LAH 2026 FAQ
This month, LAH leadership met with some new and a few long-time donors to discuss efficacy and sustainability during these uncertain times. Some unique questions came out of those conversations, and we thought it would be a good idea to address them in a blog post, as you may have some of the same questions.
We have compiled a list of these questions along with some we think newer members of our support community will appreciate, too.
1. What does “Life After Hate” mean?
Life After Hate is a statement to those in hate movements that there is a safe, productive, and meaningful life for them after they leave hate-fueled ideology and violence. Through the power of human connection, compassion, accountability, and restorative practices, a true transformation can be realized, and a life can be rebuilt. We believe that everyone deserves a second chance, people can be redeemed, and there is life after hate.
2. What does Life After Hate actually do?
Life After Hate works with people currently in the justice system who are self-referred, meaning they do not like the person they have become and want help changing. LAH also works with families and loved ones of people in the two categories above. The program is structured to allow for one-on-one meetings to happen virtually, on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis to set goals, learn pro-social skills, build community, and discuss resources based on the participants’ current needs.
3. Is Life After Hate the same as ExitUSATM?
LAH was founded in 2011; its flagship program, ExitUSATM, was launched in late 2014. Exit fully took flight in 2015 and now encompasses multiple initiatives, including our tertiary intervention program, The Daily Former podcast and Discord, and No Formers Left Behind, our graduate/ alumni group, among other training and resource-sharing projects.
4. How long have you been around?
Founded in 2011, Life After Hate is celebrating fifteen years of helping people leave hate-fueled violence and violent online spaces.
5. Why haven’t I heard about you before this? / Why haven’t more people heard about LAH?
Life After Hate is a very niche organization focused on terrorism prevention. Most people don’t go out of their way to learn about terrorism prevention organizations unless that is the field they work in or they fund this type of work.
Secondly, LAH does not advertise itself other than through our webpage and social media accounts. Hate-fueled violence is not a fun topic and doesn’t get a lot of shares or online engagement. In a world filled with sensationalized media (political polarization, armed conflicts, gas prices, food recalls, job losses due to major funding cuts, etc.), our goal is not to fear-monger but to inform. Unfortunately, fear-mongering and rage-bait content often get shared online more than helpful information and honest calls to action.
6. Why is your program so labor-intensive?
Mandated participants who are often high-risk require weekly meetings with both an Exit Specialist and a social work-trained case manager. That means two hours per person per week plus the administrative work that goes into setting up for the meetings and finding appropriate resources post-meeting, as well as time spent working in partnership with the justice system.
Exit’s participants, such as exiting individuals, families, and friends, add a significant number of case hours in addition to the mandated hours. The individualized nature of this model, when applied across all participants, means our team consistently meets with, sets goals with, and advocates for each and every participant in our program in a uniquely specific way, according to their needs and risk level. These individual meetings are paired with men’s, women’s, and family-and-friend group meetings that meet either bi-weekly or monthly and focus on skill-building and boundary management.
7. Why is your programming free to participants?
Life After Hate ensures that every person in need of our specialized program has access to Exit programming at no cost. Often, those incarcerated, justice-involved, or who are recently restored citizens do not have the means to pay for anything beyond basic necessities. Additionally, our staff understands that the decision to seek help from an organization is often fraught with anxiety and is a difficult step to take. LAH does not want to meet a genuine plea for help at a vulnerable moment in someone’s life with questions and forms that determine the ability to pay. We meet people where they are and help when they ask us. LAH addresses a critical social need, supports a very niche population, and, in turn, prevents harm to communities of color, religious affiliation, and other targeted out groups. Safety is a shared community responsibility and needs to be funded as such.
8. How do you know your model works?
A recent funder asked, “How do you know what you do works?” Great question! The ExitUSATM program has been around for just over a decade, and in that time LAH has provided support to those seeking help on an ongoing basis since the program launched. We can say we know our model works for several reasons. First, during program participation, Exit uses screening tools and other protocols to determine risk; should an individual ever pose a clear and valid threat to themselves or others, our team is prepared to take action to mitigate that risk on all levels. No participant graduates from our program unless they are deemed low risk, have completed all goals, and have worked through each of the areas they came to our program for help with.
Long-term program efficacy means staying in contact with many participants even after program completion; we track the progress of most people who have come through our doors. Some former participants periodically update us, sharing that they are doing well and are grateful for the life-changing support; others choose to give back through our No Formers Left Behind (NFLB) alumni group or to participate on the podcast as guests. And some never return or share updates, but also have not been in the news when we hear of mass violence events or school shootings. For those who are mandated, they are usually with us for a lengthy period of time, and their PO or others keep tabs on them and meet with our staff. A person who graduates from our program and remains violence-free is a person who did not commit a violent attack they had planned or could have carried out. The price of safety and lives saved is worth every cent invested in our Exit programming.
9. Who do you typically help?
Mandated individuals often come to us with hate-crime or terrorism charges. Those who are self-referred often state that their loved ones are concerned for them, or that a major life event has prompted them to reflect critically about why they hold hate-fueled ideology and want to cause harm to those they hate.
Families and loved ones are often wives, mothers, fathers, siblings, or close friends of individuals who are planning to cause harm or are inciting violence and hate online. These loved ones are concerned about what could happen if their situation continues and come to LAH seeking tools and resources to work on themselves (boundary setting, emotional regulation, and understanding why people join ideologically motivated hate groups), and then with their family members instead of cutting them off or going ‘no contact’ for their behavior and hatred.
10. With so much else going on, why should I care about hate-fueled violence right now?
Our work prevents loss of life due to self-harm or attacks on others. LAH prevents the economic and social cost of a synagogue or mosque bombing, a school shooting glorifying a Columbine-style attack, and prevents teens from being coerced and groomed by their online peers to end their lives on video for ‘clout.’ It costs far less than responding to an attack after it happens. Proactive funding supports resource sharing, community intervention, and efforts to help people change so that harm is avoided and violence is significantly reduced.
The cost of not doing anything is allowing our vulnerable young people to become entangled in online coercive control and harm. The cost of not intervening when people are online inciting violence, creating plots to harm others, and encouraging extremist ideology is a further breakdown in social cohesion. The cost of not paying attention now is being blindsided when a community near you is ripped apart by violence, or being left wondering how and why a Charlottesville-style event is happening in your city center.
