Interrupted Life: Incarcerated Mothers in the United States at UIC
Fri, 09/25/2009 - 12:45pm | 
elizabeth
From August 24 to September 23, the art exhibit Interrupted Life: Incarcerated Mothers in the United States was on display at the University of Illinois Chicago campus. Curated by Rickie Solinger, the exhibit uses the original art of hundreds of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated mothers across the country to convey the heart-rending separation that incarcerated mothers and their children face every day. The exhibit featured works that members of our Visible Voices group created in 2005.
CLAIM Advocacy Coordinator Darlene Horton led a panel discussion in conjunction with the exhibit, featuring two Visible Voices members who live at the Women’s Treatment Center, a facility where women complete their sentences while living with their children. They described their experiences of incarceration, the pain of separation and its lasting effects on their children, and the importance of community-based sentencing like the Women’s Treatment Center. The panel was well-attended and well-received. We thank the Jane Addams College of Social Work, DePaul University and Roosevelt University's Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation for hosting the exhibit, and Jane Addams CSW at UIC for hosting the panel.
Click here to see more Visible Voices contributions!
Create guardianships so children can stay with trusted caregivers, and out of the foster care system. Teach mothers in jail about family law and the best interest of the child. Host meetings for formerly imprisoned women. Testify at public hearings to win humane policy. Meet with corrections officials to make visits better for children. These are a few things that CLAIM staff and volunteers do to bring justice to incarcerated mothers and their children. You can help us make a difference. Please be as generous as possible.
Current Size: 100%
- Approximately 80% of the 16,239 women in Chicago’s Cook County Jail in 2004 were mothers.
- About 80% of women detained at Cook County Jail are charged with non-violent crimes.
Because children need their mothers.