BASIC Consortium
Justice-involved and impacted students benefit from expanding support programs at California’s two and four-year public colleges and universities. In April 2017, Urban Strategies Council supported several East Bay newly formed campus-based programs in creating BASIC, a collaborative effort to increase student success, program sustainability, and the capacity to impact justice systems reform. The consortium has grown to include programs throughout the Bay Area. BASIC provides access to information, resources, and networks that empower current and formerly incarcerated and justice systems-impacted students in the Bay Area to achieve self-determination and success in their post-secondary education and career pathways.
BASIC’s Objectives:
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Student Success - to empower persistence, retention, and completion of post-secondary goals by students who have been involved with or impacted by the criminal justice system.
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Sustainable Programs - to build sustainable, best-practice programs that support student persistence, retention, and certificate & degree completion.
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Strong Inside/Outside Pathways - to create strong pathways from educational and vocational training programs inside jails and prisons to colleges and universities in the community.
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Systems Change - to promote transformative change within the region and state’s justice and corrections systems and to create a welcoming and affirmative culture on college campuses for justice-involved students.
On July 24, 2025, BASIC held a retreat at Laney College in Oakland, with over 75 attendees. On October 10, 2025, BASIC held its eleventh convening, focused on supporting postsecondary success for justice-involved juveniles and young adults, at the Vallejo campus of Solano Community College. There were nearly 200 attendees from throughout the Bay Area, including students, program staff, college faculty, and community partners.
