NCJ Number
200996
Date Published
2000
Length
49 pages
Annotation
This document contains summaries of the proceedings for the Woman Offender Symposium: Through the Eyes of a Child, which was held September 19-20, 2000, in St. Paul, MN.
Abstract
The goal of the symposium was to explore how to best address the needs of women offenders and their children. Since women are usually the main caregiver of their children, both women and their children have special needs once the woman enters the criminal justice system. Research has indicated that children who have an incarcerated parent are five times more likely to be jailed themselves and are at an increased risk for delinquency, pregnancy, and chemical dependency. As such, the symposium focused on raising awareness of the differing needs of female inmates and their children. There were two parts to the symposium; the first was a series of speakers and the second was a series of breakout sessions that encouraged participants to design plans for their home communities. Speakers included Toni Locy, a reporter who has focused on women’s justice issues for 20 years; Meda Chesney-Lind, a nationally known researcher who has focused on women’s criminality; Stephanie Covington, an expert on gender-specific interventions; George Keiser, an expert on building criminal justice collaborations and a source of information about available grants and technical assistance; The Honorable John West, a practitioner who has been on the forefront of women offender issues in Ohio; Sandra Barnhill, executive director of Aid to Children of Incarcerated Mothers, a service agency; and Denise Johnston, director of the Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents. Summaries of each of their presentations are provided. Next, the symposium participants designed plans to speak to the needs of women offenders and their children in their communities. Leaders from each judicial district in Minnesota invited key criminal justice stakeholders from their communities to participate in these breakout sessions. As such, the groups contained teams of judges, public defenders, prosecutors, law enforcement, treatment professionals, corrections professionals, and elected officials. Each team developed an action plan that would make their own areas more responsive to women offenders and their children. The discussions and work plans of the breakout groups are summarized. Finally, a pilot project designed to provide services to children of incarcerated parents is summarized and a list of symposium participants is provided.