Identifying Pathways to Reduce Recidivism for Formerly Incarcerated Women

There’s an expression that justice is blind, impartial, and objective. It treats strangers just like it treats family. As an attorney and advocate, however, I’ve found when judges and juries decide the merits of a case, they consider how their choices impact a living, breathing human being, so while the justice system might be blind, it always has a human face.

Today, the number of women entering the criminal justice system is growing, as is the number of women returning home post incarceration. In fact, almost 81,000 females leave state prisons each year, making the face of incarceration increasingly female. The shift calls on society to reimage reentry and support policies to better meet the needs of the mothers, daughters, and sisters working to build new lives after they complete their sentences. The challenges they face at re-entry are different and often more daunting than those faced by men, which cannot be minimized, as we underscore and highlight the rarely spoken of or noticed path for our incarcerated mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives.

Incarcerated women suffer greater economic disadvantages than men and are more likely to be victims of abuse, while suffering higher rates of mental illness and substance abuse than the general public. Similarly, finding housing, which can be a reentry barrier, is often more challenging for women, who frequently need adequate and safe housing for themselves and their children. The Department of Justice tells us incarcerated black women are more likely to be heads of households, with dependent children, and are statistically less likely to afford bond and a legal defense.