Opportunities to Optimize Programming to Support Health and Wellness in California’s Women’s Prisons
This report is the first in a three-part series by Amend aimed at identifying strategies to support and empower people incarcerated in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)’s women’s prisons to improve their health and wellness. It includes recommendations to reimagine California’s women’s prisons with a focus on health, wellness, and empowerment through the creation of health and wellness centers and an emphasis on individualized rehabilitation. It includes action steps to ensure that programming is gender-responsive, trauma-informed, timely, accessible, high-quality, relevant, and delivered in a safe environment.
Emerging Innovations to Optimize Women’s Health, Wellness, and Empowerment in Prison
The second in a three-part series by Amend aimed at identifying strategies to support and empower people incarcerated in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)’s women’s prisons to improve their health and wellness, this report draws from international examples to present approaches that other prison systems have deployed. The report describes each practice, its connection to health impacts, and actionable steps for implementation in California.
Strengthening the Women’s Prison Workforce: Recruitment and Training
This report is the third in a three-part series by Amend aimed at identifying strategies to support and empower people incarcerated in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)’s women’s prisons to improve their health and wellness. It includes recommendations around 1) recruiting staff with the right mindset, background, and skills, and 2) providing training that equips staff to support incarcerated women in transforming their lives. These recommendations focus on the development of a professionalized and mission-driven workforce, and operate alongside those in the first two reports from this series, to present a vision for health-focused prison system that is gender-responsive and trauma-informed.