The Hidden Heart of Reentry: How the Expertise of Women with Incarcerated Loved Ones and Formerly Incarcerated Women Is Reshaping Reentry
- Kera Riddick
- 14 hours ago
- 2 min read
The impact of pretrial detention on Black women
Across the U.S., women—especially Black women—are often the unrecognized backbone of reentry, supporting loved ones after incarceration. Essie Justice Group’s Black Mama’s Bail Out campaign recognizes this expertise, and it serves as the foundation for their approach to reentry and community care in action.
Each year before Mother’s Day, Essie Justice Group’s Black Mama’s Bailout campaign works to secure the release of Black mothers being held in pretrial detention in California. The Black Mama’s Bail Out arose as a collective response to the outsized impact of the bail system on Black mothers—earlier research indicates that Black women are 85% more likely than their white counterparts to be held on bail. But this campaign does more than secure freedom—it redefines what reentry can look like when it is led by women whose lived expertise shapes a more just and human approach to reentry.
This month, the National Black Women’s Justice Institute published “The Hidden Heart of Reentry: Lessons from Essie Justice Group’s Black Mama’s Bail Out Campaign and the Expertise of Women with Incarcerated Loved Ones”—an evaluation of the Black Mama's Bail Out campaign. The report explores how the annual campaign reunites Black mothers with their children and families while highlighting the often invisible labor and leadership of women impacted by incarceration.
National Black Women’s Justice Institute’s Process Evaluation of Essie Justice Group’s Black Mama’s Bail Out Campaign
The National Black Women's Justice Institute conducted a process evaluation to better understand how Essie’s Black Mama’s Bail Out campaign is implemented, what factors shaped its delivery, and how future efforts can be strengthened. Our evaluation of the Black Mama’s Bail Out campaign in California uncovered critical findings that can guide reentry efforts across the country:
Leadership from directly impacted women is essential. Women with incarcerated loved ones—and formerly incarcerated women—played a central role in the campaign’s success. Their leadership and lived experiences supporting their loved ones through incarceration provided invaluable expertise and offered Mamas emotional support, resources, and care that transformed the reentry experience.
Community care requires strong, value-aligned partnerships. Meeting the long-term needs of bailed-out Mamas requires collaboration with local service providers who share the vision of healing over punishment.
Bail out processes are complex and vary by jurisdiction. Each jurisdiction has its own regulations and red tape. Understanding and navigating these nuances is key to ensuring a successful bailout.
Our findings offer a roadmap for organizations and communities seeking to build holistic, healing-centered reentry programs that invite the lived experiences and leadership of system-impacted Black women.
Collaborating with organizations like Essie Justice Group and evaluating the Black Mama’s Bail Out campaign and similar initiatives are integral to our mission to end the criminalization of Black women and girls by researching, evaluating, and elevating approaches that are gender- and culturally-affirming, and rooted in healing—not punishment.
We invite policymakers, organizers, community leaders, and others to explore the full report and use its insights to drive change.