National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women

   

Current Opportunities For Technical Assistance from NRCJIW: Apply Now!

The NRCJIW offers training and technical assistance to government agencies and community and faith-based organizations to support their work with justice-involved women. The NRCJIW provides assistance and information to practitioners through a variety of means, including:

  • Making presentations at national and state criminal justice professional associations
  • Providing speakers for state and local conferences and training events
  • Conducting webinars on key topics
  • Facilitating strategic planning, leadership, policy development and other meetings
  • Producing and disseminating documents such as topical briefs, coaching packets, and "how-to's"
  • Maintaining a website (calendar of events, highlights of successful programs, profiles of leaders, emerging research, links and resources)
  • Responding to requests for information from the field.

For frequently asked questions about the assistance we offer, visit http://cjinvolvedwomen.org/targeted-training-and-technical-assistance-program or click here to download a TTA Request Form.

Resources Available on the NRCJIW Web Site

The NRCJIW web site (www.cjinvolvedwomen.org) maintains an extensive catalog of articles and other documents on a variety of topics related to women involved in the criminal justice system.  The topics include:

  • General Resources
  • Correctional Environments
  • Offender Management and Supervision
  • Classification, Assessment, and Case Management
  • Treatment, Interventions, and Services
  • Community Reentry
  • Quality Assurance and Evaluation
  • Critical Issues

To access resources in these areas, or to be connected to products produced by the NRCJIW or linked to its partners, visit http://cjinvolvedwomen.org/resources.

Have a Question About Women Involved in the Justice System?

NRCJIW has staff available to answer your questions about working with justice involved women.  A sample of previously asked questions can be found at http://cjinvolvedwomen.org/nrcjiw-question-and-answer.  If you have a question you would like us to research and answer, visit http://cjinvolvedwomen.org/ask-nrcjiw. 

National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women Newsletter

August 2014

The NRCJIW provides guidance and support to justice professionals – and promotes evidence-based, gender-responsive policies and practices – to reduce the number and improve the outcomes of women involved in the criminal justice system.

NRCJIW Webinar "Developing Gender-Informed Disciplinary Policies in Women's Correctional Facilities"

Click here to listen to a recorded version or click here to access the presentation slides for Developing Gender-Informed Disciplinary Policies in Women's Correctional Facilities, a June 18, 2014 webinar co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute of Corrections featuring:

  • Alyssa Benedict, CORE Associates, LLC
  • Andie Moss, The Moss Group, Inc.
  • Becki Ney, National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women (NRCJIW)

During the session, participants learned about research guiding a gender responsive approach to discipline and sanctions and innovative resources to enrich their understanding about what it means to be gender responsive in women's correctional settings.

  • The Gender-Informed Discipline and Sanctions Policy Guide, developed by the NRCJIW to assist women's facilities in developing gender-informed discipline and sanctions policies.

Webinar participants will be notified when a copy of the Gender-Informed Discipline and Sanctions Policy Guide is available.  If your agency has innovative and/or gender-responsive policies, protocols, practices to share, please email them to Rachelle Ramirez at rramirez@cepp.com.

Now Available from NIC: Gender-Responsive Policy & Practice Assessment (GRPPA)

From the National Institute of Corrections - The Gender-Responsive Policy & Practice Assessment (GRPPA) is an online tool designed to guide the assessment of research-based, gender-responsive policies and practices in jails, prisons, and community corrections programs for women.
The GRPPA development process included a review of the assessment strategies in the Gender-Responsive Program Assessment tool, developed by the Center for Gender and Justice, and the Gender-Informed Practice Assessment, developed by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) in partnership with the Center for Effective Public Policy. The GRPPA was based on the fundamental elements of quality programming, including the guiding principles from Gender-Responsive Strategies: Research, Practice, and Guiding Principles for Women Offenders Report. 
The assessment has two major components:

  • The GRPPA Description and Instructions section provides information on how to facilitate an assessment of current gender-responsive practices in community corrections programs and correctional facilities. It also outlines the five domains that will be assessed using the GRPPA Instrument.
  • The GRPPA Scoring Instrument provides the assessment domains and related areas to be assessed. This document provides space for recording scores for each domain, as well as questions within each domain that can help guide the scoring decisions. It is also used to record what information was gathered or reviewed and to note areas where observations were made pertaining to each domain.

The GRPPA requires a collective effort from a team of corrections professionals to work together in determining a facility or program's current level of gender-responsiveness. It is intended as the first step in a more substantial process to understand the current facility, program policies, and practices so that reforms and/or enhancements can be planned. Improving outcomes for justice-involved women is the primary purpose of this work. Templates for action plans are provided to help agencies move toward improving or changing current practices toward those that are more gender-responsive.  For more information about how to access this new resource, click here.

Request for Proposals for the 16th Biannual AJFO Workshop Conference 2015

The National Workshops on Adult and Juvenile Female Offenders have been held every two years since the 1980s.  A host site for next year's conference is currently being sought.  A committee from the Association of Programs for Female Offenders (APFO) will make the site selection, during the 15th Biannual Workshop, based on information provided by potential hosts.

A major state agency or consortium of agencies or groups can sponsor the conference.  A letter of support from the chief executive officer or Secretary of Corrections of the agency or group primarily responsible for the conference should be attached to the application to sponsor the conference. The Association of Programs for Female Offenders will be the primary co-sponsor of the event.

The host agency or organization is encouraged to have as many co-sponsors as possible to provide broad based support and a full range of approaches to programming for female offenders.  These can include college and universities, health organizations, and/or other law enforcement organizations.

Proposals may be submitted electronically to info@apfonews.org or gregtlc@comcast.net or by mail to APFO, P.O. Box 5293, Columbia, South Carolina 29250-5293. For more information, click here.

The Women's Prison Association #2ndChances Campaign

The Women's Prison Association has conceived of the #2ndChances Campaign to highlight that everyone has been given a second chance - at life, at love… a chance to change direction, to learn a new way, or to right a wrong. WPA's 2nd Chances Campaign seeks to highlight this shared experience and bring attention to our work to support justice-involved women and their families. Running from May through September of 2014, the campaign features a video series of personal second chance stories shared by women at WPA, staff, community members and celebrities. Using social media, the campaign is inviting the public to share their own second chance stories by uploading their videos to the campaign's website www.2ndchancescampaign.org.

Tracey: Addressing Circumstances That Lead to Prison from Women's Prison Association

In the News: What's Driving the Incarceration of Women in America?

Sentencing for nonviolent offenders is sweeping large numbers of women and girls into America's prisons.  Arise News interviewed Dr. Nazgol Ghandnoosh of The Sentencing Project to find out more about how drug sentencing policies are contributing to this increase, particularly for minority women.  To watch the interview, click here.

Be Inspired! Visit the Innovators Section of the NRCJIW Web Site

The NRCJIW regularly highlights groundbreaking work in the field of gender-informed criminal justice.  The Innovators section of our web site the application of progressive gender-informed strategies, and those who are achieving success in lowering recidivism, and improving the physical, social, and economic well-being of women and their children.  Click on the links below to learn more about the innovators we have profiled to date. 

Superintendent Jane Parnell and Washington Corrections Center for Women
Dr. Merry Morash, Professor of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University
Trauma, Addiction, Mental Health and Recovery (TAMAR)
Hamilton County (OH) Pretrial and Community Transition Services
Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Framingham
Demeter House
Off the StreetsSM
Drew House
The Center for Gender and Justice
WORTH (Women on the Rise Telling Her Story)
College and Community Fellowship
Connecticut Court Support Services

To nominate programs or leaders to be considered for our Innovators section, please contact Rachelle Ramirez at rramirez@cepp.com.

Copyright © 2014 National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women , All rights reserved.
National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women is funded in whole or in part through a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this newsletter (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).

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