Aventiv Technologies partners with justice system-impacted tech founders to launch Justice Sandbox, a reentry readiness content marketplace

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Aug 09, 2023, 11:50 ET

Exclusive tech developer box offers a turnkey approach for justice-impacted entrepreneurs to launch content designed for those in prisons and jails to achieve better reentry outcomes from day one

DALLAS, Aug. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aventiv Technologies, a technology company delivering secure and affordable products to bridge the digital divide and help America's 1.9 million incarcerated individuals successfully reenter society, is partnering directly with justice-impacted tech entrepreneurs to launch Justice Sandbox. As the first-of-its-kind secure, technical development 'box' or environment, Justice Sandbox provides justice-impacted entrepreneurs an exclusive platform to develop their products.

The Justice Sandbox environment, built and hosted by Aventiv, gives tech developers a plug-and-play platform to connect, test, and launch content. This content will be available on up to 650,000 Securus tablets distributed to individuals in prisons and jails. "Aventiv is a modern technology company with a responsibility to partner and bring secure connections and tablets to corrections facilities, helping eliminate the digital divide that leaves incarcerated individuals behind," said Dave Abel, CEO of Aventiv Technologies. "In creating connections, we're building a digital marketplace for justice-impacted tech entrepreneurs who can bring their experiences successfully navigating post-incarceration reentry to those currently spending time inside, amplifying value for all stakeholders."

Aventiv has led an aggressive multi-year transformation to deliver quality, affordable, and secure technology that prioritizes the needs of incarcerated individuals. In 2022, as a key component of the transformation, Aventiv formed an Advisory Board of independent experts and advocates in correction, reentry, workforce, rehabilitation, education, and business whose diverse experience provides actionable guidance to help ensure Aventiv's products and services lead to better outcomes. The inspiration for the Justice Sandbox came from Teresa Hodge, Chair of the Advisory Board, as well as listening sessions organized by the Advisory Board.

When deployed, the Justice Sandbox Apps connect users with education, employment, and inspirational content, developed and designed by those who have lived through the incarceration experience and understand what it takes to achieve stability upon release. The goal is to help incarcerated individuals build the proficiency, confidence, and knowledge to increase their likelihood of post-incarceration success.

Before launching Justice Sandbox, Aventiv was already creating highly engaging content in partnership with formerly incarcerated individuals. Apps like "Second Acts" and "Day 1," featuring inspirational podcasts created by Aventiv Advisory Board Member Andre Norman, rose to instant popularity by offering first-hand content from people who have successfully navigated reentry. In fact, this content became the most viewed via Aventiv's Securus tablet.

"People in prison want to see themselves in the future, and Justice Sandbox gives them the motivation and access they need to complete their sentences and plan for a better tomorrow," said Andre Norman, Aventiv Board Member and Co-founder of the Hope Media App. "Men and women in prison should not have to compete for a handful of programming and reentry readiness slots and I'm proud to be part of a program that puts reentry readiness information directly in their hands via modern tablets."

Norman's latest app, Hope Media, will launch with the Justice Sandbox pilot, expected to go live in September. In addition to Hope Media, the Justice Sandbox pilot includes two other venture-backed technology and software companies: Honest Jobs, a nationwide job board explicitly designed for justice-impacted individuals; and R3 Score Technologies' R3UP App, a reentry planner to prepare users for release that also offers tools to manage risk assessments for post-release background checks. Aventiv is proud to partner with these tech founders, who often go underfunded and underestimated.

Following the pilot with these three Apps, the Justice Sandbox will expand its offerings to other justice-impacted service providers and tech entrepreneurs, offering an easy onboarding experience in a single "store-like" destination on Securus tablets, that aggregates content to help guide incarcerated individuals toward successful reentry. The Apps offered in each development phase will be delivered with the highest level of security, ensuring a safe environment for facilities and consumers.

"There are thousands of successful nonprofit service providers or business owners who, after they were released from prison, started businesses to help others who will return to society after their release. Who best to help someone understand the challenges and possibilities of finding a meaningful and productive life than those who walked in their shoes," said Teresa Hodge, Aventiv Advisory Board, Chairwoman. "These tech and information entrepreneurs are removing the guesswork around completing your sentence and navigating a path back to the community."

About Aventiv Technologies
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Aventiv Technologies serves more than 3,450 public safety, law enforcement, and corrections agencies and over 1.1 million incarcerated individuals across North America. Aventiv is committed to serving and connecting by providing emergency response, incident management, public information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, incarcerated self-service, and monitoring products and services to make our world safer. For more information, please visit Aventiv.com or join us on LinkedIn. Aventiv is a portfolio company of Platinum Equity. Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with a portfolio of approximately 40 operating companies serving customers worldwide.

About Hope Media
Hope Media is a one-of-a-kind app created by and for individuals with justice-involved backgrounds. The app is designed to provide a unique perspective by delivering content that is educational, enlightening, and entertaining to a population that is otherwise underserved and forgotten. By sharing stories from those who have walked the path, we aim to foster deeper connections and offer encouragement for meaningful progress in the lives of those with access.

About Honest Jobs
Honest Jobs (www.honestjobs.com) is the nation's leading employment platform for people impacted by the criminal legal system. Founded in 2018, Honest Jobs developed a job board to address the specific needs of job seekers with criminal records, dramatically reducing rejection and the time it takes for job seekers to find employment (up to 8x faster). Honest Jobs' Founder and CEO, Harley Blakeman, was previously incarcerated due to felony convictions, and many of the employees at Honest Jobs are also justice-involved. Since its inception, Honest Jobs has grown to over 80,000 job seekers, 1,400 fair-chance employers, and a network of 20,000+ community-based partners.

About R3 Score Technologies, Inc.
R3 Score Technologies, Inc. is a Baltimore, Maryland-based Software-as-a-Service company founded in 2018. The company's signature product, the Advanced R3 Score Report, is a more contextualized criminal background check report that offers better insights into talent and consumer segmentation for businesses and governments. R3 Score recently expanded its product portfolio with R3Up - an Android app exclusively available on Aventiv Technologies prison tablets nationwide. To learn more about R3 Score, visit www .R3Score.com.

Media Contact:
Jade Trombetta
[email protected]

SOURCE Aventiv Technologies