NCJ Number
210710
Journal
Journal of Correctional Education Volume: 56 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2005 Pages: 124-130
Date Published
June 2005
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article describes the features and presents the evaluation findings for the Shelby County Division of Corrections' (Tennessee) Lifeskills for Women (LFW) program, which received funding under the U.S. Department of Education's Life Skills for State and Local Prisoners Program.
Abstract
The LFW offers strategies and approaches for changing criminogenic cognitive systems and behavioral patterns of incarcerated women who are preparing for reentry into the community. First implemented in 1997 and funded again in 2000, the LFW is a comprehensive, multifaceted rehabilitation program designed to motivate, educate, and empower incarcerated women to develop personal and interpersonal skills and behavioral awareness. Program components are skills and needs assessment/life action plan development, interactive empowerment/life management/job readiness workshops, moral reconation therapy, mentoring, case management over 2 years of aftercare, and job development and placement. Collaboration with community agencies facilitates the delivery of this broad range of services. An independent evaluator tracked participants for 2 years after release, comparing recidivism rates for program participants with those of a control group. Of the 114 participants for whom data were collected and who were released for at least 1 year, 21 percent were rearrested and 10 percent were reincarcerated, compared to 70 percent and 62.8 percent, respectively, for the general female offender population. Of the 98 participants assessed for 2 years after release, 27.9 percent of program participants were rearrested and none were incarcerated, compared to 66.7 percent and 58.2 percent, respectively, for the general female offender population. Goal achievements that contributed to participant's reduced recidivism were increased employment, family reunification, and the enhancement of skills needed to achieve self-sufficiency and economic independence.