The funds interviewed for this report constitute about half of those currently operating across the country using a revolving bail fund structure, in which bails paid out revolve back into the fund to pay future bails.

This report is based on research by Dr. Bruce Western and Dr. Becky Pettit and was jointly authored by the Economic Mobility Project and the Public Safety Performance Project of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

More than 500 women and teenagers will be bailed out from Rikers Island as part of a national campaign to dismantle a bail system that activists say discriminates against minorities and the poor.