Maximizing Success for Drug-Affected Women After Release From Prison: Examining Access to and Use of Social Services During Reentry

• NCJ Number: 219717
• Journal: Women & Criminal Justice Volume: 17 Issue: 2/3 Dated: 2006 Pages: 95-113
• Author(s): Patricia O'Brien
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01-DA013943
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper describes some of the correlates of drug-affected women and their involvement in the criminal justice system and findings from a study of drug-convicted African-American women who returned from prison to an economically disinvested community in Chicago.

Abstract

Although census figures from 2000 describe the neighborhood of Cameron, in the metropolitan area of Chicago, a primarily African-American neighborhood as beset by multiple negative indicators, it is also a neighborhood that is ripe for economic and social change. In addition to an emerging faith-based network, a thriving community newspaper, and several new housing complexes that include subsidized and market-rate homes and rental units, the neighborhood has fostered the growth of a major partnership of community-based organizations, economic development agencies and businesses working together to improve the earnings potential of the community. This has been accomplished through innovative employment initiatives that lead to economic advancement and an improved quality of life for residents. The neighborhood also hosts one of the few programs in the city explicitly designed for former prisoners, an employment and case management program which is attempting to now expand its outreach to women. Based on interviews with women and service providers, the following recommendations are suggested when working with formerly incarcerated women reentering the community: (1) a comprehensive and multidimensional assessment of psychological, social, and educational needs prior to release; (2) assistance with identifying family issues for family conferencing and negotiation; and (3) closer attention to job placement that enables women to gain income and gradual experience in the labor market. The intent of this paper was to provide a synthesis of literature that describes the complex issues that African-American women involved in the criminal justice system experience, as well as findings from a study with women and service providers in one large urban neighborhood marked with issues of illicit drug use, low education and employment rates, and a high proportion of formerly incarcerated community members. Tables, references