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                                    Resources
                                    Resources By Area of Practice
                                    Topics In Corrections
                                    Justice-Involved Women

      

                    
          
    Justice-Involved Women
The National Institute of Corrections, in partnership with the Women's Prison Association, has developed The National Directory of Programs for Women with Criminal Justice Involvement. Learn more about the directory through the "Online Resources" sidebar in the right column of this page (second link from the top).The number of justice-involved women has skyrocketed -- at rates exceeding men. Their entry into the criminal justice system, offense patterns, and levels of risk often follow a different path than men and require more targeted approaches. Correctional administrators need to understand and address these differences to improve outcomes for women offenders.Assistance is available to local jurisdictions wishing to examine and improve their responses to this population. Agencies with sole or shared responsibility for managing women who come in contact with the criminal justice system can apply for limited, short-term technical assistance. Assistance may focus on women's pathways to criminal behavior and gender-responsive practices that improve outcomes in the community.Agencies can also request technical assistance for reviewing current practices and identifying areas that require the design of more gender-responsive decision making processes, assessment tools, and program interventions that accomplish the jurisdiction's public policy goals.With few exceptions, every policy, program and practice impacts women across the corrections continuum (pre-trial, jails, prisons and community corrections.) As the range of topics is so broad, you will find below a list of topics and additional resources. Find a topic, click, and there will be a number of items of interest.A special thanks goes to Jefferson County Sheriff's Office for the photograph.**Click on the image of Patti Wachtendorf to watch her discuss her story about becoming the first female warden of Iowa's toughest prison.**Learn more about the Women’s Correctional Safety Scales ToolkitAvailable for use in correctional agencies housing women in prison and jail settings.

    Resource Links
          NIC Justice Involved Women's Initiative brochure
          Hot Topic: Staff supervision and interaction with justice-involved women
          Hot Topic: What are trauma-informed practices with justice-involved women?
          Hot Topic: How Can I Find Your National Directory of Programs for Women with Criminal Justice Involvement?
          Women in Prison: Seeking Justice Behind Bars
          National Directory of Programs for Women with Criminal Justice Involvement
          The National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated
          National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women
          Women's Prison Association
                   NIC Resources
          Pregnancy- and Child- Related Legal and Policy Issues Concerning Justice-Involved Women
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Health, Justice, Women: Behavioral Health and OB/GYN [Internet Broadcast]

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Health, Justice, Women: Transforming Systems - Changing Lives [Internet Broadcast]

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  Related Initiatives
          Gender-Responsive Policy & Practice Assessment (GRPPA)
          Gender-Responsive Management of Women's Prisons

  Related NIC Microsites
          Justice Involved Women Programs
            National Directory of Programs for Women with Criminal Justice Involvement

This database is intended for correctional stakeholders working across front end decision-making, pre-trial release, jail and prison reentry and covers topical areas such as parenting programs and substance abuse and/or behavioral health.

Learn more about incarcerated women's programs
          Safety Matters
            Managing Relationships in Women’s Facilities

Welcome to your micro-learning plan for *NIC’s Safety Matters: Managing Relationships in Women’s Facilities*. By completing the activities in the participant manual, you will be ready for your upcoming training program!

Learn more about managing relationships in women's facilities

Topic Categories and Resources
The following grey bars are accordions that can be expanded to show a list of "top-shelf" resources that have been hand-picked by our library team around this topic. If you would like additional research assistance on this topic, please contact our help desk. They have access to specialized databases and thousands of resources you won't find online. Click on a grey box below to browse resources in that section.
            
      Accordion    In the News
      
      Prison to be transformed into jail to help treat women with drug addictions (2018)
              Accordion    Assessment & Case Management
      
      Collaborative Case Work with Justice Involved Women

            
      
This report provides a description of the Collaborative Case Work Model for Justice-Involved Women (CCW-W), previously known as the Women Offender Case Management Model (WOCMM). CCW-W is an intensive casework model that was developed specifically for justice-involved women. Since the first pilot of
              Women's Risk Factors and New Treatments/Interventions for Addressing Them: Evidence-Based Interventions in the United States and Canada

            
      
This paper describes assessments of female offenders used by correctional agencies and the programs and resources provided by these agencies to meet female offenders' needs. "The two, assessments and programs/services go together. The assessments tell us what is needed and the programs address
              Outcome Evaluation of the Women Offender Case Management Model in Connecticut Probation

            
      
“The outcome evaluation [for the Women Offender Case Management Model (WOCMM) implemented in Connecticut probation] focuses on determining whether participation in the project reduces future involvement in the criminal justice system as measured by recidivism over a fixed length follow-up period
              Achieving Accurate Pictures of Risk and Identifying Gender Responsive Needs: Two New Assessments for Women Offenders

            
      
The development of new risk/needs assessments specifically designed for female offenders is discussed. This report is comprised of these sections:The case for women's needs;Development of new assessments;Construction validation research;Full instruments;Implementation considerations;Obtaining the
              Women Offender Case Management Model

            
      
The gender-responsive Women Offender Case Management Model (WOCMM) is described. This document covers: the history of the project; philosophy and core practices; process incorporating four core elements (e.g., engage and assess, enhance motivation, implement the case plan, and review progress)
  
      Women's Risk Needs Assessment Project
              Women's Risk Factors and Their Contributions to Existing Risk/Needs Assessment: The Current Status of a Gender-Responsive Supplement (2010)
              Accordion    Children & Family
      
      Enhancing Care for Childbearing Women and their Babies in Prison

            
      
This report explains how mothers and their babies can benefit from being held in a prison-based Mother and Baby Unit (MBU). "All available research suggests that the struggles of childbearing women in prison are extremely complex. And whilst their babies represent a relatively small proportion of
              Parents in State Prisons

            
      
“Today, the parents of 1 in every 50 children in the United States are in prison. 1 Over half of those parents are serving time for non-violent offenses.2 The gains in public safety benefits stemming from incarcerating a record number of parents are dubious, but the potential adverse consequences
              Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration

            
      
Accession Number
              027415

            Sesame Workshop's initiative, Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration, provides much-needed bilingual (English/Spanish) multimedia tools for families with young children (ages 3-8) who have an incarcerated parent. These FREE resources include a resource kit with A Guide for Parents and
              Price
              $0.00

Study of Incarcerated Women and Their Children

            
      
The experiences of female inmates, their children, and the present caregivers of those children are examined. Any review of the problems women inmates and their children experience should include this report. Three sections are contained in this document: female prisoners-demographics, criminal

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      Addressing the Needs of Incarcerated Mothers and Their Children in Illinois (February 2020)
              Disrupted Childhoods Children of Women in Prison (2011)
              Accordion    Education & Employment
      
      Gender-Responsive Program Assessment Tool

            
      
“The Gender-Responsive Program Assessment tool is an instrument by which program administrators, program evaluators, agency monitors and staff can evaluate the gender responsiveness of programs for women and girls and obtain feedback that can be used to improve the quality of a program’s services”
              Employment and Female Offenders: An Update of the Empirical Research

            
      
“The purpose of this bulletin is to explore the literature and summarize the empirical evidence related to the impact of employment on the criminal behavior of women” (p. 2).

Sections comprising this publication are:

female offender demographics;
	barriers to employment-overview, the role of the
              Price
              $0.00

Women and Work: Gender Responsivity and Workforce Development [Satellite/Internet Broadcast held September 24-25, 2008]

            
      
This training program presents strategies for making women offender workplace development programs more responsive to their clients. Topics include:
      
  Accession Number
              023548

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              Accordion    General
      
      Critical Issues Impacting Women in the Justice System: A Literature Review

            
      
“In the following, we review the literature relevant to the study of violence and safety in women’s prison. We begin with the demographic and background characteristics of female offenders. The pathways model is then described, which emphasizes the life experiences of women that contribute to
              Crime, Violence & Victimization Research Division's Compendium of Research on Violence Against Women, 1993-2014

            
      
"For over forty years, NIJ has invested in research on violence against women. This research touches on a wide variety of public safety concerns, including intimate partner violence, teen dating violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking, as well as criminal justice challenges, including the
              Meeting the Needs of Women in California's County Justice Systems: A Toolkit for Policymakers and Practitioners

            
      
"Because fewer women are convicted of crimes and incarcerated compared to men, they can be overlooked for what may be ideal approaches to reduce crime and recidivism ... The toolkit provides suggestions for innovative and focused interventions targeting the special risks and needs of women in the
              Access to Transportation and Outcomes for Women on Probation and Parole

            
      
"The current study focuses attention on a previously understudied topic - transportation deprivation in women offenders. This is a timely and important endeavor given the scale of mass incarceration, number of women on probation and parole, and the numerous barriers women with a criminal record face
              Responding to the Needs of Women Veterans Involved in the Criminal Justice System

            
      
"As criminal justice practitioners, we need to understand that the issues facing women veterans in the justice system may be complex as a result of untreated trauma, mental illness, and substance abuse, and their unique military experiences. We must better prepare ourselves to respond. This document
              NIC Services in Managing Justice-Involved Women

            
      
While the use of evidence-based practice (EBP) is being used by more and more correctional systems, EBP tend to primarily address the needs of men. Issues specific to females are often overlooked. This void can be filled with gender-specific programming and services. The National Institute of
              Women in Detention: A Guide to Gender-Sensitive Monitoring

            
      
Individuals who want an up-to-date understanding of gender-responsive issues and all those who work with female offenders should read this document report. It “outlines the risks faced by women deprived of their liberty of being subjected to torture and ill-treatment and measures that can be taken
              Ten Truths that Matter When Working with Justice Involved Women

            
      
“This document reviews ten truths about justice involved women-gleaned from the research over the last few decades -that must be recognized if we are to successfully manage this population, achieve greater reductions in recidivism, and improve public safety outcomes. It is our hope that by
              Responding to Women Offenders: The Department of Women's Justice Services in Cook County, Illinois

            
      
The development and implementation of the Cook County Sheriff's Department of Women's Justice Services (DWJS) is discussed. This bulletin is comprised of these sections: introduction; background; the decisionmaking process; decision point mapping example -- custody/release; creating the DWJS; gender
  
      Women in Prison: Seeking Justice Behind Bars (2020)
              The Sources of Violent and Nonviolent Offending among Women in Prison (2019)
              An Unsupported Population: The Treatment of Women in Texas’ Criminal Justice System (2018)
              Women InJustice: Gender and the Pathway to Jail in New York City (2017)
              Gender Responsive Interventions in the Era of Evidence-Based Practice: A Consumer's Guide to Understanding Research (2016)
              National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women (NRCJIW) Jail Tip Sheets (2016)
              Gender Responsiveness Action Plan at Gig Harbor (2013)
              Troop 1500 (2006)
              Accordion    Girls
      
      Price
              $0.00

Gender Injustice: System-Level Juvenile Justice Reform for Girls

            
      
Accession Number
              031229

            Juvenile justice systems reform is occurring across the country as a result of a growing understanding of developmental and neurological differences between youth and adults, the high cost of incarceration, and the consistent failure of a punitive juvenile justice model. However, even as systems are

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              Trauma among Girls in the Juvenile Justice System

            
      
The impact of trauma on girls involved in the juvenile justice system is examined. Sections of this fact sheet cover: why there are increasing numbers of girls in the juvenile justice system; prevalence of trauma-exposure among justice-involved girls; prevalence of PTSD (posttraumatic stress
              Neglected Needs: Girls in the Criminal Justice System

            
      
You need to read this document if you work with justice-involved girls. It explains the serious problems faced with girls in the criminal justice system and suggests ways to address these challenges and meet these girls' critical needs. This Briefing Paper is divided in to four sections
              Development Sequences of Girls' Delinquent Behavior

            
      
“[R]esearchers from two long-term longitudinal studies of delinquency- the Denver Youth Survey and the Fast Track Project-collaborated to establish common delinquency measures, conduct analyses, and integrate findings on developmental patterns of girls’ offending from childhood through adolescence ”
              Making Detention Reform Work for Girls

            
      
This practice guide will stress that efforts to safely reduce the inappropriate detention of low-risk girls must be rooted in JDAI’s [Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative’s eight] core strategies, but with an added intentional focus on applying those core strategies to girls’ unique needs and
              Accordion    Operations, Policy & Legal Issues
      
      Pregnancy- and Child- Related Legal and Policy Issues Concerning Justice-Involved Women

            
      
Do you need detailed information about how to manage inmate mothers? Then this publication is for you. It “provides an overview of pregnancy- and child-related legal questions concerning justice-involved women that can be raised in correctional settings ... Understanding how family-based legal
              Gender-Responsive Policy Development in Corrections: What We Know and Roadmaps for Change

            
      
"Correctional policy and procedure drives decisions in the management and rehabilitation of offender populations. The continuously emerging research on female offenders highlights differences from their male counterparts, particularly in the areas of health, mental health, substance abuse and risk
  
      Adopting a Gender-Responsive Approach for Women in the Justice System: A Resource Guide (2021)
              Correcting Corrections for Women (2012)
              Accordion    PREA & Sexual Safety
      
      Recommendations for Administrators of Prisons, Jails, and Community Confinement Facilities for Adapting the U.S. Department of Justice's "A National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations, Adults/Adolescents"

            
      
“This guide is designed to assist administrators of prisons, jails, and community confinement facilities in drafting or revising protocols for an immediate response to reports of sexual assault. Sexual assault is a persistent problem in correctional environments with life-altering consequences for
              Gendered Violence and Safety: A Contextual Approach to Improving Security in Women's Facilities

            
      
"In response to the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA), this project ... examined the context and correlates of both violence and safety in correctional facilities for women" (p. 1). This report is divided into three parts after an abstract and executive summary: Part I, entitled "Gendered
  
      PREA Posters (2012)
              Accordion    Physical Health
      
      Understanding Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations

            
      
Concerns with the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force's (USPSTF) recommendations for mammogram breast cancer screening and how these could impact prison screening mammography in prisons are explained. Sections of this article cover: what the USPSTF suggested for mammograms; what evidence the
              A Systematic Review of HIV Prevention Interventions Targeting Women with Criminal Justice Involvement

            
      
Anyone working with female offenders should read this systematic review of 13 studies from 1980 to 2014. It provides a very good look at effective HIV prevention interventions for justice-involved women. "As compared with interventions without an explicit theoretical orientation, interventions using
              Price
              $0.00

Health, Justice, Women: Behavioral Health and OB/GYN [Internet Broadcast]

            
      
Data continues to show that women are entering the justice system at rates exceeding male offenders and bring with them extremely complex and multi-layered behavioral and physical health issues.
      
  Accession Number
              026990

  Amount in Stock
              0
              Price
              $0.00

Health, Justice, Women: Transforming Systems - Changing Lives [Internet Broadcast]

            
      
Women and girls enter the criminal justice system with distinct and unique health care needs. Most are in their child bearing years, may have children, many are victims of abuse, have a mental health diagnosis, or typically exhibit more misconduct than male offenders.
      
  Accession Number
              026332

  Amount in Stock
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      Corrections officers’ knowledge and perspectives of maternal and child health policies and programs for pregnant women in prison (2020)
              Pregnancy Outcomes in US Prisons, 2016–2017 (2019)
              Accordion    Reentry
      
      Women and Reentry

            
      
This brief describes the accomplishments to date and agenda moving forward for this group. “The Cabinet-level Reentry Council is working to enhance community safety and well-being, assist those returning from prison and jail becoming productive citizens, and save taxpayers dollars by lowering the
              Price
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Supervision of Women Defendants and Offenders in the Community

            
      
The use of gender-responsive strategies with women involved in the community corrections system is explained. Sections comprising this report are: what community corrections is; what gender-responsiveness for women offenders in community corrections is; definition of gender-responsiveness for women

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      A Meta-Analytic Review of Correctional Interventions for Women Offenders: Gender-Neutral Versus Gender-Informed Approaches (2016)
              Reentry Resources: When Victims of Battering Return to the Community after Jail or Prison (2016)
              Reentry TIPSHEETS for Women (2016)
              Research on Women Offenders-DC Public Safety Radio (2012)
              Criminal Justice Conversations with David Onek: SF Chief Adult Probation Officer Wendy Still (2012)
              Accordion    Statistics
      
      The Gender Divide: Tracking women’s state prison growth (2018)
              Accordion    Substance Abuse & Behavioral Health
      
      Price
              $0.00

Health, Justice, Women: Behavioral Health and OB/GYN [Internet Broadcast]

            
      
Data continues to show that women are entering the justice system at rates exceeding male offenders and bring with them extremely complex and multi-layered behavioral and physical health issues.
      
  Accession Number
              026990

  Amount in Stock
              0
  
      Treatment for Pregnant People with Opioid Use Disorder in Jail (2022)
              Spotlight on NRCJIW Technical Assistance: An Overview of the Maricopa County, Arizona MOSAIC Program (2017)
              Overlooked: Women and Jails in an Era of Reform (2016)
              Using Mobile Phone Technology to Provide Recovery Support for Women Offenders (2013)
              NIC's Corrections and Mental Health Update Focuses on Women and Girls in the Corrections System (2012)
              The Impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Adults (2011)
              Accordion    Trauma
      
      Trauma Annotated Bibliography

            
      
"This bibliography attempts to offer a compilation of information on trauma-informed care by reviewing general information about trauma as well as focusing on the criminal justice system and corrections (women, adults, and younger people), peer support, and screening/assessment for trauma. In
  
      Practical Guide for Implementing a Trauma-Informed Approach (2023)
              Evaluation of In-Prison Programming for Incarcerated Women: Addressing Trauma and Prior Victimization, Final Report (2021)
              Addressing Trauma and Victimization in Women’s Prisons (2021)
              Adapting Custodial Practices to Reduce Trauma for Incarcerated Women (2020)
              Transcendental Meditation and Reduced Trauma Symptoms in Female Inmates: A Randomized Controlled Study (2017)
              Trauma-Informed and Evidence-Based Practices and Programs to Address Trauma in Correctional Settings (2017)
              Continuing Care and Trauma in Women Offenders’ Substance Use, Psychiatric Status, and Self-Efficacy Outcomes (2016)
              Trauma-Informed Care: Principles & Practices for Justice-Involved Women with Serious Mental Illness and Co-Occurring Substance Use (2015)
              Using Trauma-Informed Practices to Enhance Safety and Security in Women's Correctional Facilities (2014)
              Women's Pathways to Jail: The Roles & Intersections of Serious Mental Illness & Trauma (2012)

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          Lorie Brisbin
      
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