We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kerwin Pittman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kerwin below.

Kerwin , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In 2018, I started my very own nonprofit called “Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services” after being recently released from incarceration. As someone formally justice involved, and now justice impacted, I wanted to approach recidivism reduction from a social justice lens. Meaning looking at tangible problems funneling people into the criminal justice system, then providing and helping implement policy solutions to those problems. While also equipping people who are recently released, or set to be released from incarceration, with the tools to not go back into incarceration. This approach to recidivism reduction was unconventional. Most organizations operating in the rim of recidivism reduction only provide direct services to individuals. While, we look to not only address the individuals coming home from incarceration, but also address the issues that landed them incarcerated in the first place with tangible solutions. This strategy was an unconventional model and a big risk. Trying this new model of approaching recidivism reduction through a social justice lens was a gamble for the success or failure of my organization. Yet as someone formally incarcerated, I knew the whole system had to be approached from a holistic perspective to reduce the recidivism rate.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Our nonprofit is called RREPS (Recidivism Reduction Educational Programs Services, Inc.). Our approach to recidivism reduction is non-traditional and through the lens of social justice frameworks. We aim to address systemic injustices and unconscious biases within the judicial system with direct and indirect methods. We provide high-level criminal justice policy reform and advocacy with a strong emphasis on the carceral state. While also providing educational resources that will aid in the elimination of the recidivism cycle. We desire to provide high-impact incarceration prevention programs and reentry services to assist individuals with transitioning into society successfully. Our organization has three arms: We Keep Us Safe (Organizing Arm), People Power (Policy Arm) and Recidivism Reduction (Reentry Arm).

Our we keep us safe (organizing arm) focuses on battles for accountability and justice following racist policing incidents. RREPS is piloting Code Blue, a text alert system for citizens to disseminate accurate narratives when law enforcement injures/kills a citizen. RREPS invites people who opt in to our alerts to join direct action campaigns to demand policing reforms. Text (984)985-3399 to opt into our Code Blue Alerts. Also, through our Front Lines Response, RREPS deploys organizers to help communities impacted by police violence respond with demands for systemic reform. As well as erect Black Lives Matter billboards across N.C. in marginalized communities with the goal of empowering marginalized people in various capacities in those areas.

Our people power (Policy Arm) focuses on:
NC Parole Justice Campaign, where RREPS trains formerly incarcerated people to organize around reforms that will expedite NC’s parole process and push for the implementation of our parole policy reforms in North Carolina.

Our recidivism reduction arm focuses on:
Transition Partners, Substance Abuse, Educational, Vocational, Rehabilitation, Identification Acquirement, RREPS Resource Guide (Toolkit), Thanksgiving Meal Giveaway and Father’s Day Bailout.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2020, during the George Floyd uprising’s I pushed for policy change not only in the streets, but also in corporate settings to erase racial discrimination’s against black and brown people. In, 2021I was tapped by North Carolina’s governor Roy Cooper to sit on the task force for racial equity in criminal justice, known as TREC. While serving on this task force, I begin to see the lack of diversity of justice impacted voices at different decision-making tables. So RREPS shifted our model a bit to include training formally incarcerated/injustice impacted individuals to have a seat at these decision-making tables where decisions were being made that will directly affect and influence the course of their lives..

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being justice involved and justice impact definitely helped me build my reputation in this field. To have come from the depths that I have, and reach the heights that I have, is a living testimony of why people deserve second chances, but also why we should continue to fight for people to have the second chances.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rreps.net
• Instagram: Activist_Kerwin_Pittman
• Facebook: RREPS
• Linkedin: Kerwin Pittman
• Twitter: Kerwin Pittman