Abe Brown Ministries, Inc.’s Post

Happy International Women's Day! . . We'd like to take the opportunity today to draw your attention to the issues of incarceration and reentry disproportionately impacting women across the country. . A few facts about #women and #reentry: DID YOU KNOW? According to a report by the Prison Policy Initiative, "reentry is another critical point at which women are too often left behind. Almost 2.5 million women and girls are released from prisons and jails every year,  but fewer post-release programs are available to them — partly because so many women are confined to jails, which are not meant to be used for long-term incarceration. Additionally, many women with criminal records face barriers to employment in female-dominated occupations, such as nursing and elder care.  It is little surprise, therefore, that formerly incarcerated women — especially women of color — are also more likely to be unemployed and/or homeless than formerly incarcerated men, making reentry and compliance with probation or parole even more difficult." Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/dnBBfqed

As we celebrate Mother’s Day, it is pivotal to understand the impact of incarceration on mothers who are currently justice-involved. According to Prison Policy Initiative, the number of incarcerated women has increased by 750% in the past four decades, with over 50% of incarcerated women being mothers. When a mother is incarcerated, an entire family is impacted by the justice system. Additionally, upon returning to their communities, women face additional barriers to employment because of limited access to workforce development while incarcerated, coupled with the responsibility of caregiving roles within their families. TLM continues to open more classrooms in women’s facilities across the country, to bring opportunities to justice-impacted women and break the cycle of incarceration within families.    https://lnkd.in/gSPzrVMj

Women’s incarceration has grown at twice the pace of men’s incarceration in recent decades, and has disproportionately been located in local jails. The data needed to explain exactly what happened, when, and why do not yet exist, not least because the data on women has long been obscured by the larger scale of men’s incarceration. Frustratingly, even as this report is updated using many of the same data sources from year to year, it is not a direct tool for tracking changes in women’s incarceration over time because we are forced to rely on the limited sources available, which are neither updated regularly nor always compatible across years.

Check out this insightful article from the Prison Policy Initiative on mass incarceration in the U.S.! It dives into the complexities of our criminal legal systems— nearly 2 million people are incarcerated across federal, state, local, and tribal facilities. The flagship report, Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie, breaks down the scale of this issue and debunks common myths about our carceral system. From the stark racial disparities affecting Black and Native communities to the unique challenges faced by incarcerated women, this article highlights crucial data and trends that shed light on the urgent need for reform. Don't miss out on the opportunity to understand the bigger picture of mass incarceration and its far-reaching impacts! Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gUtgFZnC #MassIncarceration #CriminalJusticeReform #SocialJustice

Women’s incarceration has grown at twice the pace of men’s incarceration in recent decades, and has disproportionately been located in local jails. The data needed to explain exactly what happened, when, and why do not yet exist, not least because the data on women has long been obscured by the larger scale of men’s incarceration. Frustratingly, even as this report is updated using many of the same data sources from year to year, it is not a direct tool for tracking changes in women’s incarceration over time because we are forced to rely on the limited sources available, which are neither updated regularly nor always compatible across years. #devotionstartswithin #incarceration #women #maternalhealth #maternalmentalhealth #culture #prison #data #research

In 2017, we developed a priority funding stream for our Grants Program to explore ways of keeping women out of the justice system. We recognised that the rates of women being imprisoned in Victoria had risen dramatically over the preceding decade; few were serious violent offenders and over 3/4 were released from remand without receiving a custodial sentence. Even short periods of incarceration can result in women having their children removed and losing their home, job and connection with their community. Since then we have allocated over $4.9 million to support seven innovative projects designed to help reduce women’s encounters with the justice system, and address the factors that were driving the rapid growth in the women’s prison population. Our final report on Keeping Women Out of the Justice System has now been released. It details the collective impact of the funded projects, and the dramatic success in reducing incarceration and recidivism rates among women. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/g6fDDWJH With thanks to Palawa artist Thelma Beeton and Yorta Yorta artist D. Kerr for their artworks featured in the report. Both artworks were created through The Torch, a not-for-profit organisation that provides art, cultural and arts industry support to First Nations people currently in, or recently released, from Victorian prisons. And thanks to the organisations who contributed to the work involved in this report: Women and Mentoring - WAM Ltd TaskForce Community Agency The Living Free Project Fitzroy Legal Service Federation of Community Legal Centres Flat Out Inc. Law and Advocacy Centre for Women Ltd

At Comic Books for Justice (CB4J), we have an idea that can help stop the cycle of mass incarceration in the U.S. using the power of literacy, art, and comic books—one comic book, in particular. It’s called I, COMIC. But we need your help. I, COMIC—in collaboration with the Social Justice Network (SJN), New York Public Library Jail & Prison Services, and Hudson Link for Higher Education—aims to bring reading, art, building mastery, and self-soothing skills to incarcerated citizens, all in one book. The inability to read is directly connected to incarceration. Once incarcerated, the cycle continues: inability to read is directly connected to high rates of recidivism. 70% of all incarcerated adults read below a fourth grade level. Fostering literacy has been proven to have significant, positive effects on stopping the cycle of mass incarceration. Art programs also have remarkable, proven benefits, dramatically reducing the amount of disciplinary infractions and parole violations, and even easing racial tension in correctional facilities. Comics are where literacy and art intersect, and we can bring all of that to incarcerated citizens in New York State. We can effect real change. Will you help? Visit us at http://kck.st/3XfREH7 or email me at luisabcolon@sjnus.org to find out more.

Check out our preliminary assessment on women's justice issues here, which further examines the challenges facing justice-involved women and guides the Women’s Justice Commission’s efforts to develop solutions for policy and practice: https://lnkd.in/eqxkVxZY Key takeaways include: ➡️The incarceration rate for women in U.S. prisons and jails has trended upward over the past several decades. ➡️While there are significantly more men than women incarcerated in the U.S., women in the criminal justice system face distinct challenges and have a unique set of needs that frequently go unaddressed. ➡️Women’s pathways to criminal justice system involvement differ from those of men. Most justice-involved women have experienced some form of childhood abuse or trauma. Many are at high risk for experiencing violent victimization by an intimate partner and report higher rates of mental health and substance use disorders than men. ➡️While racial disparity in imprisonment persists, the gap between Black and White women shrunk considerably between 2000 and 2020, largely due to increased admissions for White women for drug offenses. ➡️Prior to their incarceration, mothers were more than twice as likely as fathers to be the sole or primary caretaker of their children. Women have specific health-related needs that prisons and jails struggle to address, ranging from the provision of menstruation supplies to pregnancy and menopausal care and the treatment of women’s higher reported rates of mental health and substance use disorders. ➡️Gender-responsive programs, services, and diversion strategies exist, but more research is needed to establish their effectiveness.

While youth incarceration has decreased over the past decade, youth of color still face higher incarceration rates than their white peers. Recent data from grantee partner The Sentencing Project indicates that the disproportionate incarceration of Black and Tribal youth remains largely unchanged compared to a decade ago, whereas Latinx youth have seen reduced disparities compared with their white peers. Get a detailed understanding of state-by-state incarceration rates by race and ethnicity in The Sentencing Project’s fact sheets: https://buff.ly/3S9mBKM #youthincarceration #TheSentencingProject #YouthJusticeSystem

Incarceration rates in the United States are alarmingly high compared to other countries, with marginalized populations bearing the brunt of aggressive policing and excessive arrests. Media and research often focus on the impact of these arrests in urban settings and tend to ignore law enforcement practices in suburban and rural areas. Patricia Jewett and her research team recently analyzed racial arrest patterns in rural vs. urban settings. They found that arrest rates and racial arrest disparities are higher in rural areas, particularly small and medium-sized towns, compared to urban areas, with American Indian and Black populations experiencing the most arrests across the country. Read more about these findings here: https://lnkd.in/eJ2d7JkE