Womans Links

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The Window Study
Release from Jail: Moment of Crisis or Window of Opportunity for Female Detainees in Baltimore City - Jacqueline Robarge et al., Power Inside. June 2005

Women’s Prison Association (WPA)
WPA is a non-profit organization working to create opportunities for change in the lives of women prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families. WPA provides programs whose ultimate goal is to end women’s involvement in the criminal justice system and improve choices and opportunities for women and their families. http://www.wpaonline.org/

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC)
LSPC works for the rights of incarcerated parents and people in risk of incarceration. LSPC provides information, trainings, and technical assistance, and responds to requests for help with litigation, community activism and the development of more advocates. In particular, the organization focuses on women prisoners and their families. http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/

Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM)
CLAIM provides legal and educational services to maintain the bond between imprisoned mothers and their children. CLAIM also advocates for policies and programs that benefit families of imprisoned mothers and reduce incarceration of women and girls. The Advocacy Project is a vehicle for the activism of women who speak with the authority of their experience and who have the courage to work publicly as former prisoners to bring about change. http://www.claim-il.org

National Advocates for Pregnant Women
Works nationally and locally to ensure that women do not lose their constitutional rights as a result of being pregnant. Currently litigating and advocating on behalf of Regina McNight – who was convicted of homicide for using crack cocaine while pregnant. http://www.advocatesforpregnantwomen.org/

The Center for Human Potential and Public Policy (Harris School, University of Chicago)
The Center for Human Potential and Public Policy is a public policy research institute that focuses on improving the health, welfare, and development of children and their families. The center has supported research into the welfare of incarcerated mothers and their families. http://harrisschool.uchicago.edu/chppp/

Critical Resistance
Critical Resistance seeks to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex. CR’s work seeks to demonstrate how providing basic necessities such as food, shelter, and freedom makes our communities secure, not incarceration, prisons, and other forms of social control. http://www.criticalresistance.org/

Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC)
The HRC reduces drug-related harm among individuals and their communities by promoting local, regional, and national harm reduction education and organizing. The HRC adopts alternative models to conventional approaches to drug treatment and provides resources, educational materials, and support to health professionals and drug users to reduce drug-related harm. http://www.harmreduction.org

Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM)
FAMM is a national nonprofit organization that challenges mandatory sentencing laws. Mandatory minimums can propagate inflexible and excessive penalties. To change the system, FAMM promotes sentencing policies that give judges the discretion to sentence defendants according to their role in the offense, seriousness of the offense and potential for rehabilitation. http://www.famm.org/index2.htm

Resource information Help for the Disadvantaged
A Virginia-based non-profit organization assisting uplifting & empowering those who are at a disadvantage and disenfranchised (Inmates - ExOffenders - At Risk Youth- Their Families and Communities in Despair with rehabilitation and "Earned" Second Chance).

The Private Corrections Institute
a not-for-profit corporation, educate the publics, media, and elected officials about the dangers of for-profit private prisons, jails and detention centers. http://www.correctionsinstitute.org

South Texans Opposing Private Prisons (STOPP) was formed in the fall of 2003 in an effort to stop the expansion of the incarceration industry in south Texas - starting with the construction of the Laredo “superjail.” The “superjail” is a proposed 2,800 bed detention facility solicited by the US Marshals Service. http://www.stoppcoalition.org/index.php

All of Us or None
Prison sentences for millions of people with felony convictions never really end when prejudice and discrimination based on felony criminal histories persist outside the prison walls. Former prisoners, prisoners, people convicted of felonies and their allies have come together to combat the many forms of life-long discrimination in All of Us or None. http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/news/allofusornone.htm

Penal Reform International (PRI)
PRI is an international non-governmental organisation. Founded in London, UK, in 1989, PRI has members in five continents and in over 80 countries. PRI develops programs on a regional basis, assisting both non-governmental organisations and individuals to establish projects in their own countries. http://www.penalreform.org/

Prison Moratorium Project (PMP)
PMP is a not-for-profit organization that works to stop prison expansion and mass incarceration. PMP supports alternatives that re-invest resources into communities most impacted by criminal justice policies through educational programs, alternatives-to-incarceration initiatives, housing and sustainable economic development. http://www.nomoreprisons.org/

The Right to Vote
the Right to Vote campaign has just launched its new website on felony disenfranchisement. Right to Vote is a national collaboration of eight leading civil rights and civil liberties organizations dedicated to removing barriers to voting for citizens with felony convictions. The new website is a source of information, advocacy, and technical assistance for communities engaged in reform work in this area. http://www.righttovote.org/

The Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform (CHEAR)
In 1998, Congress enacted an amendment to the Higher Education Act that every year denies loans, grants, even work-study jobs to tens of thousands of would-be students with drug convictions. Since that time, a student-led campaign to overturn the law has spread to hundreds of campuses around the nation. The Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform (CHEAR) – comprised of education, civil rights, religious, drug policy reform and other organizations – campaigns for Congressional repeal of the law. http://www.raiseyourvoice.com

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP)
SSDP is a youth-oriented non-profit organization that seeks to reduce the harms caused by drug abuse and drug policies. SSDP neither encourages nor condemns drug use, but strives to involve youth in the political process and to promote an open discussion of alternative solutions to drug problems. http://www.ssdp.org/

The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ)
CJCJ provides services to youth and adults across the country that are facing or transitioning from incarceration. CJCJ’s model programs demonstrate how alternatives to incarceration can be successful. http://www.cjcj.org/

Southern Rural Development Initiative (SRDI)
SRDI is a collaborative project of community-based institutions working in the poorest communities of the rural South. SRDI examines alternative community development strategies, including redirecting resources to support local development and asset-building among poor communities. http://www.srdi.org/

Grassroots Leadership
Grassroots Leadership focuses on organizing and direction action in the southern states. The website also contains useful research materials, including a comprehensive national study on the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). http://www.grassrootsleadership.org

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