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Breaking
the cycle of crime within families
Children with incarcerated parents are six to eight
times more likely to enter the criminal justice system
themselves. The Enterprising Girl Scouts Beyond Bars
program strives to keep young girls with incarcerated
mothers from developing negative behavior patterns.
The program provides counseling and other services to
help children of offenders build and maintain self-esteem.
The ultimate goals of the program are to improve the
mother-daughter relationship, improve their self image,
and assist the mothers in becoming active, employed,
and involved parents.
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| Mothers
at the HilltopUnit in Gatesville work with CPI
case managers to provide better support to their
daughters in the Enterprising Girl Scouts Beyond
Bars Program. |
Download
Program Factsheet (pdf file)
Watch the Troop 1500 video
trailer (quicktime file)
The Crime Prevention Institute partners with three other
groups for this Austin initiative: the Girl
Scouts – Lone Star Council, the YWCA,
and the University
of Texas School of Social Work. Cumulatively, these
agencies provide case management, employment placement
assistance, recruitment and training of volunteers and
mentors, group therapy, drug treatment and counseling,
program evaluation, and job preparation skills and training.
This continuum of services helps young girls understand
their value and eases the trauma of having a mother
behind bars.
In
October 2005, the Mental Health Association of Texas
presented the Ring
of Honor Award to the Crime Prevention Institute
for the agency’s role in the Girls Scouts Beyond
Bars project. Also that year, a documentary on this
watershed program premiered at the internationally-recognized
SXSW Film Festival
in Austin, Texas. Directed by award winning filmmakers
Ellen Spiro and Karen Bernstein, Troop
1500: Girl Scouts Beyond Bars was broadcasting nationally
on PBS, featured in People Magazine, and spotlight in
Oprah Winfrey’s “O” Magazine.
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