A Woman’s Journey through the Criminal Justice System: The Impact on Children, Families and Communities
MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018
4:30 – 7 p.m.
SHERMAN HALL
Women are the fastest growing segment of the incarcerated population in the US. More than 1,000,000 women are behind bars or under the control of the criminal justice system. Many women in prison have experienced physical or sexual trauma prior to and during incarceration. Among female prisoners, approximately two-thirds are mothers of minors. Come join Generating Hope for a panel discussion to address these issues and seek answers to the questions below from the personal experience of women who have been impacted by incarceration.
Why have the rates of incarceration increased for women?
What is the impact of incarceration on children, families and communities?
What are the unique needs of formerly incarcerated women for successful reentry and healing?
How can we become advocates and allies of social justice?
Panel Featuring:
Celia Colon, Founder of GOD (Giving Other’s Dreams), member of Friends for Life Resources, Fierce over Forty and Women’s Justice Institute and Women’s Justice Task Force.
Susan Mason, Executive Director of What’s Next Washington, sits on the Washington Voting Justice Coalition (WVJC), member of the National Council of Formerly and Currently Incarcerated Women and Girls, 2018 Just Leadership USA (JLUSA) Fellow
Colette Payne, Head of the Visible Voices program for CLAIM (Chicago Legal Advocacy for
Incarcerated Mothers) Program and now serves as the Community Organizer for Cabrini Green Legal Aid and member of the Women’s Justice Task Force.
Christine Escalera, Outreach Worker at ALSO (Alliance of Local Service Organizations) and member of the Women’s Justice Task Force.
Monica Crosby, student at Northeastern Illinois University, and organizer with Moms United against Violence & Incarceration, working at the Westside Justice Center and member of the Women’s Justice Task Force.
Sponsors
Generating Hope is a student organization at GSU that is designed to advocate, provide support, mentoring, networking, information and resource linkage for the formerly incarcerated, their families and friends. This event is sponsored by GSU’s Generating Hope Student Organization. This event is made possible through a Governors State University Intellectual Life Grant.
For additional information, contact Dr. Lorri Glass, Associate Professor of Social Work, at lglass@govst.edu; or Falisa Byers, President of Generating Hope at fbyers@student.govst.edu.