PROGRAM & CAMPS / DIVERSITY INITIATIVE / GIRL SCOUTS BEYOND BARS

GIRL SCOUTS BEYOND BARS

"Girl Scouts Beyond Bars is absolutely amazing.  It allows us to know we love each other and we can change.  Change is possible." -- Tina, mother
 

  • About Girl Scouts Beyond Bars

    Join Us for A Dialogue--Beyond Bars: Improving Futures by Reconnecting Children & Their Incarcerated Parents

    April 1, 2010 8:00-10:30 am
    UMASS-Boston Student Center Room 3540(3rd Floor)
    100 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, MA 02125-3393

    Read about our distinguished panelists (PDF)


    For more information: Kimberly E. Zouzoua 
    Girl Scouts Beyond Bars Program

    GSBB was instituted by Girl Scouts of the USA in 1992, in partnership with the National Institute of Justice. In monthly Girl Scout meetings with their incarcerated mothers, girls ...

    • learn about the consequences of life choices
    • deal with separation and build strong relationships
    • meet girls-only to talk about their shared experiences and challenges

    GSBB is a sustainable program to help girls at risk cope with a difficult family situation and emerge from it as strong, wise and caring young women. Girls and their mothers learn leadership skills and conflict resolution and have facilitated discussions about family life, violence and drug abuse prevention.

    Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts serves around 35 girls and 20 mothers at Southern Middlesex Correctional Center and MCI Framingham. The program consists of ...

    • Mother-daughter troop meetings at the correctional facility
    • Girl-only troop meetings in their community and at GSEM activities
    • Enrichment activities for mothers, including parenting classes in the correctional facility

    Contact us about GSBB

  • Quick Facts

    GSBB Junior

    • In 2010, we are serving 30 girls.  
    • Girl-only troop meetings take place near the girls’ homes once a month. These meetings allow girls to develop friendships with one another apart from the experience with their mothers. They plan and enjoy activities, sell cookies, take trips and have all benefits of all Girl Scouts.
    • The program is supervised hands-on by professional staff with expertise in this area.
    • There is no cost to girls, mothers or their families. The cost to GSEM is $1,000 per girl.
    • We serve girls throughout Massachusetts.
    • GSEM partners with Families First, a non-profit organization that provides provides parenting education to the mothers and the girls’ guardians. 
    • See our press coverage on GSBB on WCVB's CityLine.

     

     

  • Why GSBB?

    From the Family and Corrections Network of the Federal Resource Center for Children of Prisoners:

    • More than one in every 100 adults in America are in jail or prison.
    • On any given day, over 1.5 million children in this country -- approximately 2% of the minor children — have a parent serving a sentence in a state or federal prison.
    • Between 1995 and 2005, the number of incarcerated women in the U.S. increased by 57%, compared to 34% for men. 75% of incarcerated women are mothers.
    • 55% of state prisoners are parents of children under age 18.
    • 46% of all imprisoned parents lived with at least one of their minor children, prior to incarceration.
    • The average age of children with an incarcerated parent is 8 years old; 22% of the children are under the age of 5.
    • In addition to lowering the recidivism rate among incarcerated parents, there is evidence that maintaining contact with one’s incarcerated parent improves a child’s emotional response to the incarceration and supports parent-child attachment. 

  • Benefits for Girls

    • The program allows the girls to meet girls who are in similar situations.
    • The benefits of mother and child visitation have been well documented. The visits help the girl’s emotional well-being and may prevent negative and/or criminal behavior in the future.
    • Research shows that having contact with her incarcerated parent can improve a girl’s emotional response to the incarceration and ultimately, reduce the likelihood of intergenerational incarceration.
    • Children with contact with their parent have fewer disruptive and anxious behaviors.
    • Girls also participate in other Girl Scout activities like the cookie sale, fun events and camp, building relationships with girls whose parents are not incarcerated.
    • The girl adjusts better to family disruption and the difficulty of parental separation.
       

  • Benefits for Mothers

    • GSBB allows mothers to see their children. According to the Parenting From Prison report released in June 2008, many women experienced fairly limited visitation which may be an indication of damaged family relationships and/or difficulties of trying to maintain family connections while incarcerated.
    • This solves a major roadblock for mothers to receive visits from their children: transportation.
    • To be eligible for GSBB program, mothers must be discipline-free and take parenting classes at the prison.
    • The parent is more likely to maintain a feeling of connection to the child with regular visitation.
    • It was known as early as the 1970s that mother/child contact can benefit both and can help reduce the recidivism rate of mothers. Thus, family contact can have a positive impact on both the families and the community.
    • The GSBB programs helps the mothers work as a team. The mothers have a separate meeting to plan the mother/daughter meeting and work together to come up with activities for everyone to do as a group.

  • Benefits for Both

    GSBB Brownie

    • The mother-daughter relationship grows during the period of the mother’s incarceration.
    • Research indicates that on-going contact between a child and parent benefits both.
    • If regular contact is lost, the child can experience feelings of abandonment, while the parent loses much motivation to remain involved with the family.
    • Allows the mothers and daughters to bond with others that are in the same position.
    • The program gives the participants an outlet to share their experiences in a safe environment