Leveraging lived experience: a qualitative study on the impact of formerly incarcerated consultants in public policy making to improve safety net services
Jazmin Candelario, Diana Zúñiga, Diamond Lee, Califia Abwoon, Sandy Arevalo, María Casillas Gonzalez, Jason Garcia, Sergio Garcia, Lami Glenn, Gilbert Johnson, Jack Morris, Tue Huynh, Yusef Wiley, Arleen F Brown, Savanna L Carson · 2026
Read Leveraging lived experience: a qualitative study on the impact of formerly incarcerated consultants in public policy making to improve safety net services by Jazmin Candelario, Diana Zúñiga, Diamond Lee, Califia Abwoon, Sandy Arevalo, María Casillas Gonzalez, Jason Garcia, Sergio Garcia, Lami Glenn, Gilbert Johnson, Jack Morris, Tue Huynh, Yusef Wiley, Arleen F Brown, Savanna L Carson (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13464329.txt.
Description
Candelario and colleagues evaluated in 2026 a Los Angeles County experiment in who gets heard in policy. The Reentry Health Advisory Collaborative, founded in 2020, pays people once in prison to advise the safety-net health and justice systems. Three years in, the team surveyed collaborative members. They also surveyed the agency staff, nonprofits, and policymakers who work with them.
All eight members replied, along with 30 collaborators, about six in ten of those asked. Both sides credited members' firsthand experience with sharpening programs. It kept attention on root causes and tailored services to real community conditions. Members described gains in motivation, peer support, and leadership skill. The friction points were power and money. Members felt their influence on big decisions was limited, officials varied in openness, and funding was insecure. Respondents urged earlier involvement in pivotal decisions and steadier grassroots engagement.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Jazmin Candelario, Diana Zúñiga, Diamond Lee, Califia Abwoon, Sandy Arevalo, María Casillas Gonzalez, Jason Garcia, Sergio Garcia, Lami Glenn, Gilbert Johnson, Jack Morris, Tue Huynh, Yusef Wiley, Arleen F Brown, Savanna L Carson |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 54 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |