Cohort 2024
Ardella’s House
Analyzing Data to Support a Pilot Diversion Program for Women with Children
Philadelphia, PA
Between 1980 and 2020, the number of women incarcerated in the US rose by more than 475 percent, with Black women experiencing the highest rate of increase at over 820 percent. The consequences of women’s incarceration extend to their families, as many of them are also mothers and/or caregivers to children. During and after their incarceration, system-involved women face barriers to maintaining connections with their children. National research indicates that nearly two-thirds of women are not visited by their children during their incarceration, and up to 15 percent of children of incarcerated mothers are placed in foster care, which has effects on the children’s well-being.
With Catalyst Grant funding, Ardella’s House, an organization founded and led by formerly incarcerated Black women that provides wraparound supports for system-involved women, will partner with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to generate a dataset and report to inform the development of a pilot diversion program for women in Philadelphia, where women incarcerated in jails are mothers to an average of two children. In collaborating with Ardella’s House, the district attorney’s office will analyze internal data on the characteristics of recently incarcerated women to inform the program’s design and implementation. The program will prevent family separation by providing an alternative to incarceration for women who are pregnant or the primary caregivers for young children. The program will provide eligible women with appropriate services, such as housing assistance, family reunification services, and educational and vocational training. It will primarily aim to divert women of color while addressing the root causes of participants’ criminalization and providing them with the support they need to avoid future system involvement.
