This is not simply a case of the peer mentors being nice. A woman emerging from incarceration is at her most vulnerable, often homeless and without resources. If she is HIV-positive or has other medical needs, she often is released without either her meds or a prescription. And, of course, it's not unusual for a woman's pimp or dealer to be at the station to greet her and welcome her back to the old life. It is the peer mentor's first job to make sure that the woman has a place to go that first night.
Women can stay up to fourteen days while a longer-term transitional housing arrangement is sought.
Incarcerated women and those on work release or day reporting are not eligible. Case managers in this program link clients to medical, social, family, and support services that will allow them to become self-sufficient and keep their families strong. Regaining control of her life after a period of incarceration is seldom easy for a woman. Although she is no longer behind bars, where staff and guards had absolute power over every aspect of her life, there are still a variety of official entities with the authority to make decisions for her that most of us deem no one's business but our own. Issue number one for many of the women coming out of the correctional system is to be reunited with their children.