Lois Pullano

Background

About Lois Pullano

Lois Pullano is a long-time advocate for those who have wound up in the criminal justice system, particularly for the most vulnerable population and their families. Her work began through a personal journey involving her mentally ill 15 year old son’s incarceration in the adult system. In 2009, she was awarded the “National Mother of Distinction Award” by the Campaign for Youth Justice and National Juvenile Justice Network. Lois founded Citizens for Prison Reform (CPR) in 2011, a statewide family-led nonprofit organization. She shed light on the need for reforms in an article published by the Detroit Free Press and then an NBC Documentary in 2012 with Ted Koppel on Juveniles in Isolation Across the Nation. CPR began holding monthly educational and support meetings in 2011 which continue. A Family Resource Guide was created as well as a model solitary confinement cell that is utilized to educate the general public and leadership. She worked for the Association for Children’s Mental Health until awarded a May 2014 Soros Justice Fellowship through Open Society Institutes. Lois’s 18 month project, The Family Participation Program, includes working with the Department of Corrections at four pilot prisons, implementing a Family Advisory Board that meets quarterly to work with DOC Administration, and hosting trainings in communities. The program works to assist families in learning how to navigate through the system and advocate for their incarcerated loved ones, and serves all who have a loved in inside the Michigan prison system. The project was hosted by Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency and has now moved under Citizens for Prison Reform. Lois currently works at the Michigan Public Health Institute.