WOMEN IN TRANSITION (MA)

Program Description
The Women in Transition program is a pre-release facility that opened in December 2000 to serve women offenders. The facility houses about 24 women and provides services for 12 women who are on electronic monitoring status. The program targets women who are in prison for two and half years or less. The classification coordinator of the committing institution for women in Massachusetts gathers a list of all women who are sentenced to Essex County and interviews them to see if they are eligible and interested in the program. If the program director approves the case, the woman is then transferred to the Women in Transition Facility.

Once at the pre-release facility, the women are given an orientation packet, a daily schedule, a list of rules for group treatment, a list of community services, and a list of women's halfway houses. Participants meet once a week with a clinician and a reintegration coordinator and participate in group therapy and family counseling. The program aims to help women identify reasons why they became incarcerated, identify solutions, and help the women move in the direction of the solutions by encouraging aftercare treatment such as a halfway house. The program provides therapeutic counseling services, GED preparation, parenting skills instruction and support groups, and domestic violence support groups.

Program Goals
The goals of the Women in Transition program are to help women identify the reasons why they went to prison and identify solutions, as well as to help the women make a successful transition back to their communities by encouraging aftercare treatment.

Networking, Partnering & Collaboration
The Women in Transition program networks and collaborates with many partners. Some include the Link House, a parent organization of the Maris Center for Women, which provides individual and group therapy for many of the women. The Office of Community Corrections, managed by the Essex County Sheriff's Department, provides group treatment for substance abuse as well as classes on anger management, life skills, and education. The program also collaborates with a local high school and college to assist with literacy and tutoring classes.

Outcomes
The Women in Transition program produces an annual report with statistical data on the demographic characteristics, charges, and release information of the participants. The program reports that there has been an increase in the number of women who seek further treatment when they leave the pre-release facility. The pre-release program also found that the length of time in treatment – four months being ideal – improves the likelihood of successful outcomes. In 2001, all the women who left the Women in Transition program and entered a halfway house participated in treatment.

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