Incarceration in America: Women and Families

A community based, non-profit organization in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, whose mission is to embrace the children of incarcerated parents and empower them to break the cycle of intergenerational involvement in the criminal justice system.

Family Services helps formerly incarcerated parents establish or re-establish relationships with their children, end their dependence on governmental benefits, and successfully reintegrate into their communities.

Provides supportive services to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and their families.

Advocacy group that works with women entering, within, and exiting the prison system.

The number of women in prison, a third of whom are incarcerated for drug offenses, is increasing at nearly double the rate for men. These women often have significant histories of physical and sexual abuse, high rates of HIV infection, and substance abuse. Large-scale women's imprisonment has resulted in an increasing number of children who suffer from their mother's incarceration and the loss of family ties.

From ABC's 20/20, a Diane Sawyer Hidden America Special (02/27/15)
Women Behind Bars and the Families They Left Behind; The Duel Between Inmates and Officers Over Prison Contraband; What Life Is Like For the Mentally Ill at Women's Prisons