Current Open Doors Campaigns

The 9 Yards program estimates that from 2013-2017, it reduced felonies and prison time while saving the state money in prison costs.  The evaluation report was released at a program graduation, where the participants were congratulated for the progress they made as they turned their lives around after long prison sentences.

Every year, thousands of individuals sit in the Rhode Island jail, not for crimes, but because they owe money to the state. Court debt is the most common reason that people are put in jail in Rhode Island. In 2007, OpenDoors released a report that resulted in successful legislation and ultimately greatly reduced this problem in RI.

With the help of OpenDoors, Rhode Island became the 15th state in the country to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in 2010. In 2022, RI finally legalized and regulated marijuana entirely.

Previously, if a person on probation was accused of a new crime, they could be sent back to prison on a probation violation. Even if they were not found guilty of the new charge, they remained in prison for long periods of time for the violation.   In 2010, OpenDoors helped pass a new law that requires those accused of a new crime to be released from prison if they are found not guilty, or if the charges in the new case were dismissed.

In Rhode Island, the criminalization, arrest, and incarceration of those engaging in sex work is currently the central focus of efforts to decrease prostitution. These individuals are often poor or homeless, have substance use disorder, are the victims of physical and sexual violence, and want to leave prostitution. OpenDoors has worked to reform this process for years.

In 2006, OpenDoors led the successful effort to change the RI constitution to allow people on probation and parole to vote. The law was the first such reform to pass in the country by ballot referendum, helping usher in changes nationwide.

OpenDoors has worked to help support reasonable, successful expungement reform to help provide second chances to thousands of Rhode Islanders.

OpenDoors helped pass legislation to expand RI Drug Courts, leading research and policy work on this topic in the state for many years.

Several studies have show that participation in a postsecondary correctional education program can reduce recidivism, thus ending the cycle of imprisonment and restoring families and communities through the power of education. OpenDoors has continued to push for these opportunities statewide.