On April 19, 2007, The New York Women’s Foundation® (NYWF®), in partnership with Oxygen Media, held a forum hosted by the Open Society Institute on the status of incarcerated women in New York State. The purpose of the forum was to highlight the unique issues facing women in prison and the current public policy landscape and to discuss key solutions for women and families.

NYWF® President and CEO Ana L. Oliveira welcomed everyone and made the opening remarks. Oliveira spoke about the importance of the forum and The Foundation's commitment to issues facing incarcerated women and their families. Manhattan Deputy Borough President Rosemonde Pierre-Louis spoke about how the growing number of incarcerated women in New York State is threatening the stability of families. She stated the Manhattan Borough President’s Office commitment to finding viable solutions for New York City families.

The program included a viewing of the video “Daughters Left Behind”, about the daughters of incarcerated mothers. The video is part of a series produced by Oxygen Media, entitled "Who Cares About Girls?" The series addresses issues specifically affecting female children around the world. “Daughters Left Behind” explores the lives of three young girls dealing with their mothers’ incarceration in different areas of the United States and begs the question: Is the criminal justice system making things better for them, or worse?

Serving as panel moderator was Andrea B. Williams, Program Director of ReConnect, a NYWF® grantee partner. ReConnect is part of the Women in Prison Project of the Correctional Association of New York. The panel included Patricia Allard, a Senior Soros Justice Fellow—Rebecca Project for Human Rights; Cathy Faust, a Peer Specialist for Project Path to Recovery; Sarah B. From, the Deputy Director of the Institute on Women & Criminal Justice of the Women's Prison Association; and Makeba Lavan, a Youth Ambassador at the Osborne Association's New York City Initiative of Children of Incarcerated Parents. The panel discussed the critical issues facing incarcerated women, particularly education around parental rights and the need for community-based, gender specific alternative programs for women.

Cathy Faust spoke of her own experiences as a mother behind bars with limited access to her child. "My daughter was 8 years old when I was incarcerated, "Faust said, "and communication was very difficult. I wanted a closer relationship with her but the system prevented it." Faust feels that knowledge is the most important tool incarcerated mothers need to save their families: "Women need information on their rights as parents and how to enforce those rights."

Makeba Lavan told her story from the other side of the issue, as the child of an incarcerated mother. She spoke of the pain of being separated from her mother for long periods. "Being away from your kids should not be part of your sentence." Lavan said. She went on to say that the prison system is not rehabilitative. Her mother went to jail because of a drug problem, and she was released with the same drug problem.

Pat Allard spoke of the need for alternatives to prison. "The point of crisis is the time to intervene," she said, "not after they get out of prison." Allard was also concerned with the lack of programs for women re-entering the community after incarceration. "After a trauma like this, the whole family needs to heal," she added.

The number of incarcerated women continues to rise at an alarming rate. According to the Correctional Association's Coalition of Women Prisoners, there are currently about 2,800 women serving time in New York State correctional facilities as opposed to the 380 in 1973; this is a 645% increase. Many advocates view the Rockefeller Drug Laws to be the most likely culprit for such a dramatic increase and call for their repeal. An estimated 74% of women in New York State prisons are parents, and many were the primary caretaker at the time of their arrest or incarceration. The argument in favor of gender specific reforms is supported by startling statistics of substandard medical care, inadequate access to legal counsel, and the unfair treatment of incarcerated women with children.

The Coalition for Women Prisoners has made five specific recommendations, including increasing the number of community-based, gender specific alternative programs, that it believes would improve the lives of both incarcerated women and the 11,000 children in New York State whose mothers are serving a prison sentence:

1. Increased funding for visitation, parenting, and reunification programs - Parents in prison have the same responsibilities regarding children in foster care as other parents, but many more obstacles to fulfilling those requirements, such as few visitation and telephoning opportunities, as well as limited access to their attorneys and to foster care planning meetings.
2. Suspend rather than terminate Medicaid benefits for incarcerated individuals -Currently, when an individual with Medicaid receives a prison sentence, the state terminates those benefits before they begin serving time. Prison staff do not have to file Medicaid applications before inmates are released and they are not allowed to file for themselves. Minimally, it takes 45 to 90 days before Medicaid can be reactivated. The Coalition maintains that automatically reinstating Medicaid benefits for incarcerated individuals upon their release from prison would prevent these health crises, as well as save the state money for emergency care services.
3. Require New York State Department of Health oversight of HIV and Hepatitis C care in prisons - The rate of HIV infection for incarcerated women is more than double that of incarcerated men and nearly 100 times that of the general public. More than 14% of incarcerated women in prison are HIV positive, but they do not receive consistent care or have proper access to specialists, test results and medication. The same is true for those suffering from Hepatitis C. Currently, medical staff working in prisons are held accountable, not by any medical governing body, but only by the State Department of Correctional Services. In order to protect both incarcerated individuals and the communities they will return to after their release, the Coalition is advocating that the New York State Department of Health regulate healthcare in the prison system.
4. Offer merit time and early release for incarcerated domestic violence survivors - 82% of women in prison were abused as children, 75% were abused by an intimate partner; and over 37% were raped. Often the crimes they commit leading to their incarceration are related to that abuse. If these women were granted merit time, they would be released early for reaching certain goals, such as getting their GED or completing a drug program.
5. Repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws - Under the laws, individuals are often incarcerated for low-level, non-violent drug offenses, and the laws do not allow for judicial discretion to divert offenders to drug treatment programs as an alternative to incarceration. The Coalition and other groups are fighting to give discretion back to the judges, as well as for increased funding to drug treatment programs in which children will be able to live with their mothers as they undergo substance abuse treatment.
   FOR ENTIRE TEXT GO TO http://www.correctionalassociation.org/general/pubs.html

NYWF® Grantee Partners working with incarcerated women and children
Correctional Association
Child Welfare Organizing Project
Concerned Citizens for Family Preservation
Justice Works Community
College and Community Fellowship
Housing and Solutions
The Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services
Greenhope Services for Women
Learning Center for Women in Prison

For more information, contact the Correctional Association of New York:
www.correctionalassociation.org

Suggested reading:
When "Free" Means Losing Your Mother-- Tamar Kraft-Stollar (2006) http://www.correctionalassociation.org/general/pubs.html#reports

Making Family Reunification a Reality for Criminal Justice-Involved Women. Policy recommendations of the Women's Advocacy Project, Women's Prison Association. 2005 Available at:
http://www.wpaonline.org/institute/wap/htm

Caught in the Net: The Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families--Patricia Allard, Lenora Lapidus, Kirsten Levingston, Namita Luthra, Andrea Ritchie, Deborah Small & Anjuli Verna (2005)
http://brennancenter.org/stack_detail.asp?key=97&subkey=34239&proj_key=56