Sowing the Seeds of a KC Community Bail Fund
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Who are we?
We are a group of advocates and service providers organizing to create a bail fund project in Kansas City to bail out individuals in pretrial detention who cannot afford cash bail or utilize a bail bond company. We are raising seed money to start our fund by bailing out a young African-American individual (with absolutely no criminal record) who is enrolled in a program through a local non-profit that assists homeless youth by providing monthly rental assistance and comprehensive case management. She is a survivor of domestic violence and abuse. Since being incarcerated for two felony charges, she reported that she has not once gotten to speak to the court or her public defender about what had happened to get her incarcerated, which she states was self defense. Coming from homelessness and poverty, neither she nor her family can afford to post bail or even the 10% needed to go through a bail bond company. We want to bail this individual out so that she can get back to work, school, maintain her housing, seek legal advice, and self-advocate. Once enough money is raised to bail this young lady out, her case manager will provide supportive services to assist her with getting to and from court appointments, staying in compliance with pretrial conditions, and advocate on her behalf. We want to make sure she can exercise her constitutional right to defend herself before and during her court date(s). Upon completion of her case, the money will be returned to the fund and recycled to assist others.
What is cash bond and what are the effects of pretrial detention?
The initial premise of cash bail was to hold people charged with crimes accountable for showing up to court and complying with pretrial conditions. However, due to massive incarceration rates in the country many people cannot afford the cash bail set and end up sitting in jail until their court date (which could be months or even years in some cases). According to a statistic found on the Pretrial Justice Institute's website, 6 out of 10 people in jail are awaiting trial on any given day. The same website stated the country spends $14 billion a year on detaining people who have not been convicted of the crime they are in jail for. People in pretrial detention are much more likely to take a guilty plea (despite whether or not they were guilty) than if they were to get out before trial and advocate for themselves. The percentage of positive outcomes of people who are released pretrial vs those who stay incarcerated are staggering. Those in pretrial detention often lose their homes, jobs, schooling, and even custody of their children and are motivated to get out of jail - usually resulting in a plea deal. Once a person has a criminal record (especially those with little supports) they are statistically more likely to become repeat offenders. If it is in the constitution that until convicted one is presumed innocent, then money should not determine a person's freedom.
What is a bail fund?
A bail fund is a recyclable fund that pays for people's bail who cannot afford it and offers supportive services such as housing, food, mental health resources, advocacy, transportation, and case management to reintegrate the individuals into society and stay in accordance with their pretrial conditions and are able to make it to their court date. Once they make it to court, the bail is returned to the fund and recycled to help others in similar situations to promote equity for the marginalized populations being taken advantage of by the cash bond system.
What is our plan for the KC Community Bail Fund Project?
Our plan is to start small and raise money through grassroots fundraising. We plan to begin
partnering with local businesses, attorneys, public defenders, local social service agencies and
organizations, mental and behavioral health care providers, and community members to fundraise
and advocate for the need for such fund in this city with such great potential. Members involved in
getting this fund started are already connected with many community service agencies and
organizations and are able to use those connections to assist individuals we will potentially bail
out.
Our mission is to give those who cannot afford bail a fighting chance at getting a positive outcome
in their case rather than plead out just to get out of jail after sitting there waiting for their
day in court. We want those detained pretrial to be given a chance to keep their jobs, their spot in
school, their housing, provide care for their children, and to be productive members of society
rather than sitting in local or county jail costing the taxpayers and themselves money they most
likely do not have.
We will also advocacy on a larger scale level to fight for cash bail reform in our city and even at a national level.
Who will we serve?
Our first goal is to start with grassroots fundraising to assist those in our community who are already connected to services upon being arrested. That way the individual will already have support upon their release and will allow the fund to use the entirety of the money raised to be recycled and used to post bail help others in similar situations. This cycle can be repeated over and over to assist many people victimized by the cash bond system. We will primarily focus on bailing out individuals of marginalized populations, namely black women, individuals ages 18-29, and homeless or formerly homeless individuals.
By starting with bailing out just one individual we want to make sure this bail fund can be a successful resource for those in our community. We hope to grow over time through the connections we build in our community to serve those who are victimized by the system and to advocate for policy change.
Any donation of any amount is appreciated. As we are small and have no overhead costs, 100% of the money we earn through our fundraising will be used directly towards bailing people in need out of pretrial detention.
Please help us reach our goal of raising $6,000 to bail out our first recipient of these funds. By donating to this fund to help this one person, you will be in turn helping many others due to the cyclical nature of this fund.
The work we are doing to start this fund is all voluntary. We love this community and will advocate to see necessary, positive change. We believe with your help, we can make that happen.
If you have questions or are interested in helping with fundraising and raising awareness about our budding bail fund project please email us at [email redacted]
For more information about cash bonds, pretrial detention, and other bail funds around the country visit these helpful and inspiring sites:
https://www.pretrial.org/get-involved/learn-more/why-we-need-pretrial-reform/
https://chicagobond.org/
https://nationalbailout.org/
https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/national-bail-fund-network
We are a group of advocates and service providers organizing to create a bail fund project in Kansas City to bail out individuals in pretrial detention who cannot afford cash bail or utilize a bail bond company. We are raising seed money to start our fund by bailing out a young African-American individual (with absolutely no criminal record) who is enrolled in a program through a local non-profit that assists homeless youth by providing monthly rental assistance and comprehensive case management. She is a survivor of domestic violence and abuse. Since being incarcerated for two felony charges, she reported that she has not once gotten to speak to the court or her public defender about what had happened to get her incarcerated, which she states was self defense. Coming from homelessness and poverty, neither she nor her family can afford to post bail or even the 10% needed to go through a bail bond company. We want to bail this individual out so that she can get back to work, school, maintain her housing, seek legal advice, and self-advocate. Once enough money is raised to bail this young lady out, her case manager will provide supportive services to assist her with getting to and from court appointments, staying in compliance with pretrial conditions, and advocate on her behalf. We want to make sure she can exercise her constitutional right to defend herself before and during her court date(s). Upon completion of her case, the money will be returned to the fund and recycled to assist others.
What is cash bond and what are the effects of pretrial detention?
The initial premise of cash bail was to hold people charged with crimes accountable for showing up to court and complying with pretrial conditions. However, due to massive incarceration rates in the country many people cannot afford the cash bail set and end up sitting in jail until their court date (which could be months or even years in some cases). According to a statistic found on the Pretrial Justice Institute's website, 6 out of 10 people in jail are awaiting trial on any given day. The same website stated the country spends $14 billion a year on detaining people who have not been convicted of the crime they are in jail for. People in pretrial detention are much more likely to take a guilty plea (despite whether or not they were guilty) than if they were to get out before trial and advocate for themselves. The percentage of positive outcomes of people who are released pretrial vs those who stay incarcerated are staggering. Those in pretrial detention often lose their homes, jobs, schooling, and even custody of their children and are motivated to get out of jail - usually resulting in a plea deal. Once a person has a criminal record (especially those with little supports) they are statistically more likely to become repeat offenders. If it is in the constitution that until convicted one is presumed innocent, then money should not determine a person's freedom.
What is a bail fund?
A bail fund is a recyclable fund that pays for people's bail who cannot afford it and offers supportive services such as housing, food, mental health resources, advocacy, transportation, and case management to reintegrate the individuals into society and stay in accordance with their pretrial conditions and are able to make it to their court date. Once they make it to court, the bail is returned to the fund and recycled to help others in similar situations to promote equity for the marginalized populations being taken advantage of by the cash bond system.
What is our plan for the KC Community Bail Fund Project?
Our plan is to start small and raise money through grassroots fundraising. We plan to begin
partnering with local businesses, attorneys, public defenders, local social service agencies and
organizations, mental and behavioral health care providers, and community members to fundraise
and advocate for the need for such fund in this city with such great potential. Members involved in
getting this fund started are already connected with many community service agencies and
organizations and are able to use those connections to assist individuals we will potentially bail
out.
Our mission is to give those who cannot afford bail a fighting chance at getting a positive outcome
in their case rather than plead out just to get out of jail after sitting there waiting for their
day in court. We want those detained pretrial to be given a chance to keep their jobs, their spot in
school, their housing, provide care for their children, and to be productive members of society
rather than sitting in local or county jail costing the taxpayers and themselves money they most
likely do not have.
We will also advocacy on a larger scale level to fight for cash bail reform in our city and even at a national level.
Who will we serve?
Our first goal is to start with grassroots fundraising to assist those in our community who are already connected to services upon being arrested. That way the individual will already have support upon their release and will allow the fund to use the entirety of the money raised to be recycled and used to post bail help others in similar situations. This cycle can be repeated over and over to assist many people victimized by the cash bond system. We will primarily focus on bailing out individuals of marginalized populations, namely black women, individuals ages 18-29, and homeless or formerly homeless individuals.
By starting with bailing out just one individual we want to make sure this bail fund can be a successful resource for those in our community. We hope to grow over time through the connections we build in our community to serve those who are victimized by the system and to advocate for policy change.
Any donation of any amount is appreciated. As we are small and have no overhead costs, 100% of the money we earn through our fundraising will be used directly towards bailing people in need out of pretrial detention.
Please help us reach our goal of raising $6,000 to bail out our first recipient of these funds. By donating to this fund to help this one person, you will be in turn helping many others due to the cyclical nature of this fund.
The work we are doing to start this fund is all voluntary. We love this community and will advocate to see necessary, positive change. We believe with your help, we can make that happen.
If you have questions or are interested in helping with fundraising and raising awareness about our budding bail fund project please email us at [email redacted]
For more information about cash bonds, pretrial detention, and other bail funds around the country visit these helpful and inspiring sites:
https://www.pretrial.org/get-involved/learn-more/why-we-need-pretrial-reform/
https://chicagobond.org/
https://nationalbailout.org/
https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/national-bail-fund-network
Co-organizers (2)
Lauren Worley
Organizer
Kansas City, MO
Chloe Cooper
Co-organizer