Gender-Responsive and Trauma-Informed Strategies for Women to Reduce Recidivism

The Second Chance Act (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of incarcerated adults and juveniles who are released from prison, jail, and juvenile residential facilities and returning to communities. The Second Chance Act Programs are designed to help communities develop and implement comprehensive and collaborative strategies that address the challenges posed by offender reentry and recidivism reduction.

Section 101 of the Second Chance Act authorizes federal awards to states that may be used for demonstration projects to promote the safe and successful reintegration into the community of individuals who have been incarcerated or detained and reduce overall recidivism rates. The goal of Section 101 of the Second Chance Act is to provide support to eligible applicants, in this case state correctional agencies (state departments of corrections or community corrections) or State Administering Agencies (SAAs), for the development and implementation of comprehensive and collaborative strategies that address the challenges posed by reentry to increase public safety and reduce recidivism. The goal of this program is to assist state teams in developing statewide recidivism reduction strategic plans. The objectives for the Second Chance Act Statewide Adult Recidivism Reduction Strategic Planning Program are to: (1) identify drivers of recidivism in the state; (2) identify a target population and recidivism reduction goals for the state; (3) review the alignment of existing corrections programs and practices with evidence-based practices; and (4) develop a strategic plan to meet statewide recidivism reduction goals using evidence-based practices.

The Virginia Department of Corrections will use grant funds to target gender-responsive reentry considerations of incarcerated women through a trauma-informed care framework. The Virginia Department of Corrections will work in partnership with other state agencies to increase collaboration among government and community programs that work with the target population to provide reentry, treatment or stabilization services. The project goals include a statewide strategic plan to implement evidence-based, gender-responsive, and trauma-informed practices that will produce measurable reductions in recidivism among women, thereby improving the safety of the public, victims, children of incarcerated women, and communities across the Commonwealth.
CA/NCF