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Certified diversity executive, host of Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox podcast and Head of Content for The Diversity Movement, Jackie Ferguson, explains: As a society, we don’t always extend empathy to incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated people the way we do to other underserved groups. In fact, I’d say bias often leads us to believe their marginalization is somehow deserved or, at the very least, defensible. Yet if more people understood the reality of our criminal justice system — from wrongful convictions to the large number of people in prison because of small-time drug offenses — they might feel differently. They might even give formerly-incarcerated people a fresh chance at building a career and contributing positively to our workplaces and communities.

Experts doubt ethical AI design will be broadly adopted as the norm within the next decade.

A majority worries that the evolution of artificial intelligence by 2030 will continue to be primarily focused on optimizing profits and social control. They also cite the difficulty of achieving consensus about ethics. Many who expect progress say it is not likely within the next decade. Still, a portion celebrate coming AI breakthroughs that will improve life.

Experts Doubt Ethical AI Design Will Be Broadly Adopted as the Norm Within the Next Decade

Author(s): Lee Rainie, Janna Anderson and Emily A. Vogels

Publisher: Pew Research Center

Publication Date: 6/16/2021

President Biden signed an Executive Order to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal workforce. This Executive Order reaffirms that the United States is at its strongest when our Nation’s public servants reflect the full diversity of the American people.

Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce

Author(s): President Joseph R. Biden, Jr

Publisher: The White House

Publication Date: 6/25/2021

Not only does the U.S. have the highest incarceration rate in the world; every single U.S. state incarcerates more people per capita than virtually any independent democracy on earth. To be sure, states like New York and Massachusetts appear progressive in their incarceration rates compared to states like Louisiana, but compared to the rest of the world, every U.S. state relies too heavily on prisons and jails to respond to crime.

Staff recruitment and retention have remained critical obstacles, but there are still strategies organizations can employ to gain the upper hand in 2022. We asked several Corrections1 columnists and contributors to share what they thought were the biggest challenges of 2021 along with advice on how to address these issues in 2022.

Roundtable: How Corrections Was Challenged in 2021

Author(s): Mike Cantrell, Gary Cornelius, Jenna Curren, Zolhar Zaied

Publisher: Corrections1

Publication Date: 12/24/2021

The number of Deaf adults in the correctional system is difficult to specify, as some estimates include individuals who are mildly to moderately hard-of-hearing while others do not. HEARD, an organization that provides support and advocacy to incarcerated Deaf individuals, estimates the number to be in the tens of thousands.

Deaf and Incarcerated: Access, Accommodations, and Care

Author(s): M. Elizabeth Bowman, PhD, LCSW-C, and Jaemi Hagen, MSW

Publisher: National Commission on Correctional Health Care

Volume, Issue, & Page: Volume 36, Issue 1, pgs 4-6

Publication Date: Spring 2022

The aftermath of the 2008-09 financial crisis spotlighted unequal access to jobs and opportunities in the US. After the Occupy Wall Street protests, many industries and agencies re-examined policy areas for their impacts on inequality (including even the Federal Reserve1). Many policies today, including universal basic income,2 free education and health care, reduced labor inflows, and controlled trade and investments, are partly in response to unequal access to opportunities and uncertainties about the future of work.

Agencies have new marching orders to promote and improve diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility within the federal workforce, thanks to a sweeping new executive order from the Biden administration.

The executive order, which President Joe Biden signed Friday evening, details the administration’s vision for a federal workforce “that looks like America.” It touches on nearly every aspect of federal employment, from recruitment and hiring to training, leadership development, and employee pay and benefits.

Biden Creates Sweeping Diversity and Inclusion Initiative Through New Executive Order

Author(s): Nicole Ogrysko

Publisher: Federal News Network

Publication Date: 6/28/2021

In 2021, Dow’s updated Inclusion, Diversity and Equity strategy – ALL IN 2025 – focuses on leading with inclusion, elevating their focus on diversity, and embedding equity into their practices, policies and processes.

Global Workforce Demographics

Publisher: Dow Corporate

Publication Date: 6/1/2021

https://corporate.dow.com/en-us/esg/report/inclusion-and-diversity/investing-in-our-workforce/demographics.html

What lies ahead for us? Although the modern world allows us to know and control so many things, our collective future remains slippery. This seems particularly true this year, as we live through a global pandemic and amid countless existing environmental, economic and political uncertainties. Combining insights from the history of computing, the practical lens of futurism and the imaginative signposts offered by four fictional stories of life in 2030-something, this report aims to equip leaders with the tools they need to more accurately imagine the future of information, locality, economics and education, and to plan accordingly.

In collaboration with Deloitte

Experts identify top needs for tech solutions to Probation and Parole system challenges. Corrections agencies may turn to smart digital gear to better train and equip supervisors and monitor offenders to keep them on the path toward compliance.

Community Corrections Technology: Experts Identify Top Needs for Tech Solutions to Probation and Parole System Challenges

Author(s): Joe Russo et al.

Publisher: National Institute of Justice

Publication Date: 3/17/2021

https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/community-corrections-technology-experts-identify-top-needs-tech-solutions

Congress tasked BJS and the U.S. Census Bureau with reporting on post-prison employment of persons released from federal prison. The study population in this report includes 51,500 persons released from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) whose release records could be linked by the U.S. Census Bureau to employment and wage files from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program.

Employment of Persons Released from Federal Prison in 2010

Author(s): U.S. Department of Justice

Publication Date: 12/1/2021

https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/eprfp10.pdf

Over 180 million workers in the U.S. have LinkedIn profiles; over 97,000 companies in the U.S. use LinkedIn to recruit and members can add over 38,000 skills to their profiles to showcase their professional brands. That gives us unique and valuable insight into U.S. workforce trends.

LinkedIn Workforce Report, United States, December 2021

Publisher: LinkedIn

Publication Date: 12/2/2021

https://economicgraph.linkedin.com/resources/linkedin-workforce-report-december-2021

To date, organizations across the world have followed the American lead when it comes to DEI. They’ve benefited from the extensive research, data, literature, role models, best practices, narratives, and success stories and have been inspired to address inequality in their own workplaces. But for global organizations aspiring to be inclusive of diverse talent across their international teams, it’s just as important that employees in Paris, Mumbai, and Buenos Aires are on board as it is for those in New York and Seattle. To achieve this, leaders can draw inspiration from the management term “glocal,” a mix of the words global and local.

In 2021, ransomware attacks continued to be one of the most prominent threats targeting businesses and organizations worldwide. High-profile attacks disrupted operations of companies in various sectors, including critical infrastructure (Colonial Pipeline), food processing (JBS Foods), insurance (CNA) and many more. Following the attacks, pressure of law enforcement on ransomware gangs intensified, though simultaneously these threat actors continue to evolve. They not only become more technologically sophisticated but also extensively leverage the growing cybercrime ecosystem aiming to find new partners, services and tools for their operations.

Beware. Ransomware. Top Trends of 2021.

Publisher: KELA Cybercrime Intelligence

From breath sensors that can diagnose disease to wireless charging of low-powered devices, the 10th-anniversary edition of the World Economic Forum’s Top 10 Emerging Technologies Report lists new technologies poised to impact the world in the next three to five years.

Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2021

Publisher: World Economic Forum

Publication Date: 11/1/2021

https://www.weforum.org/reports/top-10-emerging-technologies-of-2021

Employment estimates and mean wage estimates for Correctional Officers and Jailers.

Occupational Employment and Wages, Correctional Officers and Jailers, May 2021

Publisher: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Publication Date: 5/1/2021

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes333012.htm

In June 2020, RAND and University of Denver staff conducted an expert workshop on com-munity supervision in a digital world. The workshop was convened to identify high-priority technology and policy needs related to supervising individuals in an increasingly digital world. This report presents the proceedings of that workshop, topics considered, needs that panel participants developed, and overarching themes that emerged from the panel discussion. This report and the results it presents should be of interest to community corrections agency administrators, community corrections officers, correctional assessment and treatment staff, risk-needs assessment technology providers, digital supervision technology providers, and the research community.

Court-based online dispute resolution (ODR) encompasses a vast and ever-growing array of technologies and processes that are used to resolve disputes in the legal system. ODR programs have been implemented widely in commercial environments to resolve disputes (e.g., on e-commerce website eBay), but since 2015, court-based ODR programs in the United States have expanded from a handful of exploratory pilots to countless programs in small and large courts alike.

Online Dispute Resolution: Perspectives to Support Successful Implementation and Outcomes in Court Proceedings

Author(s): Amanda Witwer, et al.

Publisher: RAND Corporation

Publication Date: 2021

Recent research shows that people who have at least one ally at their job are nearly twice as likely to be satisfied and feel like they belong. As a manager, you have a unique opportunity to be role a model in building inclusion across teams, but you may face unique challenges in remote or hybrid settings.

Managers, Here's How to Be a Better Ally in the Remote Workplace

Author(s): Melinda Briana Epler

Publisher: Harvard Business Review

Publication Date: 1/27/2022

https://hbr.org/2022/01/managers-heres-how-to-be-a-better-ally-in-the-remote-workplace

Conversational AI is everywhere – in our phones and in devices scattered around our homes. Now this technology is rapidly being used in healthcare, which opens up incredible opportunities to increase healthcare access globally.

This insight report aims to inform technology developers, healthcare providers and regulators about how global organizations are employing a framework to practise responsible use of conversational AI in healthcare. With input from partners of the World Economic Forum who have successfully deployed Chatbots RESET, a Forum co-created framework, it aims to inspire others to responsibly adopt AI in healthcare.

Chatbots RESET Framework Pilot Projects: Using Chatbots in Healthcare

Publisher: World Economic Forum

The Population Data Portal is UNFPA’s ultimate data source and tracker for population and development data. It combines the newest population data on topics like sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, family planning, maternal health, or gender based violence gathered from a multiple sources.

UNFPA Population Data Portal

Publisher: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Publication Date: 2021

https://pdp.unfpa.org/search?categories=population

This is the third report as required under the First Step Act of 2018 (FSA; P.L. 115-391). It includes data on federal prisoners provided to BJS by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for calendar year 2020. Under the FSA, BJS is required to report on selected characteristics of persons in prison, including marital, veteran, citizenship, and English-speaking status; education levels; medical conditions; and participation in treatment programs. Also, BJS is required to report facility-level statistics, such as the number of assaults on staff by prisoners, prisoners’ violations of rules that resulted in time credit reductions, and selected facility characteristics related to accreditation, on-site health care, remote learning, video conferencing, and costs of prisoners’ phone calls.

From arrest to incarceration and reentry, people who come into contact with the justice system are confronted with numerous financial challenges, including financial products and services that too often contain exploitative terms and features, offer little or no consumer choice, and can have long-term negative consequences for the individuals and families affected. This report outlines some of the challenges faced by justice-involved people and their families in navigating their finances at each stage of the criminal justice system.