Services are voluntary and at no cost.
People leaving prison face barriers such as poverty, low education, limited employability, and obstacles reuniting with their children. Stride fosters relationships between the community and incarcerated people that extend beyond prison to to support folks as they navigate reintegration.
Stride Night is a weekly shared activity within the prison where volunteers and incarcerated women and gender diverse people have the opportunity to meet and get to know one another.
Here, Stride staff and volunteers focus on providing a welcoming space with healthy activities, geared towards facilitating relationships between community volunteers and the participating individuals.
Stride Circles is an intensive service linking the same trained volunteers from Stride Night with people who are incarcerated in order to support their reintegration. Incarcerated folks self-select to partake in Circles, and, overseen by the Circles Coordinator, suggest volunteers they have connected with to be part of their Circle. Stride Circles remain active throughout an individual’s incarceration, and travel with them as they reintegrate to community.
Stride Circles volunteers support participants in diverse ways including practical (transportation, accessing community programming) and social (accessing recreation opportunities, positive peer connections) supports.
To become involved in Stride Night, volunteers must attend an agency orientation, 12 hours of Stride Night training, and meet the requirements of a Reliability Clearance. Stride encourages people of all gender identities, abilities, racial identities, and life experiences to join us.
Read Community Re-Entry: Uncertain Futures for Women Leaving Prison to understand the issues incarcerated women face and the difference programs like Stride make.
It is often challenging to fund Stride. Please Donate!
A women tells her story of reintegration from Kitchener’s Federal Prison and the importance of support from Stride Volunteers.
CJI participants, volunteers, and staff speak in college and university classrooms, at community events, and to local, provincial, and national media to raise awareness about issues of reintegration and people in conflict with the law.
Restorative Justice presents a challenging and courageous approach to addressing harm. Restorative processes require individuals to engage deeply with those they have wronged, often in difficult and uncomfortable ways. Punishment processes do not focus on transforming beliefs or behaviours, whereas restorative justice focuses on building accountability that are meaningful to those harmed. Through dialogue, accountability work, and seeking to meet people’s unmet needs, restorative justice works to seek a transformative, rather than lenient, response to crime.
Restorative justice processes prioritize the participation of everyone affected by harm. However, in some cases, surrogates may step in to meet with those impacted or those responsible for the harm to facilitate understanding and accountability. Additionally, individuals may take personalized steps toward accountability or deeper understanding through conflict coaching, accountability coaching, and other forms of meaningful engagement.
Yes, restorative justice can be very effective in cases of serious crime. There are different strategies and techniques that are used by facilitators who are helping people involved in serious crime dialogue together. Restorative Justice is suitable when victims freely choose to participate and when offenders can demonstrate accountability. The level of harm has no bearing on achieving successful outcomes.
There has also been research into restorative justice options for persons involved in incidents of serious crime. Final results of one evaluation indicated “that almost all program participants were highly satisfied with the restorative approach, especially when compared to participants who experienced only the traditional criminal justice system. Victims and offenders were offered the opportunity to actively participate in the decision-making process, in developing a reparation plan and in some cases, providing a sentencing recommendation. Overall, individuals affected by serious crime were empowered to achieve satisfying justice through a restorative approach.
Rugge, T., Bonta, J., & Wallace-Capretta, S. (2005). Evaluation of the Collaborative Justice Project: A restorative justice program for serious crime. (User Report 2005-02). Ottawa: Public Safety Canada.
Women involved in the justice system in Canada frequently face multiple challenges that influence their pathways to crime. A number have been living in a cycle of chronic poverty and marginalization prior to incarceration. Often, these women have experienced significant abuse and trauma in their lives. The Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women (1990), for example, found that more than two-thirds of women interviewed had been physically abused as children or adults and more than half of them (53%) had been sexually abused at some point in their lives. Addiction is also a significant issue that impacts criminal activity. More than half of women in prison report substance abuse. In Canada, 69% of federally sentenced women indicated that drugs and/or alcohol played a major role in their criminalization. Crime was either a way to obtain drugs, drug money, or alcohol and/or crimes were committed under the influence of substances. (See MAIDMENT, 2006 p 67, 72-73)
Women returning to the community after a period of custody face several barriers to a successful reintegration. Many women will have lost their employment, their belongings, their housing and custody of their children. Often they must start from scratch and overcome significant stigma. Securing employment can be particularly challenging. Low self-esteem, lack of training, mental illness, substance abuse issues, a lack of stable accommodation, and a criminal record can all contribute to difficulty finding a job.
As well, women are often unable to find suitable, affordable living arrangements and may end up homeless. Social isolation often leads women back to old behaviour patterns and may even lead to re-incarceration. (SEE Borzycki, 2005, p 36; Borzycki and Makkai, 2007, p 10, Visher, et al., 2005; Rakis, 2005; Graffam, et al., 2004)
All but a few women will one day be released back into society. Helping them to successfully reintegrate prevents crime and makes communities safer for everyone. As well, from our experience the majority of women who are in jail (federal or provincial prison) want to change, live productively, and provide for their families. In order for these women to be successful, the community needs to be more accepting and supportive as the women try to make changes. It is important that we not only prepare the women for release, but that as a community we come together to support them as they find new social networks, employment, housing, volunteer opportunities, etc.
We all benefit when women don’t return to high-risk activities or crime and instead find a positive place in our communities.
The importance of offering community-based programming within women’s correctional facilities has been continuously highlighted for the last three decades—particularly in the 1990 Creating Choices report. Unfortunately, Canadian institutions (prisons, hospitals, treatment facilities) rarely permit or encourage constructive relationships established within the institutions to continue when a woman is released. To bridge this gap, CJI’s Stride program introduces women in prison to community volunteers and agencies through our weekly Stride Night. Bringing volunteers and agencies into the prison builds trust between incarcerated women and their communities.
Through Stride, positive changes accomplished inside the prison can continue because women can choose to be supported by a Circle of volunteers that they connected with while in custody. Stride Circles are a proven and effective model for supporting people who are marginalized but motivated to change. Circle programs reduce social isolation. Research has demonstrated that reduced social isolation, marked by increased bonds to the community, healthy relationships and access to support systems, reduces the risk of recidivism (returning to crime). The ultimate goal of Stride is that through their Circles, the women will establish healthy connections to the community and constructive networks of social support that will help them reintegrate successfully. (SEE Hirschi, 1969; Sampson & Laub, 2005; Willis & Grace, 2008, p 220)
Most women in the Canadian justice system are already marginalized and this was part of their pathway to crime. Going to prison further compounds the barriers to these women becoming healthy, productive citizens.
In the past we have supported both men and youth, but due to a lack of funding we can no longer offer them. These programs included our program called BackHome, which partnered with two local programs who work with youth in conflict with the law, and Stridemen which supported men in local treatment centers and halfway houses.
Volunteer with Stride
CJI creatively, and innovatively applies restorative justice principles to challenging community problems.
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