The unPrison Project Programs

As part of the national speaking tour by Deborah Jiang Stein into women’s prisons, the vision for the following programs of The unPrison Project is to provide:

Goals journals, imprinted with action items for inmates to pursue: education, drug/alcohol rehab or support groups, mental health counseling — all major factors in crime and incarceration. 85% of inmates are in for drug-related crimes, 80% have a diagnosable mental illness, and most under-educated.

College scholarship(s) for high school age daughters of inmates in Alderson Federal Prison, my birthplace.

Mother Mail: program to connect  Kindergarten-Grade 6 children with their mothers incarcerated in federal prisons, pilot project for Alderson prison inmates.

Develop a survey instrument as a tool to measure outcomes for the women in prisons who are involved in UPP programs. The key metrics will include enrollment in a class or other prison training program, participation and completion of a chemical dependency program with continued involvement in support groups, consistent appointments with a counselor for mental health issues, increased contact with family, if appropriate, and fewer behavior violations. This will be specific to each program and appropriate to each individual woman.

Summer camp for girls of incarcerated mothers: When men are in Federal Prisons, the women in their lives arrange the children’s visitation for the term of the prison sentence. When women are incarcerated in Federal Prisons, visitation with their children is rare.  UPP camp program will allow elementary age daughters to visit and attend summer camp for 1-2 weeks in a location near their mothers’ incarceration. Six locations, one for each of the 6 federal women’s prisons. Pilot program in Alderson.