Art technique developed by women in prison using deodorant, toilet paper, and magazines. Photo by Craig Branagan.

Women and Justice

Mission

The NCCD Center for Women and Justice conducts research to inform public policy and promote activism focused on women and girls in the justice system. The center endorses humane, rehabilitative, and gender-appropriate responses to at-risk and incarcerated women.

Decarcerating California's Women

The goals of this project were to reform sentencing laws and correctional practices, stressing community-based alternatives to incarceration.

The proposed research was intended to focus public attention and galvanize political opinion toward meaningful reform, the long-term goal of which is to decarcerate the majority of California Women in prison.

The research had three main components:

• Examine public safety threats posed by women in state facilities using a classification model. Determine how many women could be safely placed in less secure settings, compare costs of the various kinds of placements.
• Examine the current availability of community-based correctional programs. Develop a blueprint for the number and types of gender-appropriate, community-based correctional programs that need to be available. Determine costs.
• Deepen our understanding of the lives and experiences of women and girls locked up in California through interviews and focus groups. Determine the "collateral damage" of excessive incarceration.

The dissemination plan included the media, elected officials, judges, chief probation officers, foundations interested in women's issues, and correctional facility personnel.