Essential Reentry Needs for Formerly Incarcerated and Trauma-Impacted Black Women

When Black women are released from incarceration, they have many needs that must be met to not just survive, but to achieve stability, safety,and healing and to thrive.

• Housing: Formerly incarcerated women are nearly 12 times more likely to be homeless than the general public. Data also suggest women of color experience unsheltered homelessness at higher rates than white women.

• Employment: Black women returning from incarceration face severe employment barriers, with a 46% unemployment rate—the highest of any group. To understand this in context, the unemployment rate for Black women in the general population is 6.4%. 

• Family Reunification: Fifty percent of incarcerated Black women in prison are mothers with minor children. For women in jail, the number is even higher, where approximately 80% of women in jail are mothers. And many of these incarcerated mothers are the primary caregivers of their children. Reunifying with their children, however, can be a lengthy and complicated process because incarcerated mothers are five times more likely to have their children placed in foster care and have their parental rights taken away due to incarceration more than fathers.

• Substance Use and Trauma & Mental Health Support: Incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Black women are disproportionately survivors of abuse and trauma and have particularly high rates of diagnoses for behavioral health issues such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders (a coping mechanism for many to deal with trauma). Reentry programs are designed to support formerly incarcerated people in gaining access to resources and opportunities to meet these needs and to be able to thrive back home, with the broader aims of reducing recidivism and promoting and strengthening safe and supportive communities.

However, most reentry programs have been designed with men in mind and often overlook the unique needs of women, including the fact that many women who have been incarcerated are survivors of trauma and gender-based violence. For Black women, who are already disproportionately incarcerated, systemic barriers make accessing gender- and culturally affirming support even harder.

Gender-responsive programming reflects the needs and realities of women's lives. Black women leaving confinement deserve to have equitable access to resources, services, and supports they need to transition home, reconnect with family, achieve economic prosperity, feel safe, and to heal.

At the National Black Women’s Justice Institute, we recognize that true justice goes beyond release; it requires pathways to healing, opportunity, and dignity.

That’s why we created the Sisters in Solidarity Reentry Network. The SiS Reentry Network supports the leadership of formerly incarcerated Black women who are championing the movement for culturally-affirming, gender-responsive, and trauma-informed reentry services for women and girls. It is a collaborative space where members learn, share their expertise, and organize to address the most pressing issues facing formerly incarcerated Black women and girls returning home from incarceration.

In honor of Women’s History Month, we recently hosted “The Healing Power of Community: Reclaiming Our Lives After Trauma”, a powerful conversation with two SiS Reentry Network members, Stacey Borden, Founder & Executive Director of New Beginnings Re-Entry Services, and Donna Hylton, President and CEO of A Little Piece of Light (ALPOL). They discuss the vital role of community for formerly incarcerated and trauma-impacted Black women, sharing their personal experiences and expert insights on the barriers to positive support networks, as well as ways to make healing accessible.

Download our Supporting Black Women’s Reentry from Incarceration Recommendations for Reentry Policy & Practice in California report to learn more about the challenges and needs of Black women returning to their communities from carceral institutions. 

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