What is the In-Custody Day Program?

The Gemma Day Program is an integrated therapeutic and reentry skill building curriculum designed to target the specific needs and challenges of incarcerated women. Research has shown that interventions provided within correctional settings or those that bridge institutional and community services are more effective than those administered solely in the community.

The curriculum supports participants to identify their behavior patterns, personal strengths and needs, as well as the barriers that prevent them from achieving their goals. It also provides skills and resources to help reduce recidivism and break the cycle of incarceration.

Program Approach

• The program utilizes a therapeutic cohort model (closed enrollment) in which trust, safety and group cohesion are key

• We utilize individual assessments to identify, measure, and track needs, risks, and growth

• We use a high dosage of the curriculum to maximize exposure, practice opportunities, and to reinforce concepts and skill building prior to release

• We are trained in and are able to incorporate all of the following evidence-based curricula into program delivery: Helping Women Recover; Beyond Trauma; Beyond Violence and Seeking Safety.

• We support participants to build awareness of habitual patterns of behavior that cause harm and to increase capacity to make healthier less harmful decisions

• We approach behaviors from a root-cause perspective that supports choice and motivation for change

• We create and maintain an environment of safety, structure, and support where participants can experience success

• We begin individualized reentry planning as soon as participants enroll in programming

• We focus on addressing immediate and basic needs through a trauma responsive lens

• When delivered to fidelity, the program meets the requirements of Intensive Outpatient Treatment (IOP) programming

• We provide a seamless transition and continuity of care in which participants remain connected to the same team of support they worked with prior to release

What specific services do Day Program participants receive?

• Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA) the only validated instrument developed to assess the needs of incarcerated women 

• Quality of Life Assessment to measure risk and growth in all reentry domains 

• 120 hours of in-custody cohort programming provided by skilled, trained facilitator and supplemented by subject matter experts 

• Individualized reentry planning with Continuing Care Coordinator prior to release

• Group reentry planning with Continuing Care Coordinator prior to release

• A completed co-created individualized Reentry & Wellness Plan

• Referrals to and enrollment into county and community based services

• Continuing Care Program upon reentry including system navigation

Who is eligible?

• Women 18 years and older who are in custody who are within four to six months of release

• Participants must be able to safely engage in group programming

• All applicants that express motivation to reduce harm and increase health in their lives are accepted

• Participants may discontinue programming at any time

What is Continuing Care?

Continued structure and support help reduce the risk of relapse into harmful behaviors after release. The Continuing Care (CC) program offers up to 18 months of post-release support for women who have participated in the Gemma Day Program. The CC team assists participants in building a support network that extends beyond The Gemma Project. If additional assistance is needed beyond one year, services may be extended at no cost to the participant.

• Participants may choose to utilize the CC services of their choice including:

  • individual and/or group case coordination

  • individual and/or group therapy

• Participants are encouraged to enroll in the structured 12-week CC program which includes individual and group case coordination and therapy all of which is focused on stability in the twelve Reentry & Wellness Plan goal areas: 

  1. Personal Behavior Commitments

  2. Coping Skills

  3. Basic Needs: e.g. food, transportation, clothing

  4. Housing/Shelter

  5. Employment and Income

  6. Money Management

  7. Recovery

  8. Social Support Network

  9. Physical and Behavioral Health including medication

  10. Education/Training

  11. Probation/Parole/Children & Family Services/the courts etc.

  12. Community Service/Civic Engagement

Does Gemma Work?

YES! We’re so glad you asked!

• An independent evaluation showed a 40% reduction in recidivism from 70% to 30%

• The Gemma Project is committed to providing effective programming and services, specifically designed to meet the unique needs of incarcerated women that prevents them from continued justice system involvement

• We collect data, analyze and share the impacts of our direct service program on our path to continuous quality improvement

• Evaluation, analysis of outcomes, and sharing results publicly are key components of our site replication model in sites across the country

• The Gemma Project is also committed to supporting the research that shows that recidivism alone is an incomplete measure of success and that in order to accurately capture both behavior change in individuals as well as safety or risk in the community, we cannot solely rely on binary measures to tell the story.