TIDE SHIFT JUSTICE INC

Research and policy advocacy - state criminal legal system. Tide Shift Justice Project conducts research about the criminal legal system to inform and drive its efforts to decrease the role and size of Delaware's carceral and criminal legal systems. TSJP believes the devil is in the details and sees research as a key component of its advocacy goals. Research includes analysis of both the issues in Delaware as well as successful and failed solutions in other jurisdictions. In 2024, TSJP formed a coalition to study Delaware's costs of incarceration, partnering with state actors, other nonprofits, and national policy advisors and researchers. TSJP's work included compiling known costs imposed on incarcerated populations to pay for their own incarceration, forming the working group, overseeing a site visit by national partners, putting together a research application with state agencies, and organizing 2 focus groups. In addition to its research into costs of incarceration, TSJP has also undertaken various other research projects in 2024, including studying implementation of Delaware's automatic expungement laws and implementation of statewide fines and fees reform. TSJP's executive director has taken a large role in research. Roughly 40% of TSJP's total time and expenses are allocated to criminal legal system research and policy development. Research is performed virtually, through review of legal documents, Delaware Code, governing laws and regulations, and publicly available government data, and through the drafting of reports. Research of Delaware's criminal legal system is both a charitable and educational activity.

Public Education and Community Engagement. TSJP both performs outreach and holds meetings in and amongst the community, produces educational materials, and gives presentations to the public about its areas of focus. TSJP considers the involvement of the impacted community in decision-making and research and policy development as a core tenant of its work. It also believes that many community members and government officials would push for improvements if they were educated about the issues and solutions. As a part of the Campaign to End Debtors' Prison, TSJP holds monthly virtual community meetings to discuss criminal legal system fines and fees research, issues in the community, and to discuss prioritization and strategy. These meetings are open to the public, and widely advertised through other community groups. Meetings are regularly attended by other non-profit organizations (both local and national), direct service providers, government agency partners, and directly-impacted Delaware community members. In 2024, TSJP hosted monthly Campaign to End Debtors' Prison meetings and several special workshops with the Campaign around policy priorities. These meetings are generally well-attended, with 10-20 people at any given meeting, and 20-30 regular attendees who cycle through. Almost 200 people stay in contact with the Campaign to End Debtors' Prison and receive campaign updates and information. In October, TSJP also hosted an "Open House" to recruit and inform potential volunteers for the Campaign to End Debtors' Prisons and a dozen other community organizations or campaigns. The "Open House" was held virtually and again in-person, and in total almost 80 people attended. Lastly, TSJP partnered with a local videographer and a partner direct-service provider nonprofit to produce two videos about the impact of fines and fees in Delaware. These videos were completed in 2024 and will become available to the public in 2025. Roughly 30% of TSJP's total time and expenses were used for public education and community engagement. Public education and community outreach is sometimes virtual, but often in-person at community centers, churches, libraries, and public gathering spaces around the state of Delaware. Public education and community engagement is an "educational" activity.