What is the WRWG?

The New Haven Women’s Resettlement Working Group (NHWRWG) was created in response to the lack of local conversations about incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women in our community. We saw a need for a space where women are centered and professionals can share resources that can support women when they are resettling into the community after incarceration. Facilitating conversations, enhancing criminal-legal education, and developing a space for resources are some of the goals in our work as a community led-group. We are made up of educators, students, social workers, case-managers, agency representatives, and directly impacted women who can share important insight into the needs of who we aim to serve.

Why ‘resettlement’ instead of ‘reentry’?

In academic and community that study criminal-legal systems and the people impacted by it, you will often hear the term “re entry” in reference to formerly incarcerated people entering the “outside” community again. Halkovic & Cory Greene (2015) offer thoughtful insight into why groups such as the NHWRWG uses the term resettlement rather than re entry:

Resettlement - a war analogy, acknowledges that before individuals can resettle or return “home” their communities must be vibrant, relieved from the war on crime, and infused with resources, such as public housing, healthcare, employment, and education

While re-entry assumes that individuals can pick up where they left off when returning to their community, resettlement addresses the need for systemic change in order to support individuals fully on their journey of resettling outside of incarceration (Halkovic & Cory Greene, 2015). The NHWRWG emphasizes the need for us to build strong community support systems before expecting our environment is ready to be reacclimated into.