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Girl Scouting Beyond Bars (GSBB) GSBB Program GSBB History GSBB Mission/Goals GSBB at Work GSBB Funding How to Help Mentoring Service Ops Download: Brochure Program Facts Commit to a Girl |
History of Girl Scouting Beyond Bars Girl Scouting Beyond Bars (GSBB) is based on a model developed in Maryland. State Trial Judge Carol E. Smith of the District Court of Baltimore City contacted the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for help in developing a parent-child visitation program at the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women. From this, a public/non-profit partnership evolved when the NIJ approached Girl Scouts of Central Maryland for help in providing a special program for this under-served population of girls. The project evolved into a successful program and is being replicated today in 22 other states. Ours is the only GSBB program in New Jersey, serving girls ages 5-17 whose mothers are incarcerated at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, the state's only prison for women serving sentences of one year of more. When we started in 1995, we were only the third such program in the nation. Since that time, more than 400 girls have participated. We initially served young women from Newark whose mothers were in minimum security. In 1996 we began reaching out to girls from Plainfield and Trenton who were in the same situation. The program was expanded to the maximum-security area of the facility in 1998. This permitted greater participation and the opportunity for greater continuity of participants whose mothers are moved between the prison's security areas. The program is now operating with two staff members and 12 volunteers. For more information about the Girl Scouting Beyond Bars program, or to volunteer, contact at (908)725-1226. |
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