Women's Reentry Assessment and Programming Initiative (WRAP)

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

Trauma histories, substance use and self-sufficiency needs are among the challenges faced by women reentering their communities from incarceration in the Chester County, Pennsylvania criminal justice system. In the face of this, 145 women in the Women’s Reentry Assessment and Programming Initiative (WRAP) turned the tide, recidivating at lower rates, spending less time incarcerated, and increasing compliance with community supervision. The WRAP program provides trauma-informed, gender-responsive and evidence-based assessments, supervision, case management and programming to at-risk women transitioning from jail or facing violations of their community supervision. For the first time in our system, trauma, a prominent feature for justice-involved women, is screened. Staff receives trauma training, which drives trauma-informed approaches to supervision, services, and decision-making, allowing for better engagement and outcomes for women. A gender-responsive risk assessment tool identifies women’s individual needs and strengths allowing for a strength–based model of case planning and supervision; improving the quality of plans while targeting the highest risk factors for women. Women’s needs are addressed holistically through case management services, using the Collaborative Casework Model-Women (NIC). Cognitive based training and psycho-educational trauma groups are delivered to engage women in their own recovery by building skills, self-efficacy, and community connections. WRAP has transformed the traditional male-centric criminal justice paradigm of control and compliance, hierarchical relationships, and a focus on presenting problems, to a model where problems are seen as trauma-driven coping mechanisms and supervision emphasizes collaboration, relationships, and self-defined goals. Collaborating across County agencies and with community partners in program delivery has worked. For the women of WRAP, this approach has resulted in less crime, fewer violations, less time spent in jail, and stronger connections to children, family, and community. Outcomes show a decrease in recidivism (new arrests) of 63% and violations of probation/parole decreased by 75% since program inception.