Chicago: Mayor Brandon Johnson Announces Launch Of New Community Reentry Support Center For Women Returning From Incarceration

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson, Director of the Mayor's Office of Reentry Joseph Mapp, and Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) Commissioner Angela Green today announced the launch of the City's first-ever women-focused Community Reentry Support Center (CRSC), where women returning from incarceration will be able to access resources tailored to the unique needs and challenges they face.

"As part of my administration's commitment to building a safer Chicago for all, I am proud to launch the Women's Community Reentry Center and address the challenges justice-impacted women face," said Mayor Johnson. "When our mothers and sisters have the opportunity to heal and find stability, our entire city thrives. Through this trauma-informed and holistic center, we will empower women and families while building a City government rooted in equity and justice."

The women's CRSC operating contract has been awarded to the Women's Justice Institute, a Chicago-based, national nonprofit and "think and do tank" focused on ending women's mass incarceration, systems transformation, and building leadership among formerly incarcerated women, which has demonstrated excellence and innovation in its commitment to gender-responsive, reentry-focused care. Over 80% of the WJI Team are formerly incarcerated women leaders and offer peer-led services at the CRSC.

"For decades, women have been the smallest, yet fastest growing justice population in the nation. As a result, systems and providers have often overlooked their unique needs, pathways and voices, and have failed to create safe, dignified spaces for accessing the care and support they truly need and deserve. But not today," said Deanne Benos, Executive Director and Co-founder of the Women's Justice Institute. "Nowhere in the nation is a major city centering women with lived experience in justice transformation work like the Chicago Women's CRSC. We are incredibly proud to partner with the City of Chicago in launching this historic initiative that will not only expand the reach of our national model, peer-led WJI Reclamation Center, but result in an unprecedented level of access to citywide services and women-centered capacity-building opportunities in the process."

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The Johnson administration has put increased support for individuals returning from incarceration at the center of the Mayor's strategy to build a safer Chicago. CRSCs available throughout the city provide resources including food and housing assistance, employment assistance, education and training, mentoring and support groups, connection to counseling services, information on sealing or expunging criminal records, family reunification and child support assistance, and resources for loved ones.

But women returning from incarceration, especially Black and brown women, face particularly complex challenges as they return home. Roughly 75% have experienced domestic violence, and over 60% are mothers to children under age 18.

"Through close partnership with DFSS, the addition of a women-focused CRSC strengthens Chicago's broader continuum of care and reflects a deliberate commitment to building a city that is responsive to the lived realities of all Chicagoans," said Joseph Mapp, Director of the Mayor's Office of Reentry. "Incarceration fractures families and communities in different ways, and women's incarceration often carries distinct ripple effects given the caregiving, relational, and economic roles women disproportionately hold. This center recognizes those realities and affirms that an inclusive city must design reentry and recovery systems that meet women where they are, with pathways grounded in dignity, healing, and long-term stability."

The Women's CRSC will operate out of the WJI Reclamation Center, located at 2150 S. Canalport Ave. The Women's CRSC will be the first program of its kind in the nation to leverage WJI's dynamic Women's Justice Pathways (WJP) Model, which was built on four decades of research on justice-involved women to provide a range of gender responsive, trauma-informed, and family-centered services primarily delivered by women with lived experience. Among its offerings, the Women's CRSC will provide:

• Access to a citywide network of services and supports;
• A safe, dignified, child-friendly space designed by/for system-impacted women;
• Peer-led, trauma-informed and gender responsive systems navigation and care; coordination services that center dignity and personal agency;
• Development of individualized plans and goals;
• Interventions and support for women that have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking and other forms of abuse;
• Mental and behavioral health services connections;
• Housing and employment navigation;
• Family reunification;
• Wellness and holistic care programming;
• Access to community-building, arts and healing programs.

"We are proud to be leading the change within community reentry services to meet what we know are distinctive challenges faced by women returning from incarceration," said DFSS Commissioner Angela Green. "Many women return to roles as mothers and caretakers to others at the same time they are looking to stabilize and reestablish their own lives. The set of concerns they face can be different, and this center helps ensure we are providing a safe, welcoming, and supportive space that recognizes and rises to meet those needs."

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Four additional delegate agencies were also announced as awardees for 2026 CRSC operating contracts across the city's four CRSC zones. These delegates will serve all individuals returning from incarceration regardless of gender identity. They include:

ZONE 1: Howard Evanston Community Center

7648 N. Paulina St.

Chicago, IL 60626

773-262-6622

Zone 2: UCAN

3605 W. Fillmore St.

Chicago, IL 60624

Zone 3: Teamwork Englewood

815 W. 63rd St.

Chicago, IL 60621

Zone 4: UCAN

845-847 W. 115th St.

Chicago, IL 60643

The City's five CRSCs are key components of the Johnson Administration's People's Plan for Community Safety, which emphasizes community healing, investment in non-carceral support systems, and the creation of pathways to opportunity for those most impacted by systemic harm.

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