By Faith Fistler / Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

While Christina Ray was incarcerated, she experienced the effects of limited feminine hygiene products firsthand.

"When I was incarcerated at Franklin County Jail, literally every morning they would throw in a supply bag and we'd have, like, six rolls of toilet paper and six giant, disgusting pads," Ray said. "And then the women would fight and divvy out everything and there was not always enough."

For many female inmates, access to adequate feminine hygiene products has been a challenge. House Bill 30, introduced in July of 2022, would require all correctional facilities that house female inmates to provide adequate feminine hygiene products, access to showers and proper sanitary disposal methods for inmates.

After 11 months, the bill had its first hearing on June 6, where it received feedback from legislators to help it progress forward.

The primary sponsor of the bill, Rep. Latyna Humphrey, D-Columbus, was first approached about the issue by a Dayton community activist.

"That was a concern for me, but also a personal story for me because I am the daughter of a returning citizen, my mother was incarcerated," Humphrey said. "Her being an activist was helpful, but also kind of having my own personal story with it was the driving force behind why I introduced the bill."

Humphrey said her passion for prison reform stems from her mother's journey, who she and her family were able to support while she was incarcerated.

"But what I will say is that not every inmate and offender is as blessed as my mother was to have me as an adult and her mother and my sister to help in ways that we did," Humphrey said.

The bill would cover the three state correctional facilities, Ohio Reformatory for Women, Dayton Correctional Institution and Northeast Reintegration Center, as well as county-run facilities and city-run jails throughout the state.

"But the reality is only where the women are housed, is where the products would potentially be," Humphrey said.

The bill currently is only focused on county and municipal facilities and does not extend to private prisons.

During Ray's incarceration at both Ohio Reformatory for Women and Dayton Correctional Institution from 2014 to 2018, pads were provided monthly, and tampons were only available through the commissary.

Now a graduate student in social work at Ohio State, Ray is a member of multiple prison reform advocacy groups. After speaking with several current inmates at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, Ray learned conditions have improved. Inmates are now provided individual pads and tampons.

However, only regular size tampons are readily available for free at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, other sizes have to be purchased. With state pay not rising with the cost of inflation, different sized tampons are more expensive, Ray said.

Cleanliness within the prison is another issue with the majority of the responsibility falling to the inmates themselves.

"Some people would have the showers, some people would be mopping the halls," Ray said. "And while we did our best, we were limited with what cleaning products we have."

Inmates only have access to showers during set times while laundry services are only available during specific days.

"It's really important to be able to have those, so you're literally not walking around in your own blood," she said.

House Bill 30 states that different sized tampons and pads should be available and distributed based on individual needs at no extra cost to the inmates. The bill also stipulates that inmates should have unlimited access to showers during menstruation. However, the bill makes no mention of more accessible laundry services.

"I like to do it little by little and bit by bit," Humphrey said. "If you put too much in a thing, that sometimes can turn some of my colleagues off, whether it's important or not."

"So I think that is something that if we get it, you know, out of the house, and if we get it out of the Senate, I think it's something that we can look back at, or even create another bill for," she said.

A key factor of the improvements already taking effect in correctional facilities could be attributed to Humphrey's work with prison advocacy groups.

Humphrey's collaboration with Ohio Rehabilitation and Corrections has provided a surplus of feminine hygiene products for all three women's correctional facilities since November, Humphrey said.

"It's important again to clarify that things like this could change," she said. "We're advocating, and I'm proud of the advocacy that we started last year, but it's just important to codify it into law, so that won't change."

Humphrey is confident that the bill could become a reality due to actions already being put into effect by prison reform groups.

"Because it's already being done, there is a possibility that this bill could get passed...," she said. "It is not necessarily a bipartisan bill as of yet, but I've received a lot of guidance from my colleagues across the aisle to make this bill essentially the best it could be."

This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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Mississippi prisons often lack resources to treat people who are incarcerated with substance-use disorders adequately but a nonprofit organization is offering alternative programs focused on treatment instead of incarceration.

The Magnolia State has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation, with more than 1,000 people per 100,000 residents behind bars.

Christina Dent, founder and president of End It For Good, said they invite people to support approaches to drugs prioritizing life, preserving families and promoting public safety.

"We do education out in the community - with citizens, with advocates, with policymakers - to help them understand why a punitive criminal justice approach to drugs and addiction has not produced good results and why a health-centered approach would produce much better results," Dent explained.

It is estimated more than 578,000 people in state and federal prisons in 2022 had a substance-use disorder in the year prior to their admission, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

Dent emphasized they recommend lawmakers look at other alternatives to stop reactionary approaches resulting in Mississippians paying harsher penalties for crimes such as drug possession.

"Shift away from increasing penalties," Dent urged. "Another thing that we could do would be to reduce penalties or recategorize penalties for something like drug possession. We would love to see a shift from treating drug possession as potentially a felony to drug possession being a misdemeanor. "

Dent noted such an alternative approach would allow individuals impacted to more easily regain employment, support their families and reintegrate into society. She added felony convictions create lifelong barriers to employment and self-sufficiency.


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April is Second Chance Month and many Nebraskans are celebrating passage of a bipartisan voting rights restoration bill and its focus on second chances.

Legislative Bill 20 restores voting rights to those convicted of a felony upon completion of their sentence, eliminating the two-year waiting period.

Jason Witmer, policy fellow at the ACLU of Nebraska, said the change will promote success for formerly incarcerated Nebraskans. He pointed out it also will increase the likelihood of the state meeting the objectives Gov. Jim Pillen and the Department of Corrections have committed to.

Nebraska became the fourth state to join "Reentry 2030," a national initiative of the Council of State Governments focused on strengthening programs and removing obstacles for those reentering society after incarceration.

"The more somebody can have their rights in place for them, the more invested they are in the society," Witmer contended. "The more invested you are in your community and your society, the more likely you are to succeed. And the right to vote is fundamentally part of reintegrating into society. It's your civil voice."

Reentry 2030 aims to have all 50 states commit to improving outcomes for formerly incarcerated people. Nebraska's goals include increasing GED completion and college coursework by those in Nebraska prisons, and reducing recidivism 50% by 2030.

Pillen allowed the measure to become law but stated it contains "potential constitutional issues" which could lead to a legal challenge.

Nebraska's recidivism rate for those who left prison between 2019 and 2022 was nearly 30%.

Witmer noted it is at least partly attributable to the challenges people face upon leaving incarceration.

"You did the time, and then you come out and find out, 'Oh, I can't vote. Oh, housing is almost impossible to get. Oh, I can't work here,'" Witmer outlined. "Suddenly you don't feel like you're a part of any of this."

Across the country, 37 other states restore voting rights to those charged with a felony either immediately after incarceration or after completing parole or probation. Two states and the District of Columbia allow people to vote while incarcerated.

A new website aims to help Kentuckians just out of prison re-enter their communities and find job training, employment and recovery services.

April is Second Chance Month - and according to the Prison Policy Initiative, about 60% of formerly incarcerated individuals are jobless.

Gov. Andy Beshear said the website - secondchance.ky.gov - is meant to cut bureaucracy around job searching, and tie resources together in one spot to make it easier for people to get back on their feet.

"We are not our worst day," said Beshear. "When we look at how many people have a criminal record in Kentucky, this is the right thing to do. But it's also necessary from a workforce standpoint."

In 2021, lawmakers passed legislation that tasked the Kentucky Department of Corrections with issuing certificates of employability to people who successfully complete programs while incarcerated.

It also helps increase access to state-issued IDs for those leaving prison.

The website includes information on resume help, job searches and local reentry services.

Beshear said eventually, the site will contain a comprehensive list of employers - such as Kentucky State Parks, which is a participant in second chance employment.

"If they need to find resources on how to get that next level of education or workforce training," said Beshear, "and then ultimately be able to see a list of employers that are willing to look at them for second chance employment."

Businesses in the Commonwealth can also find information about programs that can aid in hiring and retaining more second-chance employees - including the Fair Chance Academy, Kentucky Transformational Employment program, Prison-to-Work Pipeline, and Jobs on Day One programs.