The Northwest Community Bail Fund (NCBF) uses your donations to remove people who cannot afford cash bail from the stress and harms of incarceration while awaiting trial. This allows someone to defend themselves from a place of freedom.
Pretrial incarceration negatively impacts health, due to rapid spread of viruses like flu and COVID, combined with reduced access to medical care, medications and mental health treatments. Spending time in jail is associated with
increased exposure to violence, including
assault, rape,
murder and suicide, while simultaneously damaging work and social connections, and increasing the pressure to plead guilty. The unintended consequences can be lasting and are
not shown to improve public safety.