Webinar Archive:  Reentry Series

Webinar date:  June 19, 2013

Description

This webinar features three formerly incarcerated women who became advocates (for themselves and other incarcerated women) while serving time in state prison, and have continued their advocacy since they have been out.  They talk about strategies and interventions that are most needed by reentering women to help facilitate successful reentry after serving time in prison.

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Presenters discuss

• why advocates and other practitioners need to understand the experiences of being incarcerated;

• the need for advocates and other practitioners to address prior trauma including the trauma of being incarcerated;

• interventions and strategies that are particularly helpful — as well as those that are not helpful (or even problematic or those that create greater risk);

• differences between women reentering after serving long sentences and those serving short sentences; and

• particular issues for victims of battering (before, during, and/or after incarceration).

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About the Presenters

Brenda Clubine is a domestic violence survivor who offers a unique perspective regarding the dynamics and extreme consequences of abuse.  On October 22, 2008, Brenda Clubine was released from prison after serving 26 years for defending herself against her abusive husband.  She is the founder of Convicted Women Against Abuse (CWAA), the first abuse support group within the U.S. prison system.  Her story is the subject of the life-changing documentary Sin By Silence.

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Since Brenda was released on October 22, 2008, she has traveled across the U.S. as a professional speaker and advocate for victims of abuse.  She is the Founder and Executive Director of Every 9 Seconds, an organization that advocates for incarcerated abuse victims.  She now continues with her advocacy by speaking out about the dangers of abusive relationships in hopes that people will continue to make a difference in the struggle against domestic violence.

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Mary Heinen is a long-time Prisoners' Rights Activist and a Reentry Specialist.  She went to prison in 1976 and within months of entering prison, she became an outspoken advocate for women.  She was the lead plaintiff in the landmark case, Glover v. Johnson, which secured gender equity in prison educational and vocational programming and held prisoners have the constitutional right to access to the courts.  While incarcerated, Heinen earned a paralegal degree and two bachelor degrees and assisted thousands of women and their families with legal issues.  Heinen was released in 2002, when Michigan Governor John Engler commuted her life sentence.  Since her release, she has served on the Working Group on Reentry in Lansing, the statewide Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative, and the Reentry Roundtable in Grand Rapids.  She is the co-founder of the Prison Creative Arts Project, which provides university workshops and networking opportunities for incarcerated youth and adults in Michigan and hosts the Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners.  She also co-founded the national Prison Arts Coalition in CA at CR10 in 2008. She was selected as an Open Society Foundation Fellow in 2011 and developed a reentry project to help people returning from Michigan correctional facilities to advocate for themselves and determine their own needs.  In 2012, Mary received her MSW from the University of Michigan.

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Antoinette M. Johnson is a formerly incarcerated survivor.  She has extensive knowledge of the issue of domestic violence and the incarceration of battered women because she has lived and overcome both.  In her role as a consultant to the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association, Ms. Johnson serves as a speaker on their Formerly Incarcerated Women's Speaker's Bureau and a group facilitator for the KDVA 2nd Chance Coaches' Project.  Ms. Johnson also advocates on behalf of those like her and shares her personal experience with youth groups, university students, and others interested in ending domestic violence.  Currently, Ms. Johnson is pursuing a degree in Criminal Justice and resides in Louisville, KY.

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Click here to access recording.  A copy of the PowerPoint (and any other documents from the webinar) is available by clicking here.