Title: The Women's Prison Association: Supporting Women Offenders
and Their Families. 
Series: Program Focus
Author(s): Catherine Conly
Published: National Institute of Justice, December 1998
Subjects: Corrections, female offenders, and family of prisoners 
39 pages
100,000 bytes

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U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice

Program Focus
December 1998

The Women's Prison Association: Supporting Women Offenders and
Their Families

by Catherine Conly

Elise walked the winter streets, her hands and face bitterly cold; her mind
filled and distracted; her heart brittle.[1] No one had prepared her for the
enormity of the challenges she faced--no place to live; no money; her
children scattered and angry; no true friends; and that burning desire to get
back to (and at the same time avoid) the "people, places, and things" that
had landed her in jail in the first place. Just when success was so
important, all she could think of was failure.

Women offenders like Elise who return to their communities from prison
or jail must often simultaneously comply with conditions of probation or
parole, achieve financial stability, access health care, locate housing, and
commence the process of reuniting with their children. Setting priorities
and accomplishing goals can seem overwhelming to someone who is
confronted with so many tasks at once. Without strong support in the
community to help them negotiate the rules and regulations of myriad
public agencies, many women offenders quickly spiral back into a life of
substance abuse, prostitution, and related crimes.

Finding effective correctional strategies for women offenders is of
growing importance nationwide. Increasingly, women have joined the
ranks of those behind bars or under criminal justice supervision in the
community. Since 1980, the number of women in custody in State and
Federal prisons has risen more than fourfold.[2] During 1997, the number
of female prisoners in Federal and State prisons rose 6.2 percent, slightly
greater than the increase in males (5.2 percent). At the close of 1997,
79,624 women were incarcerated in State and Federal prisons.[3]

Drug-related sanctions have fueled much of this increase in women's
incarceration. Federal Uniform Crime Reporting data show that during the
1980s, the number of women arrested for drug violations more than
tripled--a rate of growth approximately double that for men.[4] In the same
time period, women held for drug-related offenses accounted for almost
half of the increase in the number of jailed females.[5] According to data
gathered by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics,
the number of women in State prisons who were serving sentences for
drug-related offenses increased 432 percent between 1986 and 1991.[6] By
1991, one-third of the women in prison were serving terms for
drug-related crimes, compared to one-fifth of their male counterparts.[7]
(See "Differences Between Men and Women Inmates" for additional
comparisons of men and women offenders.)

Those now under criminal justice supervision are typically young,
unmarried women of color.[8] They have children, few job skills, little or
no work experience, and a significant problem with substance abuse. A
survey conducted by the American Correctional Association in 1990
revealed the following details about the life histories of women
inmates:[9]

--More than half of the women reported having been victims of physical
abuse; 36 percent reported having been victims of sexual abuse, which
often occurred when the women were children or adolescents. 

--Nearly half used cocaine at least once or twice a month; 56 percent
reported using marijuana that frequently.

--Although some had completed their General Equivalency Diploma
(GED), most were school dropouts. One-third had dropped out due to
pregnancy.

--Nearly 75 percent had some work experience prior to incarceration, but
almost two-thirds had earned no more than $6.50 per hour, considerably
less than they required to support themselves and their children.

Concern about the dramatic growth in the number of women in
correctional settings during the past decade and their need for
gender-specific services has prompted researchers and advocates to call for
increased attention to correctional programming for women and increased
use of community-based interventions and alternatives.[10] In a recent
national survey of programming for women offenders sponsored by the
National Institute of Justice (NIJ), corrections administrators
recommended that there be more services to address substance abuse,
family relationships, vocational education and work, and prior
victimization and domestic violence.[11] In addition, State-level
administrators and program directors each saw a considerable need for
more transitional housing and aftercare services to help women offenders
adjust to living independently in the community.[12]

This Program Focus describes the Women's Prison Association (WPA), an
incorporated nonprofit agency in New York City that offers a broad array
of institution- and community-based services to women offenders (i.e.,
women in prisons and jails, women on probation and parole, and
ex-offenders). Like most of its counterparts around the Nation, WPA has
not been the subject of rigorous independent evaluation, but its program
offerings address many of the critical issues identified above.[13] Through
its own services and by linking women with other providers, WPA offers
education, support, and transitional services to female inmates who are
HIV+ or at risk for infection; and emergency and transitional housing,
individualized case management services, skills-building workshops, child
care, counseling, and other supports to released women, their children, and
their families. 

The following sections review WPA's history and its portfolio of
interrelated programs, describe promising program features, and discuss
challenges for continued operation. Although the program's metropolitan
setting necessarily affects its operation, the lessons from WPA's 150-year
experience will inform anyone seeking to learn more about gender-specific
or community-based programs for women offenders.

A Century and a Half of Advocacy and Programming

The Women's Prison Association characterizes its mission as follows: 

". . . to create opportunities for change in the lives of women prisoners,
ex-prisoners, and their families. WPA provides programs through which
women acquire life skills needed to end involvement in the criminal
justice system and to make positive, healthy choices for themselves and
their families . . . We emphasize:

--Self-reliance through the development of independent living skills.

--Self-empowerment and peer support.

--Client involvement in the community.

--Assistance from dedicated staff, advisers, and volunteers."

WPA has been working to fulfill this mission and "increase public
awareness of and support for effective, community-based responses to
crime" since its founding in 1844. Under the leadership of Abigail Hopper
Gibbons, WPA established the Isaac T. Hopper Home to provide housing
and training to women offenders of the 1800s. In its first 3 years of
operation, the Hopper Home sheltered more than 450 women offenders;
and it has served more than 37,000 women over the course of 150 years.
By the turn of the century, WPA was calling for the creation of separate
prison facilities for women and for a State mandate for female matrons in
all facilities with women prisoners. WPA also protested jail crowding and
helped introduce a bill to establish a reformatory for women in Bedford,
New York. During the 1940s, it developed a resident aftercare program at
Bedford Hills and established group therapy programs. In the 1960s, WPA
launched a program for pregnant offenders. 

Since 1992, WPA has focused considerable attention on the needs of
homeless women offenders who have AIDS, are HIV+, or have histories
of substance abuse, and those who are striving to reunite with their
children. WPA now offers four interrelated programs:

--The Transitional Services Unit, which provides HIV and AIDS services,
peer group support, prerelease planning, and housing placement to women
inmates who are HIV+ or at risk for infection; and transitional and
intensive case management services for HIV+ women released from
prisons and jails.

--The Hopper Home Alternative to Incarceration Program, a transitional
residence and an intensive reporting program for women who would
otherwise be in jail or prison. 

--The Sarah Powell Huntington House, a transitional residence for
homeless women offenders, including those with HIV or AIDS, who seek
to reunite with their children.

--The Steps to Independence Program, which provides specialized services
(e.g., housing and job placement assistance, independent living skills
development, parenting training workshops, and aftercare services) to
homeless women in the other three WPA programs. 

Depending on their circumstances, WPA clients may participate in some
or all of these programs over the course of many months or years. For
example, a homeless woman awaiting trial can be contacted in jail by the
Transitional Services Unit, receive information on HIV prevention, and be
counseled regarding community-based services. Subsequently, she can be
provided with emergency housing at the Hopper Home. Then she can be
admitted to the Sarah Powell Huntington House, where she can work with
a case manager, participate in community-based services (e.g., drug
treatment, individual counseling, and vocational education), and reunite
with her children. Before leaving Huntington House, she can be assisted
with her transition into the community (e.g., locating housing and
employment) by staff of the Steps to Independence Program.

Each year, hundreds of women offenders and their family members
participate in WPA's programs. Between July 1, 1996, and June 30, 1997
(FY 1997), the agency provided individual, direct services to 344 women
and 286 children (under 18 years of age). During the 1-year period of
1996-97, WPA placed 99 women in permanent housing and 84 women in
transitional housing. As many as 3,000 women participated in WPA's jail-
and prison-based workshops. In addition, WPA staff assisted an
unspecified number of other family members and/or significant others
residing in clients' homes. For example, TSU staff estimate that in FY
1997, for every client served in the Community Follow-Up Program, they
also served an average of five family members.

Meeting the Needs of Women Offenders

Following the fivefold expansion of New York's female offender
population in late 1990, WPA's staff launched an investigation of the
needs of women in the State's criminal justice system. The four
interrelated programs previously highlighted are the result of this careful
study. Under the leadership of a newly hired executive director, WPA staff
interviewed women offenders, summarized their characteristics, and
gathered information on available community-based services. 

Characteristics of women offenders in New York

The interviews revealed that women offenders in New York look very
much like their counterparts across the Nation and that the following four
issues are of particular concern:


--Many women offenders are chronically ill. Prolonged drug and/or
alcohol use with little or no treatment, poor access to medical care, and
low socioeconomic status place women offenders at considerable risk for a
range of infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C,
syphilis, gonorrhea, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Indeed, the
rate of HIV infection among New York's criminal justice population,
which is one of the highest in the Nation, is higher for women than for
men. In a blind serosurvey of jail inmates conducted by the New York
City Department of Health, the rate of HIV infection among women was
26 percent, compared to only 12 percent among men.[14] Although the
reason for variation in rates continues to be investigated, part of the
answer may lie in the fact that women offenders are more likely than men
to be exposed to a combination of HIV-related risk factors, including their
own intravenous (IV) drug use, partners who use IV drugs, and the
exchange of sex for drugs and income.

--Women offenders who are HIV+ or have AIDS have considerable need
for health care and social support. Many women in New York's criminal
justice system learn that they are HIV+ through voluntary testing in jail or
prison. As a result, their release from incarceration may mark the first time
they have had to face the physical and emotional challenges of living on
their own with a chronic and terminal illness. Often they have no
established network for health care and social support in the community.
Moreover, they may return to the community with inadequate information
about sources of treatment and about transmission prevention that will
prolong their lives and protect the lives of others with whom they come in
contact.[15]

--Many women offenders are homeless, which impairs their ability to live
crime free. Based on self-reports, it is estimated that as many as one-third
of all women returning to New York City from prisons or jails are
homeless. In reality, the rate of homelessness is probably much higher,
since many women are thought to conceal their homelessness for fear that
it will affect their chances of early release or parole.

Safe housing is at a premium. Drug use and other criminal activities
abound in shelters; and many women who return to their former homes
face the substance abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence that
preceded their incarcerations. In some cases, regulations regarding kinship
and foster care, which preclude a woman's living with her children upon
release, also keep her from living with the trusted relatives who are her
children's caretakers.

 --Reuniting with children is of crucial importance for most women
offenders, but it is usually a complex issue. Eighty percent of the women
in New York's prisons and jails are mothers, and many are highly
motivated to reunite with their children. But in many cases, incarceration
has followed a period of turmoil for mothers and their children in which
family attachments have been severely strained. Although women leave
correctional institutions hoping to live with their children, years of
separation make women uncertain about how they will be received or
whether they will be able to reconnect. Their children often feel anxious,
angry, and resentful. Caretakers may resist reunification and feel wary of
the mothers' ability to provide adequate support and guidance.

Moreover, in situations involving kinship and foster care, child welfare
and housing regulations may make it difficult for women to regain custody
of their children. Although permanence and family reunification are
important goals, they are not always easily reconciled, especially in
situations where there has been abuse and neglect. 

Delays in reunification can affect housing decisions as well. In New York
City, mothers must provide adequate housing in order to regain custody of
their children; yet, to qualify for subsidized housing that can accommodate
a family, applicants must be able to show proof that they have custody of
their children. 

Availability of services

When assessing services, staff discovered that women offenders and their
families were effectively precluded from being well served by agencies
mandated to deal with the issues that women offenders present (e.g.,
homelessness, HIV, and AIDS). Sometimes women offenders were
explicitly excluded because of their criminal histories; but, more
frequently, some aspect of qualifying for service was unrealistic given the
women's circumstances (e.g., requiring custody of children to qualify for
housing). 

WPA carefully studied funding opportunities that would support the
creation of programs to address the diverse concerns of women offenders
and provide opportunities for women to:

--Learn and adopt independent living skills.

--Obtain more permanent living arrangements.

--Receive appropriate preventive and medical care.

--Gain financial independence or support.


--Achieve and maintain sobriety.

--Develop relationships that support the changes they want to make.

--Reunite with their children and families.

Over the past several years, by assembling an annual budget of almost $4
million from private donors and a variety of Federal, State, and city health,
welfare, and criminal justice agencies (see "WPA Funding") and by
initiating formal agreements with more than 44 community-based
organizations that serve women and/or criminal justice populations, WPA
created its four programs for women offenders. In addition, WPA
continues to advocate with State and city social service systems to ensure
that those systems' programs and policies include provisions for women
offenders.

Using Knowledge and Innovation to Obtain Funding

To address the multiple needs of women offenders, WPA has combined
funding from a variety of sources, including many noncriminal-justice
initiatives (e.g., to aid persons who are homeless and who have HIV or
AIDS). Each funding stream addresses a specific need or set of needs (e.g.,
housing, employment services, health care, and family support), and in
combination, the different funding streams help to establish a continuum
of care for WPA's clients.

By continuously gathering information on women offenders and existing
service delivery mechanisms, WPA is able to craft funding proposals that
demonstrate a clear understanding of women offenders and that outline
gender-specific approaches for meeting clients' service needs. In turn,
funders value WPA's insights and innovative approaches. "WPA has a
good handle on this population [women offenders]. They've studied what
their needs are and they know how to meet them. You can see that in the
work they do," observed Samantha Lopez, a representative from Medical
and Health Research, Inc., which provides funding for the WPA
Transitional Services Unit. Sally Perryman, a former contract monitor at
the State of New York's AIDS Institute, concurs. "WPA collects
information that makes their programs strong and allows them to be
visionary," says Perryman. "It is the only organization I know of that
provides a peer education and empowerment program. Many organizations
provide AIDS education, but WPA provides inmates with operational
assignments in the program, so it really is an empowerment program. In
addition, WPA designs their programs specifically for women. Others
offer the same curriculum in male facilities." 


WPA's Promising Programs and Their Features

WPA targets women who:

--Are age 18 or older.

--Have a past or current involvement with the criminal justice system.

--Have not been diagnosed with severe mental illness.[16]

--Are detoxed and able to attend a day-treatment program (for residential
programs).

--Have not been charged with arson (for residential programs).

WPA's approach has many features that correctional experts consider
essential to programming for women offenders (see "Features of
Innovative and Promising Programs for Women Offenders: National
Survey Results"). These include:

--Program models designed to address women offenders' needs. WPA's
program models are carefully designed to address client concerns
regarding housing, health and mental health care, family reunification, and
employment. In addition, WPA continues to gather information on women
offenders and on the availability of services to assist them. The
information is used to enhance WPA services and to educate the public
regarding women offenders' issues and the importance of gender-specific
programming. WPA's diligence in gathering information on their client
population also gets high marks from local funders.

Speaking about the Hopper Home Alternative to Incarceration Program,
Rhonda Ferdinand, the lead prosecutor in the Manhattan District
Attorney's Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, underscored the
importance of WPA's approach. "The work they [WPA] are doing is very
different from a lot of other residential programs. These women have
histories of abuse and don't respond to a lot of programs. The popular ones
now operate on the idea that you need to beat the residents down before
you can begin to rebuild. That just doesn't work for this population. Often
being beaten is all these women have known."

--Individualized case management. Case management services in WPA's
programs include the development of individualized service plans and the
provision of individual counseling. 


Case management helps clients organize and prioritize their needs for
service, receive support while achieving their goals, and learn how to
advocate for themselves. Through case management, WPA staff are also
able to coordinate the many community-based service providers who offer
assistance to women offenders, which may help to reduce duplication of
services, thereby making service delivery more cost-effective and
efficient. To ensure the accessibility of services, WPA has negotiated
formal agreements with more than 44 service providers in the community
who are working with women and/or offenders.

In addition, WPA's case managers offer clients one-on-one counseling,
individual coaching, and encouragement. Case managers work with clients
to help them tackle issues of recovery and relapse, fear, shame, anger,
self-doubt, patterns of abusive or negative relationships, and problems of
family reunification. In turn, clients are encouraged by the support they
receive. "My parole officer tells me what not to do; she's aggressive and
mistrustful," remarked one client when asked to compare her relationships
with her parole officer and her WPA case manager. "It feels more personal
with my [WPA] case manager. She's more like a human being. She tells
me what I can do."

--Peer support. WPA's programs help women offenders build healthy
relationships through peer support. Reportedly, most WPA clients arrive
with very poor self-images and little sense that they can make a positive
contribution. Through group workshops, support groups, household work
assignments, and recreational activities, participants support each other in
recovery and in accomplishing their goals. This redefinition of their
relationships with each other can be very transformative.

--Strategies for building on client successes. WPA seeks to build on client
experience and strengths (as opposed to merely addressing deficiencies)
and to recognize small successes. Clients are encouraged to assume a
variety of responsibilities that contribute to their viewing themselves as
capable. Each client is required to define and refine her own case plan and
encouraged to assume increased responsibility for accomplishing her
specified goals. In addition, clients participate in the development of WPA
programs. They also serve as public speakers, peer educators, trainers, and
assistants in the Child Center at the Sarah Powell Huntington House.

--Family focus. WPA's programs assist both women and their families.
Helping women offenders reconnect and/or reunite with their children can
motivate the women to accomplish other goals. Working to build healthy
families may also prevent children who have been exposed to their parents'
substance abuse and crime from becoming involved in those behaviors
themselves. 


--Skills development. Each WPA program includes workshops and
skills-building exercises to help women improve their abilities to
participate productively and healthfully in their roles as parents, students,
employees, tenants, and friends. Information presented spans a broad
range of topics including health (e.g., substance abuse, HIV prevention
and treatment), mental health, vocational training, parenting, and
independent living. 

--Caring, competent, and well-trained staff. WPA's staff have considerable
experience working with women. In addition, their knowledge of issues
regarding HIV, AIDS, substance abuse, housing, and the criminal justice
system make them well equipped to serve a client population with diverse
service needs.

WPA provides its staff with the training and consultation skills needed to
work effectively with clients and within the organization. Clinical
consultation is available on a regular basis to provide guidance on ways to
address complex client concerns such as incest and child abuse. In
addition, through programs offered inhouse and by sending staff to outside
trainings, staff are supported in expanding their knowledge about the
substantive issues confronting WPA clients (e.g., HIV, AIDS, substance
abuse, child abuse, and domestic violence) and in developing professional
job skills (e.g., using computers and managing meetings). WPA staff are
also involved routinely in helping to design and refine WPA programs. 

--Long-term commitment. WPA's set of interrelated programs can assist
women offenders over a period of several years, from the point of their
initial incarceration through drug treatment, reunification with their
children, and moves to permanent housing. Because it has the capacity to
make a long-term commitment, WPA is able to help women offenders
address their many serious concerns regarding sobriety, prior abuse,
parenting, employment, housing, and health care. Dealing with these
issues is thought to improve significantly each woman's ability to make
positive choices for herself and her family. 

WPA operates four primary programs; two provide residential services
and two offer a variety of other services:

--Transitional Services Unit (TSU) offers a variety of services to women
offenders who are HIV+ or at risk for infection.

--Hopper Home Alternative to Incarceration offers transitional housing
services under close supervision.

--Sarah Powell Huntington House offers transitional housing to women
and their children.

--Steps to Independence (STI) targets homeless women and provides help
with parenting skills, independent living skills, and finding housing and
employment.

The Transitional Services Unit

Susan sat at a table with a group of clients involved in the Transitional
Services Unit's Community Follow-Up Program. A self-described
"menace to society for 15 years" who is also HIV+, she was still visibly
shaken when she recalled her first days on parole: "That first weekend out,
I felt every step would be my last. I felt cold and kept thinking, 'Wow, I
really need some help.' I was terrified. If I didn't get help, there was a good
chance I'd go back." 

During that first weekend, she had landed in a shelter where she was
quickly confronted with drug use and violence. "Thrown in a place like
that," she observed, "it's like a setup. I had heard about WPA when I was
upstate at Albion, and thank God I did. On Monday, I contacted them."

Susan immediately received temporary shelter in the Hopper Home and
eventually moved into a halfway house. With assistance from her
Community Follow-Up case manager, she is now receiving treatment for
HIV and attending school. As she put it, "When reality hits, WPA offers
you a chance. I still have a long way to go, but I have hope."

Susan heard about WPA from staff in the Transitional Services Unit,
which offers individual counseling, outreach workshops, and discharge
planning to incarcerated women who are HIV+ or at risk for infection.[17]
In the community, the TSU's Transitional Case Management and
Community Follow-Up Programs (CFPs) provide transitional and
intensive case management services to HIV+ women who have previously
been arrested and who may be on probation or parole when services are
rendered. With more than $1 million in funding from State and Federal
sources, TSU has 18 staff members who provide services to women in city
and State correctional facilities and in the community.

Outreach and counseling

Each week, the TSU's Outreach staff visit the city jail at Rikers Island and
four State correctional institutions for women.[18] Once a year, for a
period of several days, staff also visit the Albion Correctional Facility near
Buffalo, which has a large population of inmates from New York City, to
offer HIV education workshops and information on transitional services
for women returning to the city following their release. (See "Transitional
Services Unit Outreach Services" for more information.)

Transitional case management

WPA provides transitional case management for up to 3 months to HIV+
women who are leaving jail or prison and returning to the community.
Typically, at the end of that period, the women are eligible to receive
Medicaid and may participate in the Community Follow-Up Program.
Case managers work with clients to address primary health and living
needs, including housing, financial assistance, medical care, counseling,
drug treatment, and other basic supports. 

Community followup

The Community Follow-Up Program (CFP), a component of the
Transitional Services Unit, can accommodate up to 90 women offenders
and ex-offenders who are HIV+. CFP began in December 1994 as a
fee-for-service program authorized by the State of New York under the
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), which
allows for the provision of case management services to nonincarcerated
clients who receive Medicaid. 

A case management team works with each CFP client and with her
children to assess their service needs, develop their individualized service
plan, monitor their progress, and advocate with public agencies. Clients
may participate in CFP as long as they remain in the community and are
eligible to receive Medicaid.[19] 

According to Bridget Gladwin, Superintendent of the Taconic Correctional
Facility, the services of WPA's Transitional Services Unit fill an important
gap for women offenders. "WPA does excellent work, and their focus on
women is rare," Gladwin notes. "WPA offers more than treatment and
housing. They are providing women with basic life skills, some things
they may never have had the opportunity to learn. They do public outreach
and education and are genuinely interested in this population. WPA is very
responsive to our needs and they do their best to help out."

The Hopper Home Alternative to Incarceration Program

Ruth studies a piece of dust on the floor as she reflects on the years that
preceded her entry into the Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) Program.
"Because of drugs, I missed 8 years of my daughter's life," she remarks
sadly. "I don't know her likes and dislikes. I don't always know what to
talk about with her."

After 8 months as a resident in the Hopper Home, Ruth is the Third Floor
Captain, a senior manager in the household structure. She reports that she
has benefited from the ATI workshops on HIV and self-esteem, and has
really enjoyed learning more about cooking and nutrition. In fact, for
several months, she has been cooking meals for herself and her peers. Staff
recently presented her with a certificate of excellence for her efforts.

"Before I got here, I had to get high before doing anything," she continues.
"Now, I'm learning about myself and dealing with the world outside. I feel
better about myself and I'm starting to talk with my daughter. Sure, you
get tired of the routine, but it's good to finally have some place to come to
that is safe."

Making progress hasn't been easy. Staying clean, learning to listen, and
communicating with other women are on the list of challenges that Ruth
has conquered. In the process, she has discovered an unexpected benefit to
living in a community of women: "In 34 years of living, I never had a
friend before. Now I have a girlfriend."

WPA began the Hopper Home Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) Program
in 1993 with $1.2 million from the Mayor of the City of New York. In
1991, as part of the Mayor's Safe City/Safe Streets Initiative, money was
appropriated to support ATI programs citywide. Three of these ATI
programs targeted women offenders for whom it was believed that existing
services did not adequately address their unique needs for service,
especially for substance abuse treatment. Of the three programs that were
funded, only WPA's offers residential programming, which is reportedly
very appealing to judges who believe there is a greater likelihood of
success when all aspects of an offender's life are monitored closely.

Hopper Home ATI program features

WPA's ATI program includes a transitional residence for 16 women at the
Hopper Home and a reporting program for 14 others. Emergency housing
(for periods between 1 and 14 days) is also available at the Hopper Home
for homeless women offenders seeking transitional or permanent housing.
A drug-free environment, the Hopper Home is staffed 24 hours a day, 7
days per week. Staff members include a director, an intake coordinator,
two case managers, a house manager for the residential program, and
several full- and part-time resident monitors.

Women accepted into the ATI program face revocation of probation or
parole, detention, and/or lengthy prison sentences under New York's
mandatory sentencing laws. Those laws target predicate felons (persons
with at least one prior felony conviction) for incarceration if they are
subsequently found guilty of a felony. Working with the Drug Treatment
Alternative-to-Prison (DTAP) programs operated by the Brooklyn District
Attorney's Office and Manhattan's Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office,
ATI staff actively recruit predicate felons with drug charges and drug
histories.[20] In addition, some candidates for the program refer
themselves, having heard about it while detained in jail. Others are
referred by their attorneys, by the District Attorney's offices, by judges, or
by other ATI programs. All ATI clients are closely monitored in the
community by WPA staff.

Women who enter the residential program live at the Hopper Home for
approximately 8 months and then move into the community, where they
are monitored for up to 6 months. All residents with drug histories are
enrolled in day-treatment programs in the community and their progress is
assessed by a case manager. In the evenings, residents participate in a
regimen of group counseling, life-skills workshops, and household work
assignments.

To ensure public safety, the clients' compliance with house rules and with
court-ordered requirements is closely monitored. Women are expected to
adhere to a strict curfew. Drug use is tracked through urine screening
conducted three times per week. Residents are required to comply with all
house rules, sign in and out when leaving or returning to the building, and
earn all privileges, such as weekend passes. (See "Core Features of the
Hopper Home ATI Program" for additional information.)

Residential clients proceed through four program phases. At the
conclusion of each phase, clients must assess their own progress and make
formal presentations to the case management team outlining the reasons
they are entitled to additional privileges. During the fourth program phase,
clients transition to living in the community. Before leaving the Hopper
Home, they must show proof of stable housing and other prosocial
community ties, including membership in a 12-step drug/alcohol treatment
program in the community where they intend to reside. In addition, they
must return to the Hopper Home three times per week for urine screening,
meet with their case managers once each week, and attend two group
meetings per week. The fourth phase lasts approximately 6 months. 

The reporting component of the ATI program serves women who live in
their own homes and participate in structured day, evening, and weekend
activities at the Hopper Home. Approximately 60 percent of the clients in
the reporting component are transfers from the residential program; the
remaining 40 percent are directly enrolled into the program. Clients in the
reporting component come to the Hopper Home three evenings per week.
They meet with their case managers both at the Home and in the
community. A special reporting support group is also available to address
the concerns of women who live without the support of a residential
community. During the day, clients in the reporting program are involved
in day-treatment and other related programs.[21]

Response to Hopper Home's Services

Rhonda Ferdinand appreciates the program's scope and its attention to
security. "As a prosecutor, my main concern is public safety, and WPA
provides the ideal structure. They set up curfews, do urine testing, offer
support groups and training in parenting and self-esteem building. The
initial period offers a lot of supervision and structure. As women
demonstrate they can handle it, they are allowed more independence. They
also know they will be held accountable. WPA can say, 'Look, this is what
you have to do or these are the consequences you face from the
prosecutor.' And then our office is able to help with the mandate part."

Women complete the ATI program once they have met all requirements
set by the court, remained drug free, completed or continued in treatment,
and reported to the Hopper Home as required. The accomplishments of
graduates are then celebrated in a formal graduation ceremony. 

According to Cheryl Welch, who monitored the program for a number of
years for the City of New York's Office of the Criminal Justice
Coordinator, one of the best parts of her job was attending the WPA
graduations. "It's remarkable to know these women going in and then see
them on the other side of the program. The scope [of the program] is
incredible and lasts for a long time. WPA deals with everything:
education, employment, housing, and family reunification."

The Sarah Powell Huntington House 

Five-year-old Anthony is taking his time coloring the leaves on his tree.
He wants it to look nice when it is displayed along with those of his
classmates on the bulletin board in the Children's Center at Huntington
House. The fall hues he is applying so diligently match the colors in his
new shirt--a gift from his mother.

While Anthony colors, his mother, 24-year-old Charise Walker, is
finishing work as a cook in a restaurant several blocks away. The work
schedule is rigorous for a woman who spent most of the time between her
16th and 22nd birthdays high on crack cocaine or stealing to support her
habit. "Once upon a time, I'd do nothing for nobody," she admits.

But a year ago, after completing a court-ordered residential drug treatment
program, Charise made a vow to change. "I wanted my son back, and I
knew that if I didn't stop, next time I'd go away for a long time."

Finding shelter was her first priority--sleeping on sofas in the apartments
of her "drug friends" wasn't the way out. Having heard about Huntington
House while in jail, Charise applied to the program as soon as she finished
treatment. For a while, she shared an apartment in Huntington House with
another woman who was also trying to reunite with her children. During
that time, Charise continued drug treatment and completed her GED.
Then, once she and her case manager convinced the skeptical aunt who
had been caring for Anthony that Charise was sincere about changing, she
moved with her son into one of Huntington House's apartments for
families.

"Every day on my way to work, I see drugs," she acknowledges. "But I
don't have to worry now, because I have a safe place to end up each night
and plenty of people who care about me. Besides, I don't want to hurt my
baby any more."

Anthony looks up from his finished product to see his mother standing in
the doorway. "Look, mama, at my pretty tree," he calls proudly.

"I see it, baby," she affirms. "I'm just so glad to see it."

In 1993, WPA opened the Sarah Powell Huntington House, a renovated
apartment building in New York City's East Village that serves as a
transitional residence with supportive services for homeless women
offenders and their children. Inside the House, away from the drug
trafficking and violence in the surrounding community, Huntington House
residents work with case managers who help the women assess their
service needs and meet the requirements of the shelter, child welfare,
drug/alcohol treatment, health care, and criminal justice systems. Case
managers also help the women reunite with their families and locate
permanent housing.

With funding from the State Homeless Housing Assistance Corporation,
WPA began renovation of Huntington House in 1991. The building
includes 28 apartments (27 two-bedroom and 1 one-bedroom), a
Children's Center, and onsite social services. Nine of the two-bedroom
apartments are for women who live two to an apartment pending
reunification with their children. The remaining 18 two-bedroom
apartments are for mothers and their children. A little more than $1 million
in private and city funding now supports building operation and
maintenance as well as a staff of 21 full- and part-time professionals. 

Program referral and acceptance

Women are referred to Huntington House in a variety of ways. Some are
recommended by WPA's Transitional Services Unit or Alternative to
Incarceration program. Others are referred by corrections officials, by
child welfare workers, or by other community-based organizations. Still
others refer themselves.

The case management supervisor at Huntington House screens each
applicant to determine her homeless status, her likelihood of succeeding in
the Huntington House community, her ability to abide by the house rules,
and the probability of her living successfully with her children. Women
who do not have a severe mental illness (i.e., those taking psychotropic
medication or considered suicide risks) and who are likely to reunite with
their children and provide the children with a safe home are placed on a
waiting list for acceptance into the program.[22] Approximately 85
percent of those referred are accepted for placement.[23] Once admitted,
they may stay up to 18 months.

Program features 

Huntington House is carefully monitored to ensure that it remains free of
drugs and violence. Resident monitors are on duty at all times. Two are on
the premises overnight, on weekends, and on holidays. All visitors must
report to the front desk, show identification, and agree to leave by curfew.
No weapons or drugs are allowed in the building. All resident absences
must be preapproved.

Key program features include:

--Working with case managers. Most women begin their stay at
Huntington House by sharing an apartment with a roommate. During that
time, which typically lasts for 6 to 9 months, they work with a case
manager who helps them identify their needs for service and who specifies
a case service plan. Case managers also assist clients in accessing services
and coordinating with a variety of service providers (e.g., parole, housing,
foster care, and drug treatment). Often these providers or the courts
(family and criminal) specify activities that must be incorporated into the
case plan. Although each case plan is individualized, most include drug
treatment, counseling, and parenting instruction. Case plans are reviewed
with residents and updated biweekly.

Each Huntington House case manager has a caseload of 18 women and
their families, which include some children who live at Huntington House
and others who are elsewhere in the community.

--Family reunification. Over time, women begin having supervised visits
with their children, if that is required to satisfy foster-care regulations, and
later, children come to the House for overnight stays. Somewhere between
her sixth and ninth month in residence, each woman moves with her
children into her own apartment within Huntington House. While in the
family units, the women receive assistance in locating and securing
permanent housing for themselves and their families.

School-aged children are introduced to Huntington House during an initial
orientation and counseling session. Staff separate the children into two
groups by age: 6- to 12-year-olds and 13- to 18-year-olds. Meetings are
also convened with the mother, her child or children, and the mother's
caseworkers (i.e., other counselors, parole or probation officers, drug
treatment staff, and child welfare workers) to discuss the family's goals
and familiarize the caseworkers with the program.

Most of the children who live at the Huntington House have spent long
periods separated from their mothers, experienced frequent, often lengthy,
stays in foster or kinship care, and have been exposed to parental drug
abuse and, frequently, to other forms of abuse. To help ensure that these
children receive optimal counseling and support, Huntington House staff
meet regularly with a consulting clinical psychologist who not only helps
with assessments and referrals involving children, but also provides
training on issues related to abuse and treatment, and participates with
staff in weekly case conferences. 

--Activities for children. Huntington House offers a wide range of onsite
activities for children of all ages. For infants and preschoolers (aged 4
weeks through 5 years), there is a Children's Center, which is staffed by a
head teacher trained in early childhood education, a classroom teacher, and
two assistant teachers. In addition, mothers are expected to volunteer in
the center at least 1 hour per week. Unlike child care in some other shelter
settings, the Huntington House preschool facility is set up as a classroom,
with age-appropriate educational supplies and set lesson plans.

There is also a comprehensive program for school-aged children, who
range in age from 6 to 18. With direction from a recreational therapist,
these children are able to participate in a broad array of afterschool and
weekend activities, including homework assistance and tutoring, arts and
crafts, and recreational and cultural activities in the community. A group
of young professionals from the community-at-large organizes monthly
special activities for the children, including recreational and cultural
outings, as well as inhouse arts and crafts and celebrations. 

Steps to Independence


There's a celebration going on in the meeting room at Huntington House,
where a number of residents have gathered to discuss their efforts to find
permanent housing. Amid the laughter and tears, Maria talks excitedly
about the apartment she and her family will soon occupy. The move will
mark the first time ever that she and all four of her children will live
together. Until now her son, William, has remained in foster care, visiting
his mother and siblings at the Huntington House only on weekends.

Maria's success comes after nearly a year of waiting--first, to be reunited
with her children so she could apply for housing; then, to be certified for
Section 8 housing; and finally, to be approved for a lease by the
Emergency Assistance Rehousing Program. In between, she searched for
an apartment and filed paperwork to ensure her rental assistance. She
worked hard and is proud of her accomplishments; but she is also grateful
to her case manager and WPA's Housing Specialist, who encouraged her
and brainstormed with her at every juncture.

The other women in the room, a mix of clients from Huntington House
and Hopper Home, have encouraged her, too. In turn, they are buoyed by
her success because it signals that, with perseverance, they may soon
follow.

The Steps to Independence (STI) program is the most recent addition to
WPA's portfolio of services for women offenders. Begun in the winter of
1996, STI targets homeless women offenders who participate in the other
three WPA programs. With input from WPA clients and staff, the STI
program was designed to help participants improve their parenting skills,
develop independent living skills, locate permanent housing, and find
employment. Approximately $300,000 in private donations and funding
from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the
State of New York's Department of Social Services Homeless Rehousing
Assistance Program help pay the salaries of an STI Program Director,
three Housing Specialists, an Employment and Independent Living
Specialist, and a Parenting Specialist. Headquartered at WPA's Sarah
Powell Huntington House, STI staff offer an array of skills-development
workshops, counseling, and placement services. Approximately 65 women
and their families (most from Hopper Home and Huntington House)
participate in the various STI activities and services described below.

Program features

--Parenting education and skills building. STI staff provide several
different parenting training, support, and recreational activities for mothers
and their children. A 10-week parenting skills training class, offered to 15
to 20 women at a time, addresses topics such as understanding the
developmental stages of children and adolescents; using nonphysical
discipline techniques; preparing nutritious meals that meet children's
dietary requirements; learning interactive play techniques for the mother
and her children; assessing needs for professional support; and identifying
triggers for anger and stress and developing coping mechanisms. 

--Peer mentoring, relapse prevention, and women's support groups. Peer
mentoring training is provided so women can become support systems for
one another as they develop parenting skills. The STI Parenting Specialist
facilitates a parent support group, which meets once a week to discuss
parenting topics relevant to the group, such as parenting with HIV or
AIDS, substance abuse and its effects on children, and coping as a single
parent. Individual and group counseling sessions are also held to help
women become responsible as parents. A variety of other activities, such
as play therapy, are organized for recently reunited families in an effort to
ease some of the stress involved with reunification.

--Independent living skills and life management. Because many women
who receive STI services have had little experience in effective problem
solving and decisionmaking, the STI Independent Living and Employment
Specialist conducts 4-week decisionmaking workshops with 15 to 20
women at a time. Workshop participants learn how to manage their time,
prepare a household budget, open and maintain a checking account, access
community services, and other basic living skills.

--Vocational preparation and employment assistance. The STI Independent
Living and Employment Specialist provides employment readiness
training and job and volunteer placement services. Through a series of
trainings and workshops, clients learn the how-to's of finding and keeping
a job, such as resume writing, completing job applications, dressing
appropriately, interviewing techniques, ways to manage job conflicts,
disclosing criminal history, and other related skills. Each participant also
receives employment testing, is referred for training when appropriate, is
offered individual employment counseling, and is assisted in locating a
job. The employment specialists work closely with the participant's case
manager to ensure that the employment services rendered are consistent
with the participant's case plan. STI staff also engage in outreach with the
local business community to identify employment opportunities.

--Housing assistance and aftercare. Two Housing Specialists assist women
to obtain affordable permanent housing and access housing resources
through realtors, landlords, and housing developers. Through housing
readiness workshops and individual counseling, clients learn how to
inspect apartments, negotiate leases, obtain furniture, and establish a
household. Each Housing Specialist has a caseload of 15 to 20 women and
their families.

A third Housing Specialist serves as an aftercare worker and helps clients
once they have moved to permanent housing. The aftercare worker helps
women maintain housing, negotiate with the landlord for repairs, and
access supportive services in the community. Through services provided
largely in the community, the aftercare worker monitors each family's
progress with independent living for up to 12 months after clients move
into permanent housing. With a caseload of approximately 12 families, the
aftercare worker makes regular visits to each family's home and to the
children's schools and receives progress reports from all institutions the
family is known to attend.

--Emergency services. Funds from private foundations are earmarked to
pay for such emergencies as rent arrears, security deposits, utilities, food,
and clothing.

WPA's Services Receive Favorable Reviews

During the past 8 years, the Women's Prison Association has created and
expanded services to assist women offenders in New York's criminal
justice system. Consistent with its mission, its programs are focused on
helping women offenders acquire life skills, end their involvement in
crime, and make healthy choices for themselves and their families.
Although there has been no formal evaluation of WPA's programs, funders
and clients alike give WPA high marks. As one client in the Community
Follow-Up Program said earnestly, "A goal can be something you want
deep down in your heart, but it seems so overwhelming to reach it. WPA
helps you get over that feeling of being overwhelmed--helps you do it."
Her enthusiasm is echoed by Marilyn Alexis-Phillippe, a former contract
monitor in the New York State Department of Health's AIDS Institute,
"Some of this work, especially the discharge planning, simply does not
occur outside of WPA. The same is true for their community followup
services. Without this type of program, or a supportive family, women
don't have a real chance. And very few of these women have supportive
families; that's part of the problem. That's how essential WPA's work is."

In addition, the agency has a strong, favorable reputation with local
criminal justice officials. Reflecting on the Hopper Home Alternative to
Incarceration Program, prosecutor Rhonda Ferdinand commented, "There
are no other programs for women like this where housing is provided for a
stabilization period. Most are day reporting or residential programs that do
not provide the same stability. WPA has been more successful because
they individualize their treatment plans. Because they are small, they can
tailor their programs to meet each woman's needs. Residential programs
can't always do that because they rely on group settings and group therapy.
WPA is more like a family. They encourage women and help them
recognize the importance of community living." Superintendent Bridget
Gladwin added, "The WPA is at the forefront in providing peer education
services to incarcerated women with HIV and transitional services for
women leaving prison. Their halfway house provides residential services
that are hard to find elsewhere. Our experience with WPA has been very
positive."

Challenges for the Future

Despite making considerable strides in developing gender-specific
programming, WPA still faces a number of challenges. Cuts in funding
and changing governmental priorities are significant threats to the future of
WPA's programs. Increasing restrictions on the expenditure of welfare
dollars in New York have affected the availability of housing, drug
treatment, HIV and AIDS services, and child care.[24] Federal welfare
reform has placed additional constraints on WPA's clients by restricting
the level and duration of financial support they may receive.

In addition, although WPA has been successful in piecing together
categorical funding streams to construct a continuum of care that is
responsive to the many service needs of its clients, there are still unfunded
critical needs. Among these are the need for transitional services (i.e.,
discharge planning and community-based case management) for
incarcerated women who are not HIV+, and the need for affordable
housing for "singles"--women who do not qualify for subsidized family
housing by having custody of their children.

Funding constraints have increased the need for program justification.
WPA staff are now working to develop mechanisms for tracking
individual clients and for specifying more descriptive, objective scales for
measuring client progress. These include measures of a client's personal
growth (e.g., achieving goals and improving conflict management) as well
as her ability to maintain liberty in the community, maintain or improve
housing, and maintain or improve her family situation. WPA is also
working with city and State agencies to develop a system for tracking
clients' criminal justice involvement.

Looking Ahead

WPA believes strongly that helping women offenders requires a broad
base of community support. In 1990, WPA formed the Women's Justice
Alliance, which is a coalition of more than 300 public and private agencies
and individuals that meets regularly to improve programs and public
policy for women offenders in New York City. Members gather
information and data on women offenders, support training initiatives,
conduct educational forums and resource fairs, and exchange information
with each other and with policymakers. The Alliance also provides a
forum for sharing information on the needs of women offenders and on
service opportunities and gaps.

WPA has also launched an initiative entitled "2000 by the Year 2000," a
public outreach and information campaign to generate an informed public
debate about crime and poverty. Through regularly scheduled prison visits,
video and panel presentations, formal and informal events, and
collaborations with other organizations, WPA seeks to create greater
public interest in criminal justice policies by making 2,000 citizens more
aware of the realities of crime, justice, and imprisonment by the year 2000.
Members of WPA's Board of Directors support the initiative by inviting
friends and professional colleagues to their own homes for presentations
on the needs of women offenders. Clients also participate in WPA's
speakers bureau through which they describe their life experiences at
community meetings.

As WPA looks to the future, it is working to establish a community center
that can house a wide range of services responsive to the different needs of
women offenders at various stages of their reintegration into the
community. For instance, WPA envisions that the center will provide
24-hour emergency assistance for women just released from jail or prison;
basic services such as food, shelter, and clothing for those setting up a new
household; and intensive education and vocational services for women
further along in their adjustment. The organization also aims to enhance its
capacity to work with the entire family and to provide longer term support
to clients living in the community. 

-------------------------------

Notes

1. The individuals depicted in this report were created from information
gathered by the author during interviews with eight participants in WPA's
programs and observation of group activities and meetings at the Sarah
Powell Huntington House and the Hopper Home. All names are fictional;
most circumstances and quotes are authentic.

2. In 1980, 12,331 women were incarcerated in State or Federal prisons.
By 1997, the number had risen to 79,624. For 1980 figures, see Snell,
Tracy, Correctional Populations in the United States, 1993, Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, October
1995: 8, NCJ 156241. Figures for 1997 are included in Gilliard, Darrell K.
and Allen Beck, Prisoners in 1997, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of
Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, August 1998: 1, 5, NCJ 170014.

3. Gilliard, Darrell K. and Allen Beck, Prisoners in 1997, Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, August
1998: 1, 5, NCJ 170014. 

4. Greenfeld, Larry and Stephanie Minor-Harper, Women in Prison,
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
Statistics, March 1991: 4, NCJ 127991.

5. Snell, Tracy, Women in Jail 1989, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department
of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, March 1992: 1, NCJ 134732.

6. Beck, Allen, et al., Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991, Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, March
1993: 5, NCJ 136949.

7. Beck, et al., Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991: 4.

8. American Correctional Association, The Female Offender: What Does
the Future Hold? Washington, D.C.: St. Mary's Press, 1990; Greenfeld and
Minor-Harper, Women in Prison; Beck, et al., Survey of State Prison
Inmates, 1991.

9. American Correctional Association, The Female Offender: What Does
the Future Hold?

10. Nesbitt, Charlotte, A., "The Female Offender: Overview of Facility
Planning and Design Issues and Considerations," Corrections
Compendium, 17 (8) (1992); Immarigeon, Russ and Meda Chesney-Lind,
Women's Prisons: Overcrowded and Overused, San Francisco, CA:
National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1992; Bloom, Barbara and
David Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? A Reappraisal of the Children
of Incarcerated Mothers in America, San Francisco, CA: National Council
on Crime and Delinquency, 1993; Morash, Merry and Timothy Bynum,
Findings from the National Study of Innovative and Promising Programs
for Women Offenders, prepared by Michigan State University under grant
numbers 92-IJ-CX-K027 and 96-IJ-CX-0021 for the U.S. Department of
Justice, National Institute of Justice, Washington, D.C., December 20,
1995, NCJ 171667.

11. Morash, Merry and Timothy Bynum, Findings from the National
Study of Innovative and Promising Programs for Women Offenders: 43. 

12. Ibid., 43.

13. Ibid., 5-6, and 74. Morash and Bynum comment that, in general, there
is a dearth of evaluation research on programming for women offenders
(pp. 5-6). In addition, few "promising programs" have been evaluated (p.
74).

14. See Women's Prison Association and Home, Inc., COBRA
Community Follow-up Program Summary, 1, which also shows that the
rate of infection for women aged 40 and over was 42 percent; for females
under 20, it was 8 percent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
report that more than half of the adult female AIDS cases are reported by
States in the Northeast; and half of these are in the State of New York.
AIDS is also the leading cause of death for women aged 30 to 34 in New
York City. See Lawson, W. Travis, Jr., M.D., and Lt. Lena Sue Fawkes,
"HIV, AIDS, and the Female Offender," in Female Offenders: Meeting the
Needs of a Neglected Population, Laurel, MD: American Correctional
Association, 1993: 43-48. For information on the incidence of HIV among
women inmates in New York State and New York City, see also Hammett,
Theodore M., et al., 1994 Update: HIV/AIDS and STDs in Correctional
Facilities, Issues and Practices, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of
Justice, National Institute of Justice, December 1995: 12-13, NCJ 156832.
More than one-third of the AIDS-related deaths among women
incarcerated in State prisons in 1993 occurred in the State of New York.
See Snell, Correctional Populations in the United States, 1993: 111.

15. Researchers have suggested that working with inmates by offering
education, counseling, early detection, and treatment is an opportunity to
aid both inmates and society in controlling the spread of communicable
diseases. See Glaser, Jordan and Robert Greifinger, "Correctional Health
Care: A Public Health Opportunity," Annals of Internal Medicine, 118(2)
(January 15, 1993): 139.

16. Although WPA recognizes that a portion of women offenders have
severe mental illness, WPA's current programs do not have the capacity to
provide the intensive interventions and services needed to support and
sustain women in that subgroup of the offender population.

17. Up to 10 percent of those served are deemed to be at risk for infection
due to their histories of substance abuse and/or criminal histories.

18. The four State prisons are Bayview, Bedford Hills, Parkside, and
Taconic. These four facilities, along with the city jail, have been targeted
because of their proximity to the metropolitan area and the likelihood that
the women housed there will return to New York City following release.

19. CFP cases are closed if the client: dies; is rearrested and expected to
serve time; is transferred to another CFP provider (i.e., with another
sponsoring agency); relocates outside of New York City; is hospitalized
for more than 30 days and is not expected to return to the community;
cannot be located for more than 30 days; is no longer CFP eligible due to
loss of Medicaid; declines WPA's CFP case management services; or is
noncompliant (e.g., does not follow up with scheduled appointments).
When feasible, the case manager or case management technician provides
referrals to aid a terminated client in receiving proper care; and with the
client's consent, a case summary is prepared for review by a new service
provider.

20. The ATI program has agreed to reserve five residential beds for clients
from Brooklyn's Drug Treatment Alternatives Program (DTAP). As part
of its contract with the district attorney's office, WPA will retain Brooklyn
DTAP clients for a minimum of 12 months in residential care, with
another 3 to 6 months in the reporting component.

21. Ninety-eight percent of the ATI clients are women with substance
abuse histories.

22. A number of factors are used to assess the mother's ability to provide a
safe home for her children, including: child's age; prior incidents of abuse
or neglect; mother's intellectual and emotional abilities to parent the child;
family support systems; reasons for separation; quality of relationship
prior to separation and at time of application; age of child at time of
separation; and length of separation.

23. At one time, WPA had more than 100 women on the waiting list--more
than could be admitted in the next 2 years. Policies for managing referrals
were changed so that the number on the list more closely matches the
number of vacancies likely to occur.

24. Jacobs, Ann L., Policy Update, New York: Women's Prison
Association and Home, Inc., February 1995.

-------------------------------

Highlights

With the dramatic increase in the number of women offenders under
correctional supervision, researchers and advocates are calling for
correctional strategies that are gender specific and community based.

This Program Focus provides an indepth look at the Women's Prison
Association (WPA), an incorporated nonprofit agency in New York City
that offers a broad array of institution- and community-based services to
women offenders (i.e., women in prisons and jails, women on probation
and parole, and ex-offenders). Through a portfolio of four programs, WPA
offers peer education, support, and transitional services to female inmates
who are HIV+ or at risk for infection; and emergency and transitional
housing, individualized case management services, skills-building
workshops, child care, counseling, and other supports to released women,
their children, and their families. 

Although WPA, like most of its counterparts around the Nation, has not
been the subject of rigorous, independent evaluation, its programs
incorporate many features that correctional experts consider essential to
programming for women, including:

--Program models designed to address the specific needs of women.

--Individualized case management to help women offenders set and
achieve goals.

--Skills-development workshops and exercises.

--Family-focused programming.

--Peer support and the development of peer networks.

--Highly skilled staff experienced in working with women and their wide
range of concerns.

--Formal recognition of participant achievement.

--Ongoing attention to building community support.

With an annual budget of nearly $4 million from private donors and a
variety of Federal, State, and city health, welfare, and criminal justice
agencies, WPA provides individual direct services to hundreds of women
each year. The agency has a strong, positive reputation with its funding
agencies and clients. WPA also gets high marks from local criminal justice
officials, who report that WPA provides clients with close supervision and
individualized services, and the criminal justice system with honest
feedback on client progress.

Maintaining sufficient funding is one of the agency's greatest challenges.
Cuts in funding and changing governmental priorities, especially regarding
welfare reform, are significant threats to the future of WPA's programs. In
addition, the categorical nature of most government funding imposes
limitations on the kinds of funds that are available, effectively precluding
the provision of services to some women offenders.

In response to these challenges, WPA is working to demonstrate program
effectiveness by creating new mechanisms for tracking individual clients
and measuring their ability to maintain liberty in the community, maintain
or improve housing, and maintain or improve their family situations. The
agency also continues to disseminate information on women offenders and
to actively recruit the community-at-large in responding to the needs of
women in the criminal justice system.

-------------------------------

Differences Between Men and Women Inmates

In recent years, researchers and policymakers have argued that women
offenders not only need more services to put them on a par with men, but
in many instances women require different services as well. A 1991 survey
by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), which highlighted the following
key gender differences among State prison inmates, clarifies why women
may need different services.[a]

--Women and men inmates differed in their patterns of drug use and
drug-related crime.[b] Women were somewhat more likely than men to
have used drugs in the month before the offense that resulted in their
incarceration and to have been under the influence of drugs at the time of
the offense.[c] They were also more likely than men to have used crack in
the month before the incarceration offense. Women were considerably
more likely than men to have committed crimes in order to obtain money
to purchase drugs. Women were also more likely than men to be serving
sentences for drug offenses.

--Women inmates had important, and often unique, health-related needs.
At least 2,300 women (6 percent) were pregnant when they entered prison
in 1991. Also, a slightly higher proportion of women (3.3 percent) than
men (2.1 percent) reported being HIV positive.[d]

--Female inmates were more than three times as likely as incarcerated men
to report having experienced physical or sexual abuse at some time prior to
incarceration. The BJS researchers discovered that 43 percent of the
women inmates they surveyed reported having been victims of sexual or
physical abuse prior to admission, with most having been victimized
before the age of 18.

--Incarcerated women were more likely than incarcerated men to have
children for whom they acted as caretakers until the time of their
incarceration. They were more likely than men to have children under the
age of 18 who were being cared for primarily by their grandparents while
their mothers were incarcerated. The data further showed that the burden
on grandparents is greater when a child's mother is incarcerated than when
a father is incarcerated because mothers usually care for the children of
incarcerated fathers.

--Female inmates were less likely than male inmates to have been
sentenced in the past. Of the women surveyed, 72 percent had been
sentenced previously. Among inmates with prior records, women inmates
were more likely than men to have been sentenced previously for a
nonviolent offense.

--Women were less likely than men to have been incarcerated for violent
crimes. In 1991, women were about as likely to be serving time for a
violent offense (32 percent) as for a property (29 percent) or drug offense
(33 percent). In contrast, 47 percent of male inmates were incarcerated for
a violent offense. From 1986 to 1991 the proportion of women
incarcerated for drug crimes nearly tripled, while the proportions of those
incarcerated both for violent and property offenses dropped significantly.

--Men and women incarcerated for violent crimes differed in their patterns
of violence. Women incarcerated for violent crimes were nearly twice as
likely as their male counterparts to have committed homicide, more than
twice as likely to have victimized a relative or intimate, and more likely to
have victimized men.

a. Beck, et al., Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991, Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, March 1993: 5,
NCJ 136949.

b. Christine Rasche notes several significant differences in the drug use
patterns of women and men in the general population as well, including:
women tend to be introduced to heroin and cocaine use by a man in their
lives, but thereafter tend to become more heavily addicted to greater
amounts of the drug in a shorter time; women spend twice as much money
per week on cocaine as do men; nationally, heroin addiction has increased
at a faster rate for women than for men; and twice as many women as men
end up in hospital emergency rooms because of drug overdoses. See
Rasche, Christine E., Special Needs of the Female Offender, Tallahassee,
FL: Florida Department of Education, Division of Vocational, Adult, and
Community Education Sex Equity, 1990, Handout #17B.

c. These findings parallel those from an earlier BJS survey, which showed
that women inmates were more likely than men to have used heroin or
cocaine in the month before the incarceration offense, and to have used
those drugs on a daily basis; see Greenfeld, Larry and Stephanie
Minor-Harper, Women in Prison, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of
Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, March 1991, NCJ 127991.

d. Among those tested, women inmates were more likely than their male
counterparts to report test results; see Beck, et al., p. 25. Recent studies by
the United Nations Development Programme and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention show that AIDS is growing rapidly among young
women in this country and around the world. Although women accounted
for just 14 percent of all AIDS cases reported in the United States in 1992,
the number of women with AIDS in that year increased four times as fast
as the number of men with the disease. See Rensberger, Boyce, "AIDS
Spreads Fastest Among Young Women," Washington Post, July 29, 1993,
A-1.

-------------------------------

WPA Funding

WPA combines funding from private donors with Federal, State, and city
funds to support its four programs. Funding sources and amounts for each
program are as follows:

The Transitional Services Unit

--$130,000 from the State of New York AIDS Institute to provide peer
education and support in two women's prisons.

--$120,000 from Medical and Health Research, Inc., to provide discharge
planning and transitional case management at two prisons and at Rikers
Island.

--$317,465 from Medical and Health Research, Inc., which manages
Federal Ryan White Title I funds[a] for the City of New York, for
outreach and housing assistance.

--Up to $463,000 in Medicaid funds for the Community Follow-Up
Program, a fee-for-service program to provide intensive case management.

The Hopper Home Alternative to Incarceration Program

--$618,000 from the City of New York's Office of Criminal Justice
Coordinator.

The Sarah Powell Huntington House

--$1,017,803 from the City of New York's Department of Homeless
Services.

The Steps to Independence Program

--$65,000 from the State of New York's Homeless Rehousing Assistance
Program for aftercare for previously homeless women.

--$230,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
for life skills, job placement, and parenting education.

Private Donations and Foundation Support

--$810,000 in a combination of restricted (e.g., for public education and
purchase of computers) and unrestricted (e.g., for staff development,
development of a computer tracking system, and infrastructure) donations
and awards.

a. Funds are available through the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS
Resource Emergency Act--Title I, which may be used to provide services
to men, women, and children who are HIV+ or who are at high risk for
infection.

-------------------------------

Features of Innovative and Promising Programs for Women Offenders:
National Survey Results

With funding from the National Institute of Justice, researchers at
Michigan State University recently completed a nationwide survey of
programs for women offenders.[a] Respondents, who included State and
local corrections administrators, institution-level directors, and program
directors, identified 242 innovative programs for further study. Among the
nominated programs, only 18 (7 percent) had been evaluated. In 17 States,
the researchers found that "there really is no promising programming for
incarcerated women."[b] 

Respondents offered a variety of reasons for their program nominations,
including the following: (1) participant (e.g., offender) satisfaction with
the program; (2) participant involvement in program operation; (3)
emphasis on skills development; (4) program focus on a key need; (5) staff
skills and dedication; (6) program intensity and duration; (7) staff concern
for the welfare and success of women; (8) staff concern for children,
families and parenting; (9) community support; (10) use of consistent rules
and regulations; and (11) postrelease followup.

Although most of the programs nominated as innovative concentrate on a
particular need (e.g., substance abuse treatment and psychological
services), they also take a holistic approach to women offenders, thereby
addressing a variety of related issues. In addition, the researchers observed
the following:

"All of the promising programs focus on the diversity of women's needs
and personalities, and thus case management--with individualized
selection of program activities and services--is of paramount
importance."[c]

Interviews and site visits revealed that innovative programs share the
following attributes:

--Well-trained and dedicated staff who care about the welfare of the
women and their families and who serve as positive role models for
program participants.

--Women-only programming.

--Program materials focused on skills development and meeting women's
particular needs.

--Willingness to tailor approaches to meet individual needs.

--Treatment with appropriate controls.

--Use of peer support and development of peer networks.

--Formal recognition of participant achievement.

--Options for women who fail.[d]

a. Morash, Merry and Timothy Bynum, Findings from the National Study
of Innovative and Promising Programs for Women Offenders, prepared by
Michigan State University under grant numbers 92-IJ-CX-K027 and 96-IJ-
CX-0021 for the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice,
Washington, D.C., December 20, 1995, NCJ 171667.

b. Ibid., 74.

c. Ibid., 75.

d. Ibid., 75.

-------------------------------

Transitional Services Unit (TSU) Outreach Services

TSU outreach services include:

--HIV education through staff presentations, videos, and peer discussions. 

--Workshops on issues important to women offenders. Topics include HIV
risk reduction, substance abuse and relapse prevention, parenting,
community-based services (e.g., housing, medical care, and financial
assistance), stress reduction, and domestic abuse. Conducted in Spanish or
English, depending on the needs of the participants, each workshop
examines how participants will cope with a particular issue when they
return to the community. TSU staff develop and facilitate most of the
workshops, but outside experts also make presentations on occasion.

--Support services, including individual counseling, advocacy, and
facilitation of inmate support groups. Staff assist with crisis intervention;
help women resolve concerns related to their children and other issues
outside the institution; advocate with correctional officials for the
treatment of specific patients with HIV or AIDS; and through support
groups, create opportunities for women who are HIV+ to talk openly about
their experiences living with the virus.

--HIV peer training and pre- and posttest counseling. With funding from
the AIDS Institute, one TSU staff person is assigned full time to Bedford
Hills, a maximum security facility that also serves as the diagnostic and
classification center for all women sentenced to State prison terms in
excess of 1 year. Two other TSU staff members are assigned full time to
Taconic, a medium security prison where inmates are required to
participate in a 6-month substance abuse treatment program. In each
facility, TSU staff work with supervision from the Deputy Superintendent
of Programs, which ensures continuous communication and feedback
between TSU and correctional personnel.

In both institutions, TSU staff provide a full range of HIV services,
including prevention education, pre- and posttest counseling to inmates
who request HIV testing, training of correctional staff, peer educator
training, and facilitation of peer support. At Bedford Hills, TSU staff assist
nine inmate volunteers who are specially trained to provide educational
and support services to other inmates as part of ACE (AIDS Counseling
and Education), an inmate-initiated HIV and AIDS education and peer
support network. At Taconic, TSU staff work with six inmate volunteers
in a similar program entitled CARE (Counseling, AIDS Resource, and
Education).

In both institutions, inmate volunteers assume an active role in shaping the
programs. They have organized AIDS walkathons to raise awareness
within the institutions and raise money for related causes in the
community-at-large (e.g., a shelter for HIV+ children). At Bedford Hills,
volunteers have produced a series of live dramatic performances on living
with HIV or AIDS, created squares for the AIDS quilt, and prepared a
book entitled Breaking the Walls of Silence, which describes their
experience with implementing an HIV peer education and support
program within a correctional institution.[a]

--Discharge planning for women who have 6 months or less remaining on
their sentences. Staff help women prepare for their release. This includes
reviewing the services that are available in the community, specifying
goals and planning how to accomplish them, and discussing parole
regulations. All paperwork necessary for a smooth transition is collected,
including birth certificates and medical release summaries;[b]
appointments for medical care are arranged; and housing options are
considered and explored. Upon release, women are linked to TSU's
three-person team of housing experts for assistance in locating housing
(i.e., emergency, transitional, and permanent).

a. ACE program members, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, Breaking
the Walls of Silence: AIDS and Women in a Maximum Security New
York State Prison, Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 1998.

b. To qualify for Medicaid and other financial assistance that is available
to those who are HIV+, an individual must produce medical
documentation of illness. Some women leave prison or jail without the
documentation, which can result in protracted delays in receiving
Medicaid and financial assistance and in receiving appropriate treatment.

-------------------------------

Core Features of the Hopper Home ATI Program

WPA's ATI program includes several key elements:

--Discipline. Infractions and their consequences are discussed with all
newcomers to the ATI program. Some violations, such as having "dirty"
urine, staying out without an overnight pass, or showing disrespect for
fellow residents or staff, are subject to a set of graduated sanctions. These
range from a loss of privileges (e.g., loss of passes) and more stringent
reporting requirements to termination from the program. Other infractions,
including bringing illegal drugs into the Hopper Home, using drugs or
alcohol in the Home, possessing contraband, or sexual activity in the
Home, result in immediate termination. 

--Case Management. Each woman is assigned to a case manager who
provides intensive case assessment; counseling; educational and
skills-building workshops; family preservation and reunification
assistance; family-oriented activities; and referrals to outside agencies
(e.g., for substance abuse treatment, family counseling, and medical care).
In addition, ATI clients are referred to WPA's Steps to Independence
Program (see page 16) for parenting workshops, vocational assessment
and placement, and housing assistance. Each ATI case manager is
responsible for 15 clients and their families.

--Daytime Activities and Evening Workshops. The daytime activities of
most ATI clients include participation in community-based drug and
alcohol treatment programs such as Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous.
Relapse prevention, individual counseling, recreational therapy,
acupuncture, and GED programs are also offered. As their sobriety
stabilizes and with the assistance of their case managers, most women also
tackle issues pertaining to their past experiences of sexual abuse and
incest, their children, housing, and employment. A variety of mandatory
evening workshops provide useful information and opportunities for
personal growth and discussion of such issues as HIV and AIDS,
substance abuse, independent living, vocational education, parenting, and
women's health. Each workshop includes a series of presentations,
discussions, and role plays on various subtopics. Cultural event days are
scheduled once a month and involve trips to museums, plays, musical
performances, or other cultural events in the community. In addition,
residents plan and participate with staff in various recreational activities. 

-------------------------------

Sources for More Information

For further information about the Women's Prison Association, contact:

Ann Jacobs
Executive Director
Women's Prison Association 
110 Second Avenue
New York, New York 10003

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is one of five principal research,
evaluation, and development agencies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
For information about NIJ's efforts in corrections, female offenders,
children whose parents are in the criminal justice system, and program
development, contact:

Marilyn C. Moses
Program Manager
National Institute of Justice
810 Seventh Street N.W.
Room 7114
Washington, DC 20531
Telephone: 202-514-6205
Fax: 202-307-6256
E-mail: moses@ojp.usdoj.gov
URL: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij

NIJ established the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)
in 1972 to serve as a national and international clearinghouse for the
exchange of criminal justice information. For information about topical
searches, bibliographies, custom searches, and other available services,
contact:

NCJRS
P.O. Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
Telephone: 800-851-3420 
(8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time, Monday-Friday)
URL: http://www.ncjrs.org

For specific criminal justice questions or requests via the Internet, send an
e-mail message to askncjrs@ncjrs.org.

The Office of Correctional Education (OCE) within the U.S. Department
of Education was created by Congress in 1991 to provide technical
assistance, grant funding, and research data to the corrections and
correctional education fields. To speak with a program specialist or to be
placed on OCE's mailing list to receive grant announcements, OCE's
quarterly newsletter, and other publications, contact:


Office of Correctional Education
Office of Vocational and Adult Education
U.S. Department of Education
600 Independence Avenue S.W.
MES 4529
Washington, DC 20202-7242
Telephone: 202-205-5621
Fax: 202-205-8793
URL: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/OCE

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) was created in 1974 and is
unique as a Federal agency because it provides direct service, rather than
financial assistance, as the primary means of carrying out its mission. Its
program responds directly to the needs identified by practitioners working
in State and local corrections. For information on technical assistance and
training specifically relating to women offenders, contact:

Andi Moss
Corrections Specialist
National Institute of Corrections
320 First Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20534
Telephone: 800-995-6423, Ext. 140

The Correctional Education Association (CEA) is affiliated with the
American Correctional Association as an international professional
organization serving education program needs within the field of
corrections. Membership includes teachers and other community
corrections program staff. Members receive quarterly journals and
newsletters, an annual directory, and a yearbook. Annual conferences are
held in each of CEA's nine regions and many of its State chapters. One of
the regions hosts an international conference that features a variety of
substantive workshops on successful educational strategies. For more
information, call 301-918-1915.

The Association on Programs for Female Offenders is comprised primarily
of corrections professionals interested in advancing programming options
for girls and women involved in the criminal justice system. For
information contact:

Mary V. Leftridge Byrd
President
Association on Programs for Female Offenders
State Correctional Institution--Chester
500 East Fourth Street
Chester, PA 19013

-------------------------------

About This Report

This program Focus was written by Catherine Conly, Associate at Abt
Associates Inc. In preparing the document, she met at length with Ann
Jacobs, executive director of WPA, and with WPA staff. She also
interviewed numerous clients and observed a variety of program activities.
Ms. Conly was assisted by Kathy Mion, an Analyst at Abt Associates Inc.,
who conducted telephone interviews with a number of criminal justice
professionals and representatives of organizations that fund WPA's
programs.

-------------------------------

Findings and conclusions of the research reported here are those of the
author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the
U.S. Department of Justice.

-------------------------------

The National Institute of Justice is a component of the Office of Justice
Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the
Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

-------------------------------

NCJ 172858
December 1998