The Justice Involved Women and Children Collaborative (JIWC) hosted the webinar “Preventing Separation and Childhood Trauma: Time for Front-End Action to Preserve Families” on Friday, October 20, 2023. Dr. Ellen Mason facilitated a discussion with Gail Smith and Diana Delgado, who focused on alternatives to incarceration and the Children’sBest Interest Act, which requires courts to consider children’s needs when sentencing parents.

• Diana Delgado served as the Advocacy Coordinator at Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM), and is a speaker for Lake County Haven. She is working toward her associate’s degree in Human Services majoring in addiction studies at the College of Lake County.
• Gail T. Smith is an attorney and the director of the Children’s Best Interest Project. She founded and led Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM), and she won enactment of Illinois laws to end shackling during pregnancy and labor, and to establish community-based sentencing.

There is no recording of this webinar.