Stage-Based Change in Work Release Programs for Women

We are currently immersed in the implementation of a shift in our paradigm regarding how women progress through our community-based reentry program. Our new model views each woman's experience as a series of stages that she must negotiate on her way to successful community reentry. In each stage, she must grapple with a different set of issues and tasks that relate to her transitional process. The model has 5 stages, and women often cycle between stages 3 and 4 as shown here:

Each woman progresses through the stages at her own pace depending on her ability to learn skills, handle difficult situations, find and retain employment, navigate relationships, etc. The challenge of a work release program is to implement activities, classes, interventions and services based on a woman's particular stage of transition, rather than assuming that she 'should' be able to achieve certain milestones after being in the program for a length of time. With further research and validation, this new model has the potential to significantly advance the effectiveness and scope of transitional programs for women.

We are very grateful to the ATHERTON FAMILY FOUNDATION and the G.N. WILCOX TRUST for funding the development of this new model.

Our article on the model, "A New Paradigm: Stage-Based Change for Female Offenders in Work Release," was published in the August 2007 issue of Corrections Today, the journal of the American Correctional Association. Read the article (PDF)

Workshops on the model locally and nationally (Hawaii, Alaska, Florida, Maryland and Mississippi) have been well received. Participants have appreciated the universality of the model as it can be applied to varied settings.

View a PowerPoint presentation