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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Margaret Egan, Chief Executive Officer of Women's Prison Association
9:07:21
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Margaret Egan, CEO of the Women's Prison Association (WPA), testified on the systemic inequities that lead to women's incarceration and proposed alternatives to Rikers Island. She emphasized the need for prevention, support, and restorative justice approaches to reduce the number of incarcerated women in New York City.
- WPA envisions developing community-based services and support as an alternative to incarceration for the approximately 400 women currently held at Rikers Island.
- Egan called for not only restoring but expanding funding for Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) and reentry programs.
- WPA requested funding to develop a pathway to make women's incarceration obsolete, provide robust clinical care, and create a comprehensive discharge planning infrastructure.
Margaret Egan
9:07:21
Good evening.
9:07:21
My name is Meg Egan, it is my honor and privilege to lead the Women's Prison Association.
9:07:26
Chair Salaam, I wanna thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
9:07:31
Throughout our one hundred and eighty year history, WPA has been a force for change, challenging the systemic inequities that criminalize and marginalize women, particularly black and brown women.
9:07:42
For these women, incarceration is not merely a consequence of a single event, but the result of compounding systemic failures, poverty, housing instability, trauma, and lack of opportunity.
9:07:54
The harms and failures of Rikers Island are real.
9:07:56
The cost of families, communities, and the city is immeasurable.
9:08:01
Mothers are separated from children, communities lose contributors.
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The cycle of inequity perpetuates and deepens.
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But what if there was a different way?
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A way that prioritized prevention, provided support, and treated justice as an opportunity for restoration rather than punishment.
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WPA envisions that path forward.
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There are just over 400 women held on Rikers Island right now.
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We believe that together with our partners, we can develop the services and support to make the community the safety minded default rather than Rikers Island.
9:08:36
Our work will center on the following priorities to develop the infrastructure of services to meaningfully address the compounding systemic failures that diminish safety.
9:08:46
As Megan said, the city must not just restore the ATI and reentry funding currently cut, but expand these essential and effective programs.
9:08:56
We are also requesting funding to lay out a clear and practical pathway to make incarceration for women obsolete in New York City.
9:09:04
Funding to provide robust clinical care to our clients and improve outcomes, to improve outcomes and public safety.
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And funding to develop a robust discharge planning infrastructure to ensure that planning begins the moment a woman sets foot on Rikers Island.
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Through this work, WPA will break barriers, shatter systems, and reshape societal norms to significantly reduce the number of women incarcerated in New York City.
9:09:30
This will significantly increase the opportunity, financial security, and stability for women, their families, their communities,
Nora Daniel
9:09:38
and our city.