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At Wisconsin Justice Initiative's June 25 Salon, Fernanda Jimenez-Hauch and Mario Rubio presented information on the work of Voces de la Frontera's Comité Sin Fronteras. Comité Sin Fronteras advocates for DACA recipients and helps them with renewals. In addition, through its Community Defense Network, members protect immigrants in our community from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention and train interested individuals in how to verify ICE presence and activity. Comité Sin Fronteras members Mario Rubio (left) and Fernanda Jimenez-Hauch (right) speak at WJI's Salon on June 25, 2025, at Turner Hall in Milwaukee. Slides from the presentation are available here. To sign up for Comité's verifier program, click here. Handouts at the Salon:
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 Inside the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photograph by Gretchen Schuldt. By Heidi von Helms* and Margo Kirchner
Due to AmeriCorps funding cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency, the Milwaukee County Courthouse navigator program is gone, and its absence is already affecting courthouse staff and visitors. A recent court victory by Wisconsin and other states challenging the cuts to AmeriCorps funding may not be enough to bring it back. For the past two years, courthouse navigators walked individuals to the department or courtroom they were looking for. The courthouse complex consists of three buildings, each with at least two entrances, and it is easy for members of the public to get lost and confused. With the navigators’ help, fewer people were wandering the halls and trying to figure out on their own what they needed to do and where to go, which made the lives of visitors and courthouse staff easier. When the program’s funding through AmeriCorps grants and volunteers terminated suddenly on April 25, the program was shut down. Now, the courthouse remains as convoluted as ever. A single staff member remains at the information desk on the ground floor, but that person cannot leave to escort people to offices or courtrooms and cannot guarantee that a visitor makes it to the right place. The AmeriCorps information desk and navigator program began in 2023 through the Milwaukee Justice Center (MJC) at the courthouse. MJC staff, who provide legal assistance at the courthouse, noticed they were answering many questions unrelated to the law or courtroom procedure—like where to find parking or which floor has the paternity testing center. MJC staff also found that after they helped people understand and complete legal forms, many of those helped never went through with filing the forms, possibly due to fatigue, confusion or frustration regarding different offices in the courthouse. Someone needed to answer the public’s questions, but the MJC’s desk was intended for legal help, so the MJC launched the navigator program with AmeriCorps grant funding and personnel. The program was a vital resource for the community. Mark Guzman, the former director of the AmeriCorps program at the courthouse, spoke with Wisconsin Justice Initiative before his position terminated at the end of May. He said his AmeriCorps staff members unexpectedly lost their jobs and volunteer stipends after the DOGE cuts. Many of the navigator program’s AmeriCorps volunteers were from out of state and had moved to Milwaukee to work at the courthouse. Wisconsin recently won a preliminary injunction in a multi-state case challenging the federal government’s AmeriCorps cuts. A federal judge on June 5 found that the government violated the Administrative Procedure Act by not providing notice and opportunity for comment before making the changes. The judge ordered the administration to immediately reinstate grant funding and AmeriCorps personnel, if they are able and willing to return. The injunction was "to restore the AmeriCorps-funded programs in the plaintiff states to the status quo before the grants were terminated and programs closed on April 25, 2025," she wrote. Federal government attorneys told the court in a June 10 status report that they had notified grant and project sponsors in the plaintiff states "to stop any closeout activities that may have been initiated (and) resume incurring costs on applicable grants." The injunction is a preliminary one; the case continues and an appeal may be filed. But even if the trial court's injunction stands and becomes permanent, lack of time and clarity on reversing course currently weigh against the navigator program’s reinstatement. Mary Ferwerda, chief deputy clerk for Milwaukee County Circuit Court, told WJI this week that “returning back to where we were is a practical issue with lots of questions, not the least of which is future funding and the risks inherent in moving forward without a legal process entirely complete.” Because AmeriCorps volunteers were “exited from service,” they may not be allowed to return to that same term of service, Ferwerda said. Right now it is unknown what the national AmeriCorps office may allow, she said. Further, the grant year was set to end Aug. 31, with the volunteers’ last day on Aug. 15. “This is not a lot of time for people to try to make up the currently seven weeks of hours they missed in order to qualify for their education award and does not consider the work required to bring back exited members, if allowed to do so.” Guzman’s layoff as of May 30 makes the prospect or reinstating the program even more difficult. Because the AmeriCorps participants were volunteers, not employees, former navigator staff members could not receive unemployment. AmeriCorps received $400 million of funding each year and had one of the best returns-on-investment for a government agency. It provided millions of Americans with disaster relief, economic opportunities, environmental services, and education. It helped hundreds of thousands of young people begin their careers in public service. Following the budget cuts, important programs all over the country were pared back or dissolved, including Milwaukee’s own courthouse navigators and help desk program. It is unclear whether the recent court win will bring them back to life. *Heidi von Helms in a summer intern at Wisconsin Justice Initiative. By Alexandria Staubach The Wisconsin Policy Forum last week released the findings of a comprehensive look at Milwaukee’s Criminal Justice Council, a relatively unknown collaborative group of city and county officials who wield power in the Milwaukee County criminal justice system and strive to improve intergovernmental cooperation. The Criminal Justice Council is nearing its 20th anniversary, yet many in the Milwaukee area are unfamiliar with its existence or work. The forum's "In the Interest of Justice" report said that the council's long-term impact is threatened by a lack of public awareness about the council, unstable funding streams, and the council’s lofty goals when weighed against its capacity. “Many of the idea and action items that emanate from subcommittees fail to materialize because of a lack of CJC staff capacity and limited help from partner organizations,” the report said. A rash of retirements, including those of former Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Wisconsin State Public Defender Regional Attorney Manager Tom Reed, resulted in loss of “’key longstanding CJC leaders,’” according to unnamed sources quoted by the forum. The forum wrote that “(o)ne individual we spoke with noted that the ‘key drivers of action’ in regard to the Milwaukee CJC are the Chief Judge, the District Attorney, the Public Defender’s Office, and the Department of Corrections.” Participation by other justice system leaders, in particular the Milwaukee mayor, Milwaukee County executive, Milwaukee police chief, and Milwaukee County sheriff, “has ebbed and flowed over the years,” said the report. “(E)nsuring more consistent and active participation from these stakeholders may be a worthwhile goal for the CJC in the months ahead,” the report said. The forum recommends opening the council to business leaders and interests, developing a separate and independent nonprofit organization to continue on as the CJC, developing funding for staff from the city and county, and enhancing public communications about the council’s activities and initiatives. The CJC relies primarily on funding from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, or “JAG.” As is the case for all federal funding now, “changes in JAG funding levels or policies might eventually preclude (CJC) from accessing these funds,” the report said. Further, “that concern has served as a deterrent to further investment in staff and other resources.” The CJC currently has three staff members, including an executive director. All work out of and are employed by the Wisconsin Policy Forum through grants made to the CJC. According to the forum, “the decision to house the positions in an independent nonprofit organization and have them be employees of WPF—as opposed to one of the justice system agencies that participate in the CJC—stemmed from the Executive Committee’s sentiment that placing the positions in a department of either county or city government would convey that one of those governments had greater control over the council.” The report indicates that one of the council’s key early initiatives was to investigate how the criminal justice system could better use work-release programs. The council also oversaw the creation and implementation of risk-assessment tools used to set bail at the initial appearance in every criminal case in the county. While the CJC’s early days focused on data collection, community engagement, external communications, and jail population, its 2024 strategic plan added “new priority areas that include violence prevention, housing, mental health and trauma, and youth justice,” according to the report. The report indicates that the CJC may have grown out of a 2007 resolution of the Board of County Supervisors at the request of then-Sheriff David Clarke, to deal with a consent decree that mandated a population reduction in the county jail system. Some individuals who were around at the council’s inception, however, credit “an outgrowth of efforts already underway among justice system leaders to better understand the work of their peers and encourage greater collaboration,” the report said. The first meeting was attended by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Kitty Brennan, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn, Milwaukee County House of Correction Superintendent Ron Malone, Clarke, and Chisholm. The report cited an unnamed senior county staff member as saying “it was remarkable to have leaders of such distinct political and ideological backgrounds meet on such a frequent and productive basis.” Later additions to the council included the presiding judge of Milwaukee Municipal Court, representatives from the State Public Defender’s Office and Wisconsin Department of Corrections, the chair of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors’ Judiciary Committee, the director of the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services, Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel, a representative from the Eastern District of Wisconsin’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, the leader of the Milwaukee Homicide Review Committee, and a citizen representative. Current CJC executive committee members: Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman Milwaukee Municipal Court Presiding Judge Phillip Chavez Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern (Council Vice Chair) First Judicial District (Milwaukee County Circuit Court) Chief Judge Carl Ashley (Council Chair) Milwaukee County Supervisor Willie Johnson, Jr. Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center Superintendent Chantell Jewell Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services Director Shakita LaGrant-McClain Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel Scott Brown Milwaukee County Circuit Court Clerk Anna Hodges Wisconsin State Public Defender Regional Attorney Manager Angel Johnson Wisconsin Department of Corrections Community Corrections Regional Chief Niel Thoreson U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Wisconsin representative (Richard Frohling currently Acting U.S. Attorney) Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission and DataShare Director Constance Kostelac Community Representative Walter Lanier Nicole D. Porter, senior director of advocacy with The Sentencing Project in Washington, D.C., presented "Decarceration 2.0: Charting New Strategies on Prison Population Reductions and Closures" to close to 100 attendees at Wisconsin Justice Initiative's fundraiser event on May 14. Porter discussed other states' recent efforts to reduce their prison populations, the current political climate impacting incarceration rates, and what can be done here in Wisconsin to return incarcerated people to their communities and reverse the past five decades of mass incarceration. Attendees enjoyed a cocktail hour with appetizers and engaging conversation, followed by Nicole's thought-provoking presentation and an informative question-and-answer session. The event was held in the Palm Garden at historic Turner Hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. If you missed the event or want to watch Nicole's presentation again, click on the YouTube video link below. We admit we're not professional videographers, but the content is excellent! To better see the PowerPoint slides from the event, click here. Please share the video with those in the justice system, carceral system, and Legislature whose actions impact the rates of incarceration in Wisconsin and with concerned citizens who can use their voices to call for change. Many thanks to the following sponsors of the event: Diamond Level  Platinum Level
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Margo Kirchner Edgar Lin By Alexandria Staubach The number of students experiencing homelessness in Wisconsin increased from 13,499 in the 2020-2021 school year to a record high of 20,195 in the 2023-2024 school year. This is the third consecutive year of increase after hitting an all-time low during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wisconsin Department of Education has tracked its students’ housing data since 2019. The numbers come from an April report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The high 2023-2024 number is a 9.1% increase over the previous year, despite increased enrollment of only 1.1%, the report says.  Graph from the Wisconsin Policy Forum report "Student Homelessness at a New High," April 2025. The prevalence of homelessness cuts along sadly predictable lines. English learners and students with disability experience homelessness at a rate of 5.6% and 3.9% respectively. The rate for students of color is 5.5%, according to the report. While the report shows an increase in young students experiencing homelessness, it also shows the rate increasing dramatically as students age and are more likely to be “unaccompanied.” Unaccompanied students are those without a parent or other adult to supervise them. The Milwaukee Public School system alone serves 23.7% of the total population of students experiencing homelessness and 40.7% of the state’s unaccompanied unhoused students. Other urban districts account for 37.9% of the state's students experiencing homelessness, while school districts in suburbs, towns, and rural areas total 38.3%.  Graph from the Wisconsin Policy Forum report "Student Homelessness at a New High," April 2025. To understand the relationship between criminal justice involvement and youth homelessness, WJI talked with DeShanda Williams-Clark, chief program officer for Pathfinders. Pathfinders provides direct services to youth experiencing homelessness, based on individual need. Williams-Clark said that some youths find themselves involved in the criminal justice system while trying to avoid homelessness. “Young people who are facing instability, so they don’t end up in the street, they are creative with how they meet the cost of living without support,” she said. Williams-Clark said that in Milwaukee, Pathfinders sees youth who are “criminalized for survival.” She has seen instances where young people are coerced or forced into behaviors that they might not even know are against the law. “A lot of youth are just trying to survive in the community alone” and butt up against law enforcement because of it, she said. For example, while Milwaukee does not have encampment laws, youth located outside the city are sometimes criminalized for sleeping in tents when they may have no place else to go, she said. The rising costs and general unavailability of housing contribute to the problem, Williams-Clark said. “Criminal justice involvement doesn’t help end homelessness and results in hopelessness,” said Williams-Clark. She said homelessness coupled with criminal justice involvement makes it more difficult for young people to see a path forward. “As a community it costs us even more,” she said. According to Voices of Youth Count, a national study documenting the prevalence of youth homelessness, 46% of youth who experience homelessness had also been in a juvenile detention facility, prison, or jail. The study found that unhoused youths nationally are more susceptible to status offenses—conduct that would not be a crime but for age. They are more likely to be ticketed for offenses like breaking curfew or running away than their housed counterparts. The same study showed that unhoused youths who have been in foster care demonstrated a greater likelihood of being involved in the juvenile justice system and were more likely to identify as LGBTQ+. Those findings are consistent with what Pathfinders sees in Milwaukee. Williams-Clark said that the majority of the youths Pathfinders works with identify as Black or African American. Many young clients have a mental health issue, and a sizeable portion are part of the LGBTQ+ community. By Alexandria Staubach An advocacy coalition today called on Milwaukee’s Common Council to adopt and implement a Community Control Over Police Surveillance ordinance. Already adopted in 26 cities throughout the nation, CCOPS ordinances are designed to ensure that people living in municipalities have a meaningful opportunity to participate in decisions on the purchase and use of surveillance technologies. Cities that have adopted a CCOPS ordinance include Madison, Wisconsin; St. Louis, Missouri; and Detroit, Michigan. The ordinance would not ban the use of surveillance technology. Instead, the ordinance is “a mechanism to democratize the decision-making process surrounding Milwaukeeans’ personal privacy and surveillance and to ensure transparency and accountability in programs funded or administered by local government," the coalition's letter to the Common Council said. The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin leads the coalition. Wisconsin Justice Initiative is a member, as are the Milwaukee Turners and Black Leaders Organizing for Communities organizations. "Law enforcement surveillance should always be the exception, and never the norm,” said WJI President Craig Johnson regarding CCOPS and the coalition's letter. “As new and more surveillance technologies emerge, WJI believes the people of Milwaukee deserve full transparency as to the means, methods, and costs associated with police surveillance. Excessive surveillance can negatively impact the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens," Johnson said. "CCOPS is a critical tool for revealing information about how and when law enforcement surveils us and shifting power back to the community,” Milwaukee Turners’ Executive Director Emilio De Torre told WJI. “That information, and that decision, belong to the public—both because we are the ones being surveilled and because it is paid for by our taxpayer dollars,” said De Torre. The model ordinance takes a three-pronged approach to ensure community control over the adoption and implementation of surveillance technologies. First, it would require a public hearing and approval of the Common Council before any municipal entity funds, acquires, or uses new or existing surveillance technology. “This gives community members and elected officials the opportunity to discuss the risks and alleged benefits of these technologies, instead of law enforcement making these decisions unilaterally and in secret,” the coalition letter says. Second, law enforcement operating in Milwaukee would be required to prepare an annual report to the Common Council on each form of surveillance technology used in the city and whether that information was shared with external parties. The report would include law enforcement’s summary of complaints received about the surveillance technology and a geographical breakdown of where the technology was used. Third, the ordinance would establish a community advisory committee on surveillance. “In recent years, we’ve seen states impose bans and criminal penalties for seeking reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care; we’ve seen state and local law enforcement officials enforce immigrant deportation schemes; and we’ve seen surveillance used to suppress free speech and intimidate leaders of political movements,” wrote the coalition. “(L)ocal police departments and their surveillance mechanisms will likely target individuals seeking or providing these services,” the letter warned. The letter noted that U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement is known to use mass location surveillance data collected on the local level to target individuals for investigation and that without “robust oversight,” law enforcement use of surveillance technology would risk regressing to a time when “surveillance was used to suppress political dissent and target minority groups.” “At a minimum, people who live, work, visit, or attend school in Milwaukee deserve to know if and how they’re being surveilled and who has access to that surveillance data,” the coalition wrote. CCOPS guidelines also will help build trust between police and the communities they serve, the letter said. “Now, more than ever, we need to have community involvement and transparency with surveillance technology. We have seen surveillance technology be used and weaponized against organizations, protesters, and racial profiling,” BLOC Executive Director Angela Lang told WJI. “Listening to people directly impacted is important and leads to further context about why this is harmful for us all,” she said. When asked why the Turners joined the coalition, De Torre said his organization remains “in opposition to the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement, and we see CCOPS coexisting with, and contributing to, restrictions on increases in surveillance technology." The coalition consists of ACLU of Wisconsin, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Com Force MKE LLC, The Difference Principle, Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing, Fair Wisconsin, League of Women Voters Milwaukee County, Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Milwaukee Turners, NAACP Milwaukee Branch, National Lawyers Guild–Milwaukee, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, Voces de la Frontera Action, WAVE Educational Fund, Wisconsin Council of Churches, Wisconsin Justice Initiative, Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance, and Zao MKE Church. By Alexandria Staubach
A group of system-impacted individuals is building a coalition seeking to disrupt stagnation around criminal justice reform by using connection. Personal connection with legislators will be at the forefront. The group plans to build a relationship with every member of the Legislature, regardless of party or politics. Shannon Ross, founder and executive director of The Community, leads the effort. WJI recently sat down with Ross to talk about the coalition, its goals, and how they plan to achieve them. “As a society we should seek more collaboration,” said Ross. “There are (legislators) who genuinely agree with us,” he told WJI, “and maybe our goals are unpopular with their constituents, but we are going to find a way to connect with them … a way to help their constituents understand.” Coalitions are common among organizations, but this group intentionally includes individuals regardless of what other affiliations or professions they have. Ross hopes everyone involved will have the ability to act independently from positions that other organizations may take. Messaging will be central to the group’s success, Ross said. “We need big numbers,” he said. “We need a lot of engaged people to make this work.” The coalition includes individuals from all over Wisconsin. So far, everyone participating has engaged in policy work and two are already registered lobbyists—numbers the group hopes to expand, Ross said. While the current group members are mostly directly system-impacted individuals, Ross wants to avoid only engaging those who are system impacted. “We need everyone,” he said. Structurally, the coalition is intentionally built in opposition to the experience people have within the system, meaning there is no top-down hierarchy. It is organized from the middle outward, comprised solely of committees. While the group will have a “coalition coordinator,” no one individual will be a central figure. Ross does not anticipate winning that role. He hopes he will be able to fade into the background of coalition’s work. Ross says he was inspired by gridlock in the Legislature. He has observed “a consistent failure to get anything across the finish line that was something serious,” he told WJI. He hopes the group will be able to cross party lines and end what he described as “two decades without any real policy change.” Over the summer, the group participated in a retreat, speaking with Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Carl Ashley and former Department of Corrections secretary Kevin Carr, who left that job in 2024. While the group is still fleshing out all of its goals, Ross said he anticipates their short list will include capping supervision, and overturning truth in sentencing will be a long-term project. The coalition is still recruiting members. According to the Wisconsin Division of Community Correction year-end review, 18,909 people were on extended supervision at the end of December. Extended supervision can last decades, requiring adherence to 18 or more rules during all that time. People often find themselves back in custody for rule violations alone. In November 2024, 48% of people admitted to Wisconsin prisons were admitted solely due to revocation of supervision, regardless of whether an individual had new pending criminal charges; 16.6% of admissions were for revocations resulting from a new criminal sentence.  A panel at the Milwaukee Turners' Dec. 7, 2024, celebration of International Human Rights Day. L to R: Melody McCurtis of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, UWM Professor Ted Lentz, WJI's Alexandria Staubach, and Pastor Walter Lanier. Photograph by Mel Bridges. On Saturday, the Milwaukee Turners hosted a forum at Turner Hall in honor of International Human Rights Day. International Human Rights Day is observed around the world on Dec. 10, recognizing the anniversary of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Milwaukee’s early celebration included comments from Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee Equal Rights Commissioner Chair Tony Snell-Rodriguez, and Steve Watrous from the Milwaukee United Nations Association. Turners Executive Director Emilio De Torre opened the event saying “at home, people of the global majority are not safe in their own skin, and people are not allowed to love according to the dictates of their heart.” Johnson joined the opening remarks by recognizing that International Human Right Day presents an opportunity to reflect and consider how we can make Milwaukee a “more ethical and more inclusive city for the people who do and all the people who will call Milwaukee home.” Johnson recognized that historical injustices to human rights are easily identified in Milwaukee and that the much more difficult challenge is finding solutions to the problems we see. A panel addressed the international theme of “Equality—Reducing Inequalities and Advancing Human Rights.” The panel discussion was led by Pastor Walter Lanier. Panelists included Melody McCurtis, deputy director and lead community organizer for Metcalfe Park Community Bridges; University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Professor Ted Lentz; and Wisconsin Justice Initiative Policy Analyst Alexandria Staubach. Discussion included housing issues, local and state legislation that might alleviate inequities in the criminal justice system, and research being conducted to make the criminal justice system more transparent in Milwaukee. Plausible solutions were offered by McCurtis, but the city’s recent attempt to pass the “Grow MKE Plan” is not one of them, she said. The plan recommends updates to Milwaukee’s zoning code to permit additional styles of housing in all Milwaukee neighborhoods. But McCurtis said the plan will permit “bad actors” and private interests to benefit from eminent domain, turning housing historically owned and occupied by community elders into short-term rentals. Over the summer, Community Bridges fought adoption of the plan, bussing more than 100 residents to a Common Council meeting to stop the plan's adoption and winning a six-month extension so those who will be directly impacted by the plan have an opportunity to weigh in. Lentz highlighted a data project that presents a broad overview of Milwaukee’s criminal justice legal landscape, analyzing patterns and trends in data collected by a variety of agencies, offices, and facilities that make up the system. The findings recognize racial disparities within the system and the need for data-informed, community engaged approaches for criminal system reform. Lentz’s project continues, with another analysis underway. His full report can be found here. Staubach discussed efforts to pass criminal justice reforms at the state level and the array of roadblocks Milwaukee faces regarding state politics. She highlighted the importance of WJI’s work at the local level, especially in municipal courts, and the need to zero in on what can be done through ordinances and the Milwaukee Common Council. “We have to recognize when we’ve gotten it wrong and do something different,” Staubach said regarding city-funded incentives for derelict landlords, which, in her opinion, line pockets and do little to expand the pool of affordable housing. “We need to change the way we legislate—from top down to bottom up, but it requires the people affected by laws to activate and engage with their local representatives,” she said. Snell-Rodriguez said he “anticipates a pull back of federal civil rights” and said it will be “be time for cities like Milwaukee to rise to the occasion.” By Alexandria Staubach An old convent is getting new life as a “House of Studies” for men who were formerly incarcerated and are now working to obtain their college degrees. Thrive for Life has arrived in Milwaukee, hoping to achieve the same success they’ve experienced with two similar homes in New York City. The first of its kind, according to Thrive for Life, Ignacio House opened in New York City in 2019 with a novel concept: a transitional supportive learning community, exclusively for the formerly incarcerated. A dorm, with a mission. Founded by Father Zachariah Presutti, a Jesuit priest and former chaplain at Rikers Island, Ignacio House currently serves 15 formerly incarcerated men who have scholarships to one of eight partnering universities, which include Columbia and NYU. The second house of studies, Abraham House, began in 1993 as an alternative-to-incarceration program under a different provider and since 2023 has been merging into Thrive. As at Ignacio House, residents receive comprehensive continuity of care, including therapeutic and wellness resources, personal and spiritual mentorship, and individualized learning plans, while adhering to stricter house rules. According to Thrive’s website, the two houses have served more than 3,000 formerly or currently incarcerated individuals, and 100% of their resident scholars have avoided recidivism and are on track to complete a trade school program or university degree. WJI recently visited Thrive’s Milwaukee House of Studies and spoke with Christa Pipitone, soon to be the senior regional coordinator for the Milwaukee Thrive for Life program. Located in Halyard Park, the house can accommodate a house manager and up to 11 scholars, whose stays will typically range from six months to two years. To get a room, individuals who were formerly incarcerated will need to apply and be accepted. Once they’re in, Thrive for Life provides a community of people committed to its men’s success, said Pipitone. “We are continuity of care,” said Pipitone.
Like the houses in New York, in addition to providing a roof over residents’ heads, the program will help residents with every aspect of making themselves “whole” and “healed,” Pipitone said. From health services to employment, the team at Thrive is “invested in the whole person, in demonstrating to these men that people care,” Pipitone said. “We’re likely giving many of these of guys a first chance,” she said. “We want to be that for them.” Thrive’s program is faith-based but nondenominational. “It’s important to us that the scholars have some higher power,” said Pipitone, but applicants need not be Catholic or even Christian. She highlighted that the houses in New York have welcomed both Muslin and Jewish scholars and that there are no rules around faith if applicants are grounded in a “higher power.” Community service in the Halyard Park neighborhood will also be part of the experience. Scholars will be expected to engage in service projects that serve the community they’re in. Abraham House in New York, runs a local food pantry, for example. The scholars will also be expected to participate in creating community among themselves. A sit-down Sunday dinner will be expected, a Catholic mass will be held in the house’s chapel (though attendance is not mandatory), and household chores will be allocated. It is communal living with purpose, said Pipitone. Residents will be expected to maintain employment. They will sign a “covenant agreement,” the terms of which include affordable rent, charged on a sliding scale based on take home pay. Like other aspects of the program, rent is not about the money. It’s about “giving the men a track record,” a rental history they can take with them to a new landlord, Pipitone said. Pipitone hopes it won’t feel like “all work and no play.” While alcohol and drugs are off limits, “the scholars will set the tone.” She hopes it will be a place where the men want to be—where they will enjoy Bucks and Packers games and study or play games in the common areas, investing in themselves and their shared experiences as students. Pipitone told WJI that Thrive hopes to strike a balance between structure and independence. The Milwaukee House is nearly complete. Pipitone anticipates it will host its first cohort beginning in October. She is actively searching for a house manager, who will hopefully live on site and help usher in the first class, and a social worker. Thrive has a strong preference for formerly incarcerated individuals to fill these roles. She encourages those interested to reach out to her directly at [email protected].
By Margo Kirchner It’s late on a Friday evening in June and four string musicians wait at the ready for something they do not want to happen: a fatal shooting in Milwaukee. They sit on call at Central Methodist Church, prepared to leave for the scene of a shooting to play classical chamber music to comfort and heal the community. Founder, music director, and violist Dayvin Hallmon frequently checks his laptop for the list of 911 calls, looking for reports of a shooting or shots fired. The other musicians talk and check their phones. One plays the piano for an hour. A stack of board games is available, though not used that night. Hallmon takes a few moments to shout at three people headed behind the shed off the church’s parking lot, telling them they are trespassing and need to leave. Violinist Churchill Caruthers has played with the ensemble since it began in 2019. Cellist Autumn Maria Reed is a composer of instrumental music in multiple genres and also plays string bass. Violinist Fatima Gomez arrived last that evening, coming from a mariachi gig. The musicians are members of the Black String Triage Ensemble. Throughout the summer, the ensemble of volunteers designates certain weekend evenings to be on call to respond to shootings in Milwaukee. On-call time can last five or six hours, to midnight or beyond. Hallmon says the ensemble is the first and only one of its kind in the world. No other city has this. The group’s mission is to use music, especially music by Black and Latin composers and artists, to address pain, foster healing, promote love, call for justice, and guard against hopelessness. For now, the ensemble focuses on playing at scenes of fatal shootings and various rallies or protests, the latter for peacekeeping purposes. They’ve played at scenes of drug overdoses and car crashes, too. In response to fatal shootings, “to speak to the life circumstances that give rise to such a horrifying event, a concert at the scene is necessary to dissipate and repel those negative forces. By being present among the people and playing music at a time when it is needed the most, we can transform the public space into a place of recovery, healing and hope for the community,” reads the group’s website. “We don’t have to live destroyed and broken,” Hallmon told Wisconsin Justice Initiative in an interview. “If there isn’t a cultural mind shift, this (violence) is going to continue,” he said. “What’s amazing to me is how everybody is burdened” by shootings—it’s not just the person shot and the person pulling the trigger, he said. Sometimes “the circumstances are so outrageous that there can be no justification for it, and law enforcement has to reckon with that. It destroys everybody,” he said.
For peacekeeping, the intent is to inject music into a tense space to deter violence. Maybe if violence holds off, we can have a moment of reconciliation, Hallmon said. The night in June thankfully passed without the need for a concert. The quartet piled into two cars (a cello and music stands take up a bit of space) around midnight to drive to the location of a possible shooting, but they found no police presence there. The musicians act as a team, driving to a scene together from their on-call site. When asked what the Black String Triage Ensemble needs most, Hallmon immediately responded with “a van,” big enough to transport cellos, basses, and people. Many of the group’s musicians, including Hallmon, do not own or have access to a car. He could have a quartet or quintet on call, but no one there with a vehicle to get them to the scene of a shooting. The ensemble planned to play peacekeeping concerts during the Republican National Convention, but they pivoted that Tuesday night, July 16, to instead play a concert at King Park, where Columbus, Ohio, police shot and killed Samuel Sharpe Jr., an unhoused man, earlier in the day. That evening, eight musicians and a clergy member gathered at Village Church MKE in downtown Milwaukee and drove to King Park just after a memorial gathering ended. Violist Miguel Barrenechea; violinists Jane Han and Christopher Washington; cellist John Hodges; and chaplain Tom Gaulke joined Hallmon, Caruthers, Reed, and Gomez. A group of people still stood at the corner of W. Vliet and N. 14th streets, with vigil candles burning. Gomez emphasized that the ensemble should play for those remaining even if others had already left. The musicians set their music stands on the sidewalk and tuned their instruments in the dark while Gaulke talked with people in the park and on the street. He explained what the musicians were doing and answered questions, some posed by media members with lanyards showing RNC credentials. Hallman told WJI that it is very helpful to have a clergy member with them to talk with the crowd, as musicians need to focus on playing. The need for flexibility and on-site adjustments is clear. The musicians do not know the conditions at a scene when they arrive. Hallmon said “anything can go down. Just because law enforcement has secured the scene doesn’t necessarily mean the drama’s done. It’s still active and live.” The group needs to find the right location for playing—a place where they can be heard but not be in the way, Hallmon said. He wants the ensemble to be present without taking up space. “The music should take up the space, not you,” he said. Timing is important. The ensemble has arrived at a scene too early, even before the medical examiner. They found people too angry then, Hallmon said. Yet several hours after a shooting is likely too late. But “there’s a point when you can be there just kind of after folks have figured out what’s happened and are wrestling to find that spot of comfort, and speak in that moment,” Hallmon said. The group usually does not play right away, instead getting a feel for the particular scene and the people there. They play a selection of classical music, jazz, soul, spirituals, blues, and tango. The music is organized into two programs based on five stages of grief, plus a sixth stage of faith. The team talks about what music should be played at the scene. “As a crew of musicians, we feel the moment together,” Hallmon said. “It’s all of those little calculations.” The ensemble does not coordinate with law enforcement. They do not ask for permission to play. People at a scene sometimes have initially objected, but then have told the group that the music was a blessing and what they needed. There’s this thing about people being ready to hear,” Hallmon said. As the octet played at King Park on July 16, several individuals prayed around lit candles along the side of the street. A helicopter circled overhead several times. A man walking by remarked that he had not seen string instruments since high school or junior high.
 Black String Triage Ensemble at the scene of the King Park shooting fatality, July 16, 2024. Photographs and video by Margo Kirchner. The idea of the Black String Triage Ensemble came to Hallmon while he was a Kenosha County Board supervisor walking around his district. Hallmon was elected to the Kenosha County Board at age 23 in 2008 and reelected several times, serving for 10 years. He represented District 7, Uptown Kenosha. Someone asked him what would happen “if a bunch of string players showed up after a crime scene and didn’t play Mozart” or “Orange Blossom Special,” he said. Hallmon ran for state office in 2012 but was unsuccessful. He moved to Milwaukee in 2018 and started Black String Triage Ensemble the next year. The ensemble is now part of a nonprofit, which includes the Black Diaspora Symphony Orchestra, a larger group of classical musicians of color joined by non-Black, non-Latinx musician colleagues (the latter group known as the Legion of the Soul). The orchestra’s repertoire emphasizes the work of Black and Latinx composers and focuses on the life experiences of people of color. The orchestra does not neglect standard repertoire, but “it’s just not the meat on the plate,” Hallmon said. “There’s enough stuff in symphonic music to tell everybody’s story.” Hallmon told WJI that before the Juneteenth concert he eagerly handed Milwaukee police officers his business card and invited them to come hear Joel Thompson’s “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,” about the last words of seven Black men before they were shot by police. Other pieces at this year’s Juneteenth concert included Florence B. Price’s “Ethiopia’s Shadow in America,” Williams Grant Still’s “And They Lynched Him on a Tree,” and Black String Triage Ensemble musician Reed’s “Cries from OUR Soil.” (The multi-talented Reed’s composition “Brazilians” was performed by Brazil’s Orchestra Sinfonia Nacional in 2023, and her “Robin’s Eye View” was played by the Chicago Philharmonic this summer.) Each year the orchestra plays a memorial concert for missing and departed children. Other concerts have included issues of lynching and the victims of Jeffrey Dahmer. Hallmon has worked with teenagers at Riverside High School and children in programs at Milwaukee Public Schools and around the city. Elementary-age children have told him that they call their city “Killwaukee.” Hallmon believes policy reforms will not succeed in counteracting violence and recklessness. For instance, installing new traffic control barriers and curbs will not change the behavior of mischievous teenagers—it just gives them more to hit, Hallmon said. “There’s no policy in government or law to counteract” young boys stealing cars to impress girls. He sees potential in culturally relevant, trauma informed music and arts, though. Living in the inner city can create post-traumatic stress disorder, he said, and creative writing and music have worked to help veterans recover from the traumas of war. “Why can’t we apply that to the urban population?” he asked. He understands the benefits of sports, but sees a significant problem when kids in first grade say they want to be doctors or teachers but by third grade say they want to be in the NFL. Instead, being physically responsible for creating a sound, such as by placing a finger on a string and moving a bow, can “rewire your brain,” Hallmon said. Creating music can change not only the person listening, but also the musician, he said. In addition, he believes that five minutes of mindfulness via classical music played over the public address system in school each day could reduce behavioral issues. He thinks the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra should partner with Milwaukee Public Schools and provide snippets of its recording catalog to make that happen. “Print this because it’s true,” he said. “Get it done.” Meanwhile, the ensemble and orchestra will continue to gather and to wait, hoping they will not be needed. When they are, they want their music to help move others toward healing, comfort, and conversations about violence and racism in Milwaukee. PBS created a short documentary about the Black String Triage Ensemble, available on the homepage of the group's website here. |
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