Grantee Spotlight:
Legal Services of Greater Miami’s
Women Prisoner Reentry Project
Launched
a year and a half ago with the support of a Women’s Fund
grant, Legal Services of Greater Miami’s (LSGM) Women
Prisoner Reentry Project provides assistance to women who
are to be released from Homestead Correctional Institute so
that they are better able to reintegrate into society.
The project began after attorneys quickly noticed that most
of the women they were serving in their Homeless Assistance
Project had just left prison. In need of legal services like
collecting child support, obtaining identification and
filing for disability insurance, most of the women found
themselves overwhelmed by legal problems.
“It’s too much for most people to handle, which is why our
project takes clients before they leave prison,” explains
Champagne Girten, the attorney that leads the Women Prison
Reentry Project for Legal Services of Greater Miami. “Just
having something as simple as a form of identification upon
leaving can make a difference between unemployment and
self-sufficiency.”
Since the program’s inception, over 600 women have received
these services and the results have not gone unnoticed. Last
month, Champagne Girten was asked to submit a list of action
items
that
outlines the specific needs of women as they leave prison.
This list will be an important
part of a larger report that
State Attorney General Bill McCollum will
be studying.
“Through this project, I’ve been thinking about ways the
system can improve its treatment of women inmates and their
specific issues as they re-enter society,” explains Girten.
“By making this action list, I’m helping to raise the voices
of the women who are suffering in a prison system that needs
changes.”
On the top of her list? “Real true proceedings in family
court and meaningful opportunity to attend the hearings” so
that female prisoners are fully aware of the status of their
parental rights.
“Most of our clients want to know how they can gain parental
rights and locate their children,” says Girten. “Women are
more likely to put family issues first and can’t approach
stability until they know about their children. They know
they need a job and won’t do anything until they find their
kids.”
In one client’s case, she left her children with family
members for the duration of her sentence and through a
variety of circumstances, the children had become wards of
the state without the mother’s knowledge that her children
had become adopted.
“This case helped me learn that knowledge, not matter how
devastating, helps my clients make adjustments after they
leave prison,” Girten observes. “My least favorite thing to
tell a client is that her children were adopted and she no
longer has parental rights. However, by telling her before
leaving prison, she’s given time to process the
information.”
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2650
SW 27th Ave, Suite 303 Miami, FL 33133 ● (305) 441-0506 ●
fax: (305) 441-0406
info@womensfundmiami.org |
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