Women's Community Justice Project

Panel Discussion

The Women’s Community Justice Project (WCJP) is a consortium of five agencies that provide housing and services to women who have had an involvement in the criminal justice system. WCJP provides transitional and/or permanent housing with support services to women who have been charged with a misdemeanor and who, because they are unable to post bail, face long-term detention on Rikers Island.

This consortium will convene at Bennington College on September 16 and 17 and will culminate with a panel discussion on Saturday afternoon that is open to the public, followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

This discussion will include panelists from the five agencies of WCJP and other partner organizations.

WCJP AGENCIES

GREENHOPE SERVICES FOR WOMEN

Greenhope empowers women involved in substance abuse and the criminal justice system to reclaim their lives, reunite with their families, and rebuild their communities. Greenhope provides residential and outpatient programming for women as an alternative to incarceration—focusing on those on parole, mothers with young children (ages 0 to 5), and women from the community.

HOUR CHILDREN

Hour Children helps incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and their children successfully rejoin the community, reunify with their families, and build healthy, independent, and secure lives. To accomplish this, Hour Children provides compassionate and comprehensive services and encourages all to live and interact with dignity and respect.

HOUSING+SOLUTIONS

Housing+Solutions provides community-based housing and comprehensive services to women, including women with children, to support them in overcoming poverty, homelessness, addiction, trauma, and the effects of incarceration, in order to build lives of stability, and to define and realize goals for themselves and for their families.

PROVIDENCE HOUSE

Providence House is a non-profit organization whose mission is to aid women who are homeless and recently released from prison in transitioning back into society. They provide case management and an array of programs throughout their network of transitional residences, individual apartments, and permanent supportive housing.

WOMEN’S PRISON ASSOCIATION (WPA)

WPA works with women at all stages of criminal justice involvement. They promote alternatives to incarceration and help women living in the community to avoid arrest or incarceration by making positive changes in their lives. Inside prison and jail, WPA is a source of support to women and a resource to them as they plan for release. After incarceration, women come to WPA for help to build the lives they want for themselves and their families in the community.