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The Working Group

The Working Group to Enhance Services for Incarcerated Women, a project of The Prison Society, is a coalition of community-based service providers who offer information and services to women incarcerated in Philadelphia and to women recently released from correctional facilities into the greater Philadelphia area.

It also includes unaffiliated people from the community, particularly formerly incarcerated women. The community-based service providers include organizations such as social service or legal service providers, educational institutions, women's health service agencies, arts and cultural organizations, among others.

Of the women in prison…

  1. 55% are women of color.
  2. 36% are mentally ill.
  3. 70% were abused prior to their incarceration.
  4. 10% have a sister who is or was incarcerated.
  5. 60% have children under the age of 18.

The Working Group understands that women in jail have very few resources and often lack basic information about their rights while incarcerated, as well as critical information to help them transition successfully back into the community. We are committed to making as many resources as possible available to incarcerated women to give them more choices and opportunities during their stay in jail and when they return to the community.

Topics of Information Sessions include:

  1. Housing (public and private)
  2. Public Benefits (TANF, food stamps, Medicaid, etc.)
  3. Employment
  4. Family advocacy and planning; reproductive health
  5. HIV prevention and other health issues
  6. Childcare services
  7. Re-Entry assistance
  8. Stress and anger management

Events and activities include:

  1. Resource fairs
  2. Support groups - domestic violence, sexual assault
  3. Journaling workshops
  4. Yoga classes
  5. Parenting classes

Advocacy
The Working Group is involved in several important areas of advocating for the needs and rights of incarcerated women:

  1. Parental Rights - The Working Group partners with legal service and human service agencies to educate incarcerated women about their rights, as well as advocating for better communication between the prison and DHS to facilitate women's participation in dependency hearings.
  2. Family Advocacy - As part of the Working Group's commitment to helping women stay connected with their children, we have been working to acquire items necessary to provide a family-friendly space for visits with children at the new women's facility, Riverside Correctional Facility (RCF). We have received donations of books, toys, furniture and decorative items.
  3. Resource Directory - The Riverside Correctional Facility Prison staff has agreed to include a copy of the Resource Directory compiled by the Working Group in the discharge packet women receive when released from the prison.
  4. Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights Initiative - This group is working to establish basic standards to ensure that children are fairly treated by the agencies they come in contact with at the time of their parents’ arrest and during their incarceration.

Contact:
  Ann Schwartzman
  Policy Director
  215.564.6005 Extension 117