by Marina Duane, Megan Russo, Matthew Williams

Women are the fastest-growing population in America’s correctional facilities. Researchers estimate that the number of incarcerated women has increased between 750 and 900 percent over the past four decades (The Sentencing Project 2019).1 In response, many jails are working to better assess justice-involved women’s risks and needs, improve their conditions of confinement and service delivery, and support community reentry. This case study belongs to a series highlighting work supported by the Safety and Justice Challenge’s Innovation Fund. It describes Project Safe Release, a pilot implemented in Cumberland County, Maine, to better identify the needs of women entering the Cumberland County Jail, understand their victimization histories, and connect them to appropriate services before and after release. It also outlines Project Safe Release’s inception, evolution, and implementation (including key policies and processes); examines early outcomes and implementation challenges; and shows how other localities can better coordinate services for women released on pretrial supervision

Washington DC: The Urban Institute, 2020. 27p.