Webinar Archive:  Reentry Series

Webinar date:  November 20, 2013

 

Description

This webinar addresses issues that are central to a battered incarcerated woman returning to the community and regaining her life.  In this session, April Young, an activist and survivor who was formerly incarcerated, and Sandra Barnhill, an attorney and prisoners' rights activist, talk openly and candidly about the struggles incarcerated battered women face when they reenter the community.  They offer "real world techniques and solutions" for women who are in the reentry process, their families, and the advocates who support them, which are grounded in personal experience and over 25 years of frontline practice.

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This webinar includes a discussion of

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• Facts and Fiction about Incarcerated Survivors of Battering

 

• Reentry Challenges

  • Being Your Whole Self: Healing, Reconciliation, and Recovery

  • Safety Planning

  • Children and Family

  • Connecting and Reintegrating into the Community

 

• Planning for the Future

  • Creating a Success Plan

  • Finding a Sister Outsider Mentor

  • Handling the Reality of Unexpected Challenges

  • Developing Strategies for Survival

 

About the Presenters

Sandra Barnhill, an attorney, is the Founder and President of Foreverfamily, Inc., formerly Aid to Children of Imprisoned Mothers, Inc. (AIM), a national nonprofit that provides direct service programming for children and families affected by parental incarceration.  It in its 26 years, Foreverfamily has provided services to over 15,000 children with a parent in prison.  Ms. Barnhill's pioneering work has been recognized by the Ford Foundation.  In 2004, she was selected as one of eighteen recipients of their Leadership for a Changing World Award.  She also received an Annie E.Casey Foundation Fellowship.  Among her honors was selection in 2009 as One of Atlanta's Top 100 Black Women of Influence by the Atlanta Business League.  She is also on the Board of Visitors for the College of Arts & Sciences at her alma mater, Georgia State University and other board memberships include Men Stopping Violence and National Network on Women in Prison.  Ms. Barnhill was a 2011 Visiting Fellow at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College where during the Spring Term, she team taught a class on social justice and spent concentrated time researching and writing her first book.  She received her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

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April Marie Young, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, is the mother of five children and is a member of the Board of Directors of Keeping the Bonds, Inc., a nonprofit that provides pro bono legal assistance to incarcerated mothers.  April knows firsthand the need for the agency's services.  During the eighteen months she was incarcerated in a Georgia women's prison, April's children resided with their grandmother in Indiana.  Over the last thirteen years she has been able to reunite with all her children.  Ms. Young, a survivor of domestic violence and a recovering addict, who has been clean for 15 years, turned her adversity into victory, and became an advocate for other women who are similarly situated.  Her other community service includes volunteering at the Atlanta Day Shelter, Foreverfamily, Inc., and being a member of the Board of Directors of Women at the Well Transitional Center where she was also a mentor.  April is currently employed by Concessions H&H and has worked for the company for nine years as a server at their airport location.  In 2005, she received the Hartsfield-Jackson Ambassador Award and has also been featured in the Airport News for her outstanding customer service and commitment to excellence.  Ms. Young is the first black woman to receive a pardon in the state of Georgia.

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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.