THE COLLEGE AND COMMUNITY FELLOWSHIP INC

Since our founding in 2000, CCF has provided direct services at the intersection of gender-responsiveness, higher education, criminal justice reform, and racial justice. Today, we address individual, institutional, and systemic change through our three main program areas.

College & Career Program: Through these programs (Academic Support Program, Peer Mentoring Program, and Career Advancement Program), we provide the long-term support needed for women with criminal involvement to complete their college degrees and begin on a pathway to a meaningful career. Every woman in our program receives multi-year engagement, assessment and as-needed referrals (healthcare, housing, etc.).

Policy & Advocacy: Introduced in 2008, builds the CJ-reform movement through education and civic engagement campaigns that center the voices of directly impacted people in the advocacy work we lead. We also offer an 8-week advocacy training program Women Influencing Systems & History (WISH) that works with women impacted by incarceration in NYC to become skilled advocates in their communities.

THRIVE Technical Assistance: Launched in 2016, supports the successful reintegration of CJ-affected people by training staff at other institutions in the evidence-based and promising practices we use in our College & Career Programs. Our curriculum covers local laws and regulations protecting CJ-impacted people, common challenges faced in reentry, the value of higher education, and much more.

Organizational Highlights & Accomplishments
- Since 2000, we have reached thousands of women, with hundreds going on to earn their college degrees, including scores of Associate’s, Bachelor’s, and Master’s, as well as a Ph.D., JD, and MBA.

- Our Academic Support Program cohort graduation rates have reached 93%, and our cumulative recidivism rate is below 6%.

- In 2015, our advocacy work resulted in the development of the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative, which temporarily restores Pell Grant eligibility to over 12,000 incarcerated students annually.

- In 2016, our work resulted in the State University of New York’s decision to move criminal history screenings off college applications.

- As a result of our THRIVE Technical Assistance training, the Atlantic City Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and its local union hired 38 people with CJ histories.

- In partnership with the Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School and Ascend at the Aspen Institute produced Home-Grown Social Capital, a study that demonstrates how higher education for formerly incarcerated women facilitates family and community transformation.

- In 2019, THRIVE was evaluated by the Joyfields Institute, an expert in Evidence-based practices. The THRIVE curriculum was found to effectively use existing research, empirical assessment, and data-driven decision-making to enhance client success, improve staff performance, and promote a culture of learning and collaboration.

As an organization, we continue to invest in human capital, support community engagement and extend our reach through meaningful partnerships that lend themselves to collective efficacy - because we know that when people impacted by the system have the necessary tools and resources they will succeed.

Collaboration is a huge part of work. As such we work closely with the following networks.
- Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People Family Movement (FICPFM)
FICPFM is a network of over 50 civil and human rights organizations led by people who have conviction histories and their family members. Vivian Nixon, ED of CCF sits on their Steering Committee.

- Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI): CCF is also one of 11 members of the ATI/Reentry Coalition, whose mission is to reduce crime and bring opportunity to NYC communities with complex needs and issues by providing a spectrum of services for CJ-involved people.

Student Spotlights
Meet Mimi, who has been out of prison for a mere 14 months and already working on a Bachelor's degree at City College! As a theater major, Mimi is dedicated to bringing the world stories that represent her experiences. Art is only one form of advocacy for Mimi: she also works with Educate Don't Incarcerate and the Beyond the Box movement. All this is sparked by Mimi's desire to "break the chain" so that children of incarcerated parents don't get caught up in the criminal justice system themselves. After being sentenced to a ten-year mandatory minimum, Mimi was separated from her son Darien. Today, she is using education, advocacy, and the arts, and working with Darien, to mentor children who have been forgotten by the system.

Starr joined CCF in 2014 and has since made huge changes in her life. Not only has she earned her Bachelor's degree, but she has also become a certified Youth Court Diversion Specialist, started her own nonprofit (Starz Closet) working with women immediately after release from prison, and become a fierce advocate in the #CLOSEriker campaign. She's now working toward her Master's degree in Social Work at Fordham University. "I wanted to get a college education because I knew I would have more opportunities. CCF accelerated my drive and motivation to attain my degree. CCF is a place where you don’t need to get stuck in the past – you can grow and become the woman you want to be." And Starr is living proof that higher education has ripple effects: "I got to see all of my children graduate high school and all of them are living productive lives. They’re not going to be statistics. I broke the cycle.”