Gender-Responsive Services for Women Leaving Prison: The IF Project’s Seattle Women’s Reentry Initiative

Abstract

ABSTRACT With increasing numbers of women entering and exiting prison, gender-responsive services are needed to address unique challenges women face when reentering society. Seattle Women’s Reentry (SWR), a gender-responsive reentry initiative, was implemented in 2017–2018 in King County, Washington. SWR is a collaborative partnership between the Seattle Police Department’s IF Project, the Washington State Department of Corrections, and community social service agencies to address the needs of women leaving the Washington Corrections Center for Women. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study examined 85 women (60 in the experimental group and 25 in the comparison group) released from the Washington Corrections Center for Women in 2017 and 2018. Results show a significant difference between groups with respect to violations and arrests. Factors associated with rearrest/violations were the number of post-release SWR contacts, age, and LS/CMI scores. Qualitative findings reveal program satisfaction among participants and themes that tell a story about how women navigate the reentry process showing distinct stages in the reentry process characterized by support stability, and responsibility. Research and policy implications for gender-responsive services for women leaving prison are discussed.