Keeping Women out of Prison, Preventing Recidivism, Topics of June 9 Rutgers Conference on Women, Jail

The issue of reentry –in particular, reentry of women –is the topic of a June 9 conference at Rutgers University in Newark, ”What About the Women?  Strategies for Keeping Women Out of Prison.”  Participants will include Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-15^th ;  Alfreda A. Robinson, founder of the National Women’s Prison Project; and William Hauck, Administrator, Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women (a full list of speakers follows).

The free public conference will be from 8:30 a.m. (registration; program begins at 9 a.m.) until 4 p.m., in the Paul Robeson Campus Center’s Essex Room (231/232), 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., on the Rutgers-Newark campus.

“This program should provide vital, useful information for researchers, policymakers, students, community-based organizations, government officials, and people directly impacted by the subject matter, as well as concerned citizens,” notes Stephanie Bush-Baskettte, director of the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies at Rutgers-Newark, which is sponsoring the conference.  “Our objective is two-fold.  First, we want to identify the risk factors common among women who are incarcerated and investigate ways of mitigating them without incarceration. Next, we want to identify the resources available to women upon their release from prison,” she notes. 

Bush-Baskette will moderate the conference panel. Other speakers include:

·         Kim Copeland, FORGE ((Female Offender Reentry Group Effort), Mercer County/Ujima Urban Women Center

·         Julie Griffin, President/CEO, Newark Renaissance House;

·         William Hauck, Administrator, Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women;

·         Ingrid Johnson, Chair, Newark Reentry Advisory Board/Office of Reentry, City of Newark;

·         Angela Marshall, NJ State Parole Board Division of Parole/Coordinator of Women’s Reentry – FORGE (Female Offender Reentry Group Effort);

·         Wanda Moore, Director, State Reentry Program, Office of the Attorney General;

·         Bahiyyah Muhammad-Brown, Rutgers School of Criminal Justice/The New School;

·         Vivian C. Pacheco, Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University;

·         Joyce Phillips, Apostle’s House;

·         Candice Singer, Policy Analyst, National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence – New Jersey;

·         Dr. Bonita Veysey, Associate Professor, Rutgers School of Criminal Justice

Seating is limited and registration is required, by May 26; contact Irene Welch, 973-353-1750, ext. 3869, or irenew@rutgers.edu.  THE PAUL ROBESON CAMPUS CENTER IS HANDICAP-ACCESSIBLE.

The Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, located at Rutgers University-Newark, advances analysis and research of complex issues facing urban areas. The Center sponsors forums and other programs to encourage free and productive exchange of information and ideas among the community’s stakeholders: private citizens, advocates, leaders, community-based organizations, government entities, scholars, etc. For more information: 973-353-1750 or www.cornwall.rutgers.edu

GETTING TO RUTGERS UNIVERSITY IN NEWARK

BY MASS TRANSIT:  New Jersey Transit buses and trains, the PATH train and Amtrak from New York City, and the Newark Light Rail, Washington Street Station or Broad Street Station.

BY CAR: Via Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike, Routes 95, 21, 78, or 280, and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels. Metered parking is available on University Avenue. Other parking: Rutgers-Newark’s parking garage (200 University Ave.) or the Bradley Hall Lot. Printable maps and driving directions at: www.newark.rutgers.edu/maps/index.php.

Media Contact: Ferlanda Fox Nixon
973 353 5262
E-mail: ferlanda@rutgers.edu