Report | November 18, 2014

Orange is Not Your Color

Home visiting programs empower women and prevent crime

While male criminals grab the lion’s share of headlines about our nation’s crime problem, there are now more than 200,000 women behind bars in America—up 600 percent over the past three decades, and nearly twice the rate of increase experienced by men over the same period. There are almost one million women on probation or parole. Almost two-thirds of women in state prisons are mothers.

This report series, Orange is not Your Color, details crime by women nationally and in four states, and highlights research showing how federal investments in voluntary home-visiting programs can be an effective crime prevention strategy for women. Such programs help at-risk and inexperienced moms cope with the stresses of parenting, and learn to better understand their children’s emotional and health needs.

Home visiting can help young, poor pregnant moms avoid orange jumpsuits, while helping their daughters also live crime-free, successful lives.

Sheriff Russell L. Martin Delaware County, Ohio