National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women Newsletter
September 2018
The National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women (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.
REGISTER FOR WOMEN’S RISK NEEDS ASSESSMENT END-USER TRAINING
The Bauman Consulting Group is offering a two-day training on the Women's Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA) instrument in Loveland (Cleveland) Ohio from January 8-10, 2019.
The WRNA is a series of risk/need assessments for adult, women offenders. The assessments include: 1) a full instrument, The Women’s Risk/Needs Assessment (WRNA), which assesses both gender-neutral and gender-responsive factors and affords separate forms for probation, prison, and pre-release; and 2) the Women’s Risk/Needs Assessment - Trailer (WRNA-T) which is designed to supplement existing risk/needs assessments such as the Level of Service Inventory - Revised or the Northpointe COMPAS. The WRNA-T is also available in separate forms for probation, prison, and pre-release populations. For more information, and to register for training, click here.
LEGISLATIVE ALERT: THE PREGNANT WOMEN IN CUSTODY ACT
This month, members of Congress proposed a bill that is co-sponsored by a majority of Democratic and Republican women in the House that would ban the shackling and solitary confinement of pregnant inmates in the federal prison system.
The Pregnant Women in Custody Act, introduced by Reps. Karen Bass (D–CA), Mia Love (R–UT) and Catherine Clark (D–MA), would ban the use of restraints and restrictive housing on female inmates during pregnancy, during labor, and post-partum. It would set standards of care for pregnant female inmates.
To read more about the bill, click here.
WOMEN’S EXPERIENCE BEHIND BARS
A recent article from the Brennan Center for Justice outlines some of the key ways that incarceration negatively impacts women.
To read more about each of these areas, and proposed solutions and remedies to these issues, please access the full report here.
NEW REPORT SUGGESTS FEDERAL WOMEN INMATES’ NEEDS ARE NOT BEING MET
A newly released report from the Justice Department cites the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for not adequately addressing the needs of female inmates when it comes to trauma treatment, pregnancy programming, and hygiene. It says oversight of policies, including those regarding strip searches, are conducted remotely– with no onsite visits to ensure compliance. Despite the development of a Female Offender Manual published in 2016, many of the safeguards and policies set forth in the manual have not been implemented. Programs that have been developed to serve women in federal institutions are largely understaffed. To read the full report, click here.
DID YOU KNOW? THE NRCJIW MAINTAINS A COMPREHENSIVE LIBRARY ON ISSUES RELATED TO JUSTICE-INVOLVED WOMEN
The NRCJIW maintains an extensive library of documents and resources focused on key issues facing justice-involved women. Practitioners who work with these women can access these resources on a variety of topics, including:
Visit our library here to learn more!
LISTEN: CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS SOCIAL JUSTICE: A CONVERSATION WITH BRUCE WESTERN
Bruce Western is the author of Homeward: Life in the Year After Prison, based on an intensive year-long study of people returning after incarceration to neighborhoods in the Boston area. Western recently sat down with the Center for Court Innovation to discuss the fact that nearly all the women in his study of people leaving prison suffered from mental illness and addiction, and many had histories of victimization back to childhood. Women, says Western, chart a distinctive path in – and out – of prison. "We think about incarceration as a deprivation of liberty. A different, but related, way of thinking about it is as a disruption and distortion of human relationships." To hear more, tune in to the podcast recording here.
Please Like and Follow Us on Social Media!
Friends of NRCJIW, please take a moment to LIKE us on Facebook and FOLLOW us on Twitter help us to meet our goals of 500 likes and 100 follows this month!. We would love to grow our audience so that we can continue to provide you with updates on our work and other critical issues related to women in the justice system. We look forward to “seeing” you on line!
