Promoting Second Chances at a Women’s Prison in Texas
Dear Friends,
We are excited to announce that Texas Defender Service, in partnership with Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance and the University of Texas School of Law Mithoff Pro Bono Program, is teaching a parole self-advocacy workshop to women incarcerated in a Texas prison. Ten women incarcerated at the Coleman facility are now learning how to better advocate for themselves before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Half of the Texas prison population is currently eligible for parole, meaning they can serve the remainder of their sentence at home. So many incarcerated people are ready to be released and to become breadwinners, caregivers, and contributing community members. But the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles grants parole in only about 35% of the cases it reviews each year.
To make matters worse, incarcerated people receive little to no information about how to self-advocate during the parole process, which requires assembling a parole packet, crafting a reentry plan, and gathering letters of support.
We are starting to change that with our new five-week course, in which students learn about parole decision-making, how to tell their story, what information to include in their parole packet, building out their reentry plan, and how to prepare for their parole interview.
It is our hope that these workshops will empower each student through knowledge and guidance, and help show the parole board why they are ready to go home and contribute their unique gifts and capabilities in our world. These ten women will submit parole packets complete with a narrative of their life and personal growth, letters of support, program certificates, and any other exhibits that show the Parole Board who they are as an individual. As we continue to teach these workshops, we aim to expand and eventually offer an online version of the course for free on all TDCJ tablets.
Our deep thanks to the incredible team of advocates at Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance and to volunteer students from the University of Texas School of Law for partnering with us to make this class possible. Together, we will continue to lift up second chances for incarcerated women in Texas and the families and communities who love them.
With gratitude,
Burke Butler
Executive Director
Texas Defender Service
