 
Mother's Journey of Recovery
|
|
|
| Cost Benefit Analysis | *Pre-sentencing
expenses for women in Illinois average $31,000, and prison costs average $25,000 a year. If these women are mothers, there are additional costs for the care of their children, averaging $25,000 annually per child (2).
*The incarceration of women is much more expensive and costly to society than the incarceration of men (2).
* Drug treatment programs are so cost effective that the money saved on crimes not committed just while offenders are in treatment is sufficient to offset the costs of treatment (7).
|
|
|
Impact of Incarceration
|
The mission of The Women's Treatment Center is to provide women
with a continuum of care, recovery tools, and parenting skills to
maintain a sober lifestyle as they rebuild their lives and mend family
bonds.
The Center has been providing these services to women and their children
for the past 20
years.
TWTC
is concerned about the immediate and dramatic impact on children,
families and communities when women are incarcerated for nonviolent
drug offenses rather than being sent to treatment for their substance
abuse.
According to the
Illinois Department of Corrections, there has been a dramatic increase
in the population of women in the Illinois prison system: the number
quadrupled between 1990 and 2005.(4).
The crimes that women commit have not become more violent, but sentencing has become harsher (1).
About 85% of women in the Illinois Department of Corrections are mothers, and 25% of them have four or more children (3).
In any given year, 7,500 children in Illinois have mothers who spent time in prison (2).
For every woman in prison there
are on average 3 children affected. These children are at risk for poor
developmental outcomes that are associated with separation from their
primary caregivers (2). |
|
|
|
TWTC's Alternative Sentencing Program -
An Alternative To Incarceration | Alternative sentencing programs offer an option to incarceration: According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, roughly 80% of women in state prisons need substance abuse treatment, but only 16% will ever receive it (5).
The Women's Treatment Center runs an innovative Alternative Sentencing Program in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) that allows mothers who have been incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses to serve the last two years of their sentence with their children at TWTC's facility.
In TWTC's Alternative Sentencing Program, women receive drug treatment, parenting skills training, and support to complete their education and engage in job training and supported employment. Their children have access to TWTC's full range of children's programs, include an infant-toddler daycare, an on-site pre-kindergarten class run in conjunction with Chicago Public Schools, a full-time pediatric nurse, and early childhood mental health screening and treatment.
Of the 45 women who have completed the Alternative Sentencing Program in the past three years, 0% has returned to prison, according to IDOC. This compares to Illinois' 48.2% recidivism rate for women reported by IDOC. For additional information contact Program Manager Renee Lee at 312.633.4376Local Advocacy Organizations
Chicago Legal Advocacy for Mothers (CLAIM), a not-for-profit agency founded in 1985, provides legal and educational services to maintain the bonds between imprisoned mothers and their children. CLAIM advocates for policies and programs that benefit families of imprisoned mothers and reduce incarceration of women and girls. CLAIM's vision for the future is one in which the cycle of intergenerational incarceration has been broken and women's incarceration is minimal to the extent it exists at all. CLAIM envisions a day when social policy is humane, just, and women
shape the policies that affect them and their families. For more information: www.claim-il.org
Community Renewal Society's three-year-old The Children of the Incarcerated project combines public education, civic engagement and direct advocacy while developing public policy initiatives that address the needs of children with incarcerated parents.For more information: www.communityrenewalsociety.org. |
| Sources | (1) Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers, 2009.
(2)LaLonde, R.J., &George, S.M. (2002). Incarcerated Mothers: The Chicago
Project on Female Prisoners and Their Children. Chicago, IL: University of
Chicago.
(3)LaLonde, R.J., & George, S. (2006). Research on Incarcerated Women
and Their Children. The University of Chicago.
(4)Mayin-Koo, C. (2010). Mothers Among The Fastest Growing Prison
Population. Medill Reports: Chicago
(5)McVay, D.,Schiraldi, V.,& Ziedenberg, J. ( 2004). Treatment or
Incarceration? Washington, DC: Justice Policy Institute.
(6)Taxman, F.S.(1998). Reducing Recidivism Through a Seamless System of
Care: Components of Effective Treatment, Supervision, and Transition
Services in the Community. College Park, MD: Bureau of Governmental
Research.
(7)Duffee, D.,& Carlson, B.(1996). Competing Value Premises for the
Provision of Drug Treatment to Probationers. Crime and Delinquency, 42(4),
pp. 574-593. |
|
Please contact our Development Associate, Sadia Qureshi, at squreshi@womenstreatmentcenter.org or at 312-633-4982 at any time with your suggestions, questions and comments related to our work.
We look forward to hearing from you! |
|
|
|
|
