ten years, the next societal changes are expected to be perceivable:

• The criminal justice system may become leaner toward first-time women offenders, pregnant women, and mothers, especially in single-parent families;
• It is possible to convince politicians to enact policies for alternative sentencing for women from the above-mentioned categories;
• The rate of imprisonment or probation among women in Oklahoma is expected to become closer to the national average as the current system’s faults will be exposed;
• Communications between women in jails and their families will stop being used as severe financial burdens for prisoners;
• Recently released individuals will be provided with feasible choices on how to reintegrate into society, such as through job offerings and temporary residences;
• Low-income households will be less burdened in cases where criminal charges are filed against women;
• Public defender offices will start referring women who face persecution to the initiative or similar ones in their local area;
• Women who are being put in jails for lesser crimes will be positioned as primary candidates for release programs if there are available specialists who can assist them with reintegration;
• A proposition that limits the capacity of private jails to gain benefits from stricter imprisonment laws in Oklahoma will be created in collaboration with other women’s rights organizations.

Project Description

The proposal requires the creation of a program that will connect women in Oklahoma who face challenges with the justice system with legal and social workers. The goal is to affect the processes related to their jail conditions, loss of job opportunities, social contacts, and maternal instincts. As seen in the previous section, the outcomes include the reduction of the incarceration rate toward the national average, the preservation of family units, and the protection of people in jails from unfair practices. By paying attention to the deficiencies in access to professional help, the project can address the inequalities in Oklahoma’s prisons and post-release individuals’ experiences.

Approach, Activities, and Goals

The project will strive to create a community space where people can connect with necessary social services or legal advisors. There are two primary goals for this program, which include the reduction of suffering of women behind bars and the assistance with reintegration of women into society after encounters with the justice system. It is planned to establish a center for activities related to consultations, find specialists necessary for the operations, and fund the provision of their services. Furthermore, partnerships with other nonprofits will provide the organization with a way to improve its clients’ life stability through job and temporary housing offerings. A recurring part of the intervention will include a constant search for women who encounter trouble during or after their encounters with law enforcement.

Participants

The target population for this project is women in the State of Oklahoma who experience legal challenges. The attention to this group is necessary due to the adverse long-term effects such situations have on this portion of the population. This notion includes the degradation of relationships, the abandonment of children, and the inability of women to return to their regular schedules (Breuer et al., 2021). This situation leads to the destruction of numerous family units and individuals’ lives. The identification and recruitment will occur through public defender offices, courts, and probation programs. Clients’ needs will be identified, and they will be referred to necessary specialists and organizations, including legal advisors, temporary housing providers, and job agencies. Social workers with the knowledge of related issues and a sufficient degree of cultural competence required for each case will be selected to help the participants, whose involvement with the intervention will continue until specialists deem their goals achieved.

Work Plans and Timeline

As seen in Table 1, the realization of the plan will be conducted within a one-year period, which is deemed to be sufficient to make a positive impact on local communities that will prove the usefulness of the intervention. The limited scope of the project will ensure that the objectives are grounded in reality and can be adjusted if necessary if any evidence of such shifts arises (Karsh & Fox, 2019). However, its foundation relies first and foremost on the qualification of the staff that will provide the outlined services within the budgetary constraints. This project has the potential to provide a long-term impact if the initial cycle will prove to be a success.

Deliverables

This undertaking can lead to the establishment of a feasible service delivery model that helps people deal with the biases in the system. It can be distributed for free among donors, interested individuals, and other nonprofit organizations. Furthermore, the final assessment can be used to create a report on the experiences of women with Oklahoma’s justice system, which can serve as a basis for reforms in the state’s prison policies (Howlett & Bourque, 2016).

The identified deficiencies can point toward the benefits of changes in charges for minor crimes and probation practices. Furthermore, they can reveal what services are sub-standard within the area and require further attention. Scientific research can also indicate what biases are present in the system that lead to the disparities in incarceration among ethnic minorities.

Dissemination

The ongoing processes, as well as the project’s outcomes, will be disseminated among the personnel and donors to provide them with a perspective on the achieved goals. Other innocence organizations can also request the information stemming from this program to gain valuable experience in conducting such interventions. The annual report will be the primary tool for concluding the results in a professional manner, although letters for funders and partners will be disseminated as well (Howlett & Bourque, 2016). For further publicity, it is possible to use social media to spread the information among the public. The website can be used as a tool for both the promotion and dissemination of the data generated by this intervention.

Administration and Sustainability

To create a sustainable project, it is vital to find employees who will share the vision of a better future for Oklahoma. Therefore, the search will include the assessment of the moral identities of candidates to ensure that their activities do not rely on prejudicial views and lead to clients’ personal growth (Rogers, 2016). Key staff positions include a program manager, public relations managers, human resources, financial analysts, social workers, and legal advisors.

The ethnic composition of the workforce will be representative of the population that the organization will serve in order to ensure the full comprehension of their needs. The plan’s sustainability will rely on the output of deliverables and the social impact of the intervention. It is necessary to repeat the process until the policies in Oklahoma will change to alleviate the burden they instill on the target population.

Budget and Budget Narrative

The budgetary constraints will pose a significant challenge due to the costs imposed by hiring specialists, yet they are essential for the program to operate. In order to provide meaningful assistance to women in Oklahoma, it will be crucial to focus on the primary issues they experience due to the flaws in the state’s justice system. The program requires payments for employees, as well as the digital and physical space, to be operations. The total budget will depend severely on the demand for the project and will be evident within the first four months of its launch, although it is possible to estimate expenditures beforehand.

Table 2 – Proposed expenses of the intervention.

Table 2 reveals key components of the budget for this program, which will ensure its smooth run for its planned period of operation. First, the rent and office supplies will cover two rooms of sufficient size to accommodate both organizational needs and meetings with clients. The cost of such a space per month ranges from $350 to $1200, giving an average of $775 (“Oklahoma City, OK office space for lease or rent,” n.d.). Considering the year-long timeline for this project, this will amount to $9,300.

Additionally, approximately $930 will be spent on office supplies per employee (Bean-Mellinger, 2019). This price includes furniture, expendable resources, such as paper, printer ink, and others, as well as digital devices, such as computers and routers. With five employees in total, this part adds $4,650 to the planned expenditures.

Second, it is essential to comprehend that the cost of operation will depend severely on the number of participating individuals within the intervention period. Each person must receive help that will meaningfully impact their situation, which might require more or fewer sessions with professionals. Furthermore, workers will not be employed on a full-time basis, as the acquisition of clients who need their services may be sporadic for the first months of operating.

To simplify the calculations, the maximum capacity for the program will be limited to one hundred clients per month, who will be provided with two hours of legal advice and three hours of social services on average. By seeking candidates from law schools and public defender offices, the project can acquire legal advisors with rates of $50/hour. Additionally, an average social worker receives $31 per hour, which will be used in further calculations (“How much do social worker jobs pay per hour?,” n.d.). Thus, approximately $75,000 will be spent on covering legal assistance costs, while $55,800 will be dedicated to social workers’ compensation.

Finally, the managerial needs must be covered with the funds provided by donors and philanthropic organizations. While this part of the budget is often considered to be troublesome to justify, it is also vital for the project to survive (Karsh & Fox, 2019). Both public relations and financial managers will cost approximately $55 per hour. With sixteen hours per month, they will add $11,440 to the total expenses. Finally, a website will be needed for the program to reach the audience. $200 can cover this need in full, although it will be built through a template on Wix or a similar service provider (Carney, 2023). In Table 3, the sum can be seen clearly and readily presented to potential donors, although the scale might be adjusted if more funds are attracted.

Plan of Evaluation

Purpose

The plan will evaluate the success rate of its objectives and the satisfaction of clients after their interactions with the staff members are concluded. This approach will allow people to improve upon the intervention and apply it in other locations where policies cause unnecessary disruption in women’s lives. Furthermore, it will provide employees and funders with the possibility of evaluating the results of their activities and donations. The needs statement gives an insight into the reasons behind the necessity of the considered factors. The rate of incarceration must be brought down to the national average due to its burden on women in Oklahoma, as it stems from unfair practices and disrupts family units in the area (“Oklahoma profile,” n.d.).

The desired outcome is to prevent mothers from being separated from their families due to imprisonment and to encourage recently released women or those on probation to seek ways to better their life prospects. It will be seen in the increased frequency of calls or meetings between incarcerated family members, the reduction of homelessness among women with criminal records, and the rise in their employment rates.

Data

The information that will help evaluate the project stems from job and housing opportunities for women, as well as their in-jail experiences. This data will be collected through the statistics comparison and the exit survey constructed before the beginning of the journey but after the recruitment phase to guarantee the involvement of professionals (Karsh & Fox, 2019). The primary source of answers regarding the program’s success will be its clients. The timeline for the survey is two weeks for each client, while the quantitative data will be stored continuously.

At the end of the project, additional information will be gathered from the involved specialists, whose experiences and feedback will be used as a part of the annual report. The questions will be open-ended to ensure the freedom of expression among surveyed individuals. They will assess people’s satisfaction with the program, the impact on clients’ lives, and the efficiency of the resources expended for the project. Additional statistics, such as the number of people referred to job agencies and temporary housing, as well as their rates of success, can add a new perspective to these topics.

Analysis

The analysis will be twofold and include a thematic method for qualitative data and a statistical approach for quantitative information. The localized nature of the project does not require an external evaluation (Karsh & Fox, 2019). The rate of employment, homelessness, and meetings between prisoners and their families will be compared with the pre-intervention data. In turn, a thematic analysis will be conducted among both clients and employees to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the program. Each participant will be given a chance to contribute their point of view to the final report in the form of a short interview.

The desired outcome is the discovery of the improvement of the affected parameters through the described strategy. Its achievement must be linked to the above-average fluctuations of the related statistics. The information will be compiled in an extensive report that will be released to the public, and a short version will be included in letters to stakeholders. The findings will be shared with donors and employees on a monthly basis to reveal the progress, while the full release will be done at the end of the year.

Resources

The process will require a diligent gathering of data throughout the intervention. It might be necessary to outline the strategy for documenting the progress of both clients and employees (Karsh & Fox, 2019). The company’s website will serve as a major source of information, as the popularity of its pages can indicate what issues are more pressing for the target population.

Aside from the digital devices required to store and operate massive amounts of data, a person with sufficient knowledge of social studies will be critical for this evaluation. The existing workforce will be used for the analysis of the fiscal efficiency of this project if possible. However, it might be necessary to use external services to provide a conclusive report on the expenditures per client.

Organization Background Statement

By leveraging partnerships and ensuring full comprehension of the needs of the target population, InnocenceOK will be positioned to make a major impact in the area. Its primary strengths will rely on the accessibility of its services to the intended community. The funding will provide this nonprofit with qualified employees whose expertise will improve the lives of women in Oklahoma. These workers will be prompted to review each client’s issues and develop a plan for the resolution of their legal or social problems.

Furthermore, the company will take into account the ethnic background of its clients. To achieve this goal, inclusivity and diversity will be in the spotlight throughout all activities of the organization. The leader of this project is expected to have an in-depth comprehension of social sciences that will guarantee their ability to perceive the full scale of the problem that the initiative aims to resolve.

Conclusion

In summary, the grant will lead to the creation of a nonprofit organization tentatively named InnocenceOK that will strive to alleviate the negative effects the justice system has on women in Oklahoma. Despite the program’s relatively small scope, it is intended to create a blueprint for a full-scale intervention for individuals behind bars or on probation. With a budget of approximately $156,000, it will be able to improve the lives of at least six hundred women affected by the current situation within the state. Its funding will rely partially on the ability of the project to leverage partnerships, although a portion of the resources will be provided by donors. In general, the organization is expected to have a significant positive impact that will eventually lead to major changes in the state’s policies.

References

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Oklahoma profile. (n.d.). Prison Policy Initiative. Web.

Rogers, L. E. (2017). “Helping the helpless help themselves”: How volunteers and employees create a moral identity while sustaining symbolic boundaries within a homeless shelter. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 46(2), 230-260. Web.

Starting an innocence organization. (n.d.). Innocence Network. Web.