About the Women’s Advocacy Project
Policy Recommendations
WAP Media Guide
Women’s Advocacy Project
The Women’s Advocacy Project (WAP) began in 2003 with the goal of developing a group of leaders equipped to craft solutions to the problems facing incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women. WAP is comprised of a diverse group of women who are working in the community, formally incarcerated, and/or current or former participants in treatment and alternative to incarceration (ATI) programs. In a climate where their perspectives are sorely lacking, WAP teaches women to draw from experiences with the criminal justice system to create and carry out strategies for change.
WAP achieves this through a curriculum stressing issue education, analysis of the sources of power, current events, and participation in local and state forums for advocacy. An incubator for talent and leadership, WAP provides a safe environment where participants can:
- Make connections between individual experiences and systemic problems
- Bring new perspectives to ongoing conversations about women, communities, and criminal justice
- Learn about the structure of government and identify who has authority in matters of concern
- Explore and practice ways of influencing policy
- Develop skills in critical thinking, policy analysis, presentation, and public speaking
- Design and execute advocacy strategies
In 2003, participants in the Women’s Advocacy Project pilot engaged in a discussion about obstacles to successful community reentry and then developed a set of recommendations for improving the discharge planning system. They presented their recommendations to top-level officials at the Department of Criminal Justice Services and New York State Parole.
Since the pioneering first class of WAP, subsequent WAP classes have dealt with issues as diverse as family reunification, alternatives to incarceration, access to education, and justice reinvestment. WAP women have presented their recommendations to members of the New York City Council, spoken at the national Child Welfare League of America conference, lobbied in Albany, testified before a New York State Senate hearing on reentry, and presented to the Commissioners of the Administration for Children’s Services and the Department of Correction in New York City.
By providing education on substantive issues and training in advocacy skills, the Women’s Advocacy Project equips women with criminal justice histories to make an impact on policy formation – in housing, health care, child services, employment, sentencing and other areas of importance in their lives.
For more information, contact us:
Phone: 646-292-7750
Email: info@wpaonline.org
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Women's Advocacy Project: Policy Recommendations
The Women's Advocacy Project is WPA's leadership and advocacy training program for women with past criminal justice involvement. Participants learn to turn their experiences with criminal justice, child welfare and other public systems into expertise they can use to bring about policy change.
Investing in Education in Prisons and Communities (Jan. 2009)
Shifting Resources from Prisons to Communities (Dec. 2007)
Improving Outcomes for Women in Reentry (Dec. 2006)
Making Familiy Reunification a Reality for Criminal Justice-Involved Women, 2005
Improving Legal Representation of Parents in Family Court (2004)
Improving Discharge Planning From Jail and Prison (2003)
