National CASA/GAL launches the Parental Incarceration Learning Series  

NEWS

Seattle, Wash. – This month, the National CASA/GAL Association launches its next learning series, focusing on the key issue of children with incarcerated parents. The Parental Incarceration Learning Series, featuring a book club, webinars, and the Change Leader Speaker Series, is the third in a series that includes the Poverty Learning Series and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Series.

On November 17,  Susan Burton was the first speaker in our Change Leader Speaker Series. Ms. Burton virtually joined CASA/GAL’s staff and volunteers to discuss her award-winning memoir, Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women, detailing her struggle to rise above a life of poverty, violence, and loss.

After being released from prison for the sixth time, Ms. Burton was able to access recovery services in an affluent area of Los Angeles. There, she discovered and embraced opportunities that were never offered before. Determined to bring those resources to areas plagued by poverty and over-incarceration, Burton founded A New Way of Life Reentry Project (ANWOL) in 1998.  Now, over two decades later, A New Way of Life is an internationally recognized non-profit organization that promotes healing, leadership development, and safety for formerly incarcerated women. ANWOL has supported the reentry of over 5,500 individuals through safe housing, pro bono legal services and leadership development.