An Integrated Strategy for Women Leaving

Federal Prison






Submitted By:
Samiya Abdi, Anita Abraham, Bindu Dhaliwal, Devon Krainer,
Roger Mak, Kali Taylor, Katharine Zywert
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of SOCIN 605,
Social Innovation Project

University of Waterloo Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation
June 20th 2014

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 3
1.0 An Integrated Strategy for Women Leaving Federal Prison .................................................... 5
2.0 User Journey- Understanding the Impact of This Strategy ....................................................... 6
3.0 Rationale: Why this Strategy? Why Now? .............................................................................. 8
3.1 Responding to Complexity and Tension ............................................................................... 8
3.2 Enhancing Resilience By Reintegrating Vulnerable Populations ....................................... 10
3.3 Transitions as Times of Increased Vulnerability................................................................. 12
3.4 Women Transitioning Out of the Federal Prison System ................................................... 15
3.5 Acting on the Opportunity Context ..................................................................................... 19
3.6 Niche-Regime Dynamics .................................................................................................... 22
3.7 Potential for Scaling ............................................................................................................ 23
4.0 Elements of an Integrated Strategy ......................................................................................... 25
4.1 Guaranteed Employment ..................................................................................................... 25
4.2 Community Supports .......................................................................................................... 31
4.3 Financial Inclusion .............................................................................................................. 35
4.4 Questions Were Still Holding ............................................................................................ 46
5.0 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 51
Works Cited .................................................................................................................................. 53
Appendix A: Interviews ................................................................................................................ 59
Appendix B: Innovation Space ..................................................................................................... 61
Appendix C: Systems Mapping .................................................................................................... 62
Appendix D: Access to Credit User Journey ................................................................................ 64


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An Integrated Strategy for Women Leaving
Federal Prison
Executive Summary
This strategy works to create the conditions within a resilient system to support incarcerated
women to transition back into community. It offers new resource flows through social finance,
creates novel relationships between existing employment and community service providers, and
seeks to transform a culture that stigmatizes vulnerable populations in transition. While the
strategy itself can be scaled out to serve many populations, for the purposes of prototyping, the
initial phase will focus on supporting women leaving the federal prison system to develop a
sense of belonging, security, and purpose. In an environment of increased conviction rates,
extended sentences, and restrictive parole regulations, women are finding it increasingly difficult
to find their place in community upon their release (OCI, 2013a; Kool, personal communication,
2014). This strategy works at the intersection of these tensions by taking a systems approach to
the vulnerabilities incarcerated women face in their transition out of the prison system.
The strategy proposes an integrated suite of services involving three central components:
guaranteed employment, community supports, and financial inclusion. Employment is
guaranteed during the transition phase by partnering with employment service agencies and
employers to conduct training according to market demand and to provide job placements upon
release. Community supports are also coordinated to enable easy access to social services such
as affordable housing, mental health and addictions counselling, and opportunities to participate
in community life. Complementing these services are two financial products: a small line of
4
credit to facilitate access to capital, and a matched savings account to assist in building long-term
financial security.
Responding to windows of opportunity including the governments Tough on Crime policies,
interest in restorative vs. retributive justice, increased dialogue in the public sphere resulting
from the Ashley Smith inquest, the Lean In movement, and Orange is the New Black, as well as
an emerging market for impact investing, this is a strategy whose time has come. With the
potential to scale out, scale up, and scale deep, this strategy is a disruptive innovation designed to
transform the lives of women leaving federal prison and to build the resilience of the
communities into which they return.
Questions that remain to be answered include how leadership within the strategy will be
organized, what will incentivize community agencies to participate, how the strategy will be
evaluated, and how to ensure that incarcerated women are engaged in the design of the
intervention.


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1.0 An Integrated Strategy for Women Leaving Federal Prison
Women who have been incarcerated for a federal sentence face regulatory, social, and
economic challenges upon their release that act as barriers to their successful transition back into
community as valued and contributing citizens (Hayman, 2006; OCI 2013b; Fortune, personal
communication, 2014). The policies and practices of governments, employers, and financial
institutions make the transition phase difficult with complicated rules and expensive services
(Harris, 2002; Hayman, 2006; Kool, personal communication, 2014). Furthermore, cultural
belief systems concerning the value that formerly incarcerated women can offer society
profoundly influence how they are perceived when trying to access resources in communities
and build new networks of social support (Morash, 2006; Booth, 2012; Himelfarb, personal
communication, 2014). Together, these factors act as marginalizing forces, preventing women in
transition from developing a sense of belonging, security, and purpose when they leave the
prison system.
The strategy proposed here works at the intersection of these tensions by taking a systems
approach to the vulnerabilities incarcerated women face during their transition back into
community. The strategy responds to complexities in the existing system surrounding women in
transition and capitalizes on opportunities currently emerging at the landscape level to develop
alternative resource flows, relationships, and cultural attitudes. This will be achieved by
establishing an integrated suite of financial products, networked services, and employment
opportunities to support women in transition. However, the true innovation in this strategy lies
in creating new relationships between existing elements to build a resilient system that will
facilitate guaranteed employment, financial inclusion, and community integration for women
leaving federal prison.
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Figure 1: Shifting Conditions in the Current System


2.0 User Journey- Understanding the Impact of This Strategy
This strategy is designed to support women leaving federal prison to transition back into
community as valued and contributing citizens. At its core, it works to shift conditions within
the current system by developing new resource flows, new relationships, and new cultural
attitudes. It does this by offering employment services including a guaranteed employment
placement during the transition phase, financial products including a small line of credit and a
matched savings account, as well as easier access to existing social services and community
programs.
These three elements will be integrated at appropriate points before and during the
transition phase to enable financial inclusion and social wellbeing for women leaving federal
prison.
New Resource
Flows
New
Relationships
New Cultural
Attitudes
Redirecting capital and creating financial
products allows formerly incarcerated
women easier access to the financial
supports they need to gain a sense of security
in community.
Creating new relationships between existing
actors including social service providers,
employers, financial institutions, and
women leaving prison ensures wrap-around
services during the transition phase.
Over time, successfully integrating formerly
incarcerated women into communities will
shift belief systems toward greater
recognition that investing in their transitions
can positively benefit society as a whole.
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Figure 2: User Journey

As indicated in Figure 2, incarcerated women will be connected to employment services
approximately one year prior to their anticipated release to begin skills training that will
guarantee them a job placement with an employment partner upon their release. During their
transition into community, they will be connected to a network of community agencies that will
deliver coordinated services that may include affordable housing, mental health and addictions
services, and recreation and culture opportunities depending on the needs of the individual. In
partnership with community organizations and financial institutions, women transitioning back
into communities will also be offered financial services such as a line of credit and a matched
savings account to enable them to achieve financial security during the transition phase.
The subsequent section explores the rationale behind the proposed strategy, including
why it has transformative potential at this point in time. Following this, the three central
elements of the strategy are outlined in greater detail.
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3.0 Rationale: Why this Strategy? Why Now?
By cultivating new resource flows, new relationships, and new cultural attitudes, this
strategy has the potential to transform the experiences of women leaving the federal prison
system, supporting them to successfully reintegrate into community as valued and contributing
citizens. In order to illustrate why this strategy has transformative potential at this particular
moment in time, this section will outline the development of our thinking related to the problem
domain. In particular, it will explore what we learned as we listened to what the existing
system was telling us about opportunities for change and points of intervention where the
strategy could have the greatest impact.
3.1 Responding to Complexity and Tension
When we began the project, we were drawn together by a shared interest in the tensions
that exist between the resilience of existing economic, environmental, and social systems in
Canada. We were also committed to the idea of improving the wellbeing of the marginalized,
which we interpreted to include both the environment and vulnerable populations. As systems
theory emphasizes the importance of the interconnections between components of a system
(Zimmerman, Lindberg, & Plsek, 2008), we were interested not only in the elements that make
up these three systems, but also in the relationships between them. These considerations led to
the development of our initial wicked question:
"How do we enhance economic wellbeing while simultaneously enhancing the wellbeing
of the environment and vulnerable populations?"
We recognized that while economic, environmental, and social wellbeing are
fundamentally interconnected, they are usually addressed separately, resulting in systemic
problems such as increasing income disparity, widespread environmental degradation, and
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endemic social marginalization (Homer-Dixon, 2013). As such, we wanted to develop a strategy
situated at the intersection of the tensions between economic, social, and environmental
wellbeing to reconcile the three axes of our wicked question (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: Intersecting Tensions in Initial Wicked Question

While we knew that we needed to bound these systems further, we also saw value in
holding this tension, honoring its complexity, and thoroughly exploring the ambiguity inherent in
our wicked question, recognizing that it is often by resting in ambiguity that the most innovative
solutions emerge (see Quilley, 2013). In our research, we identified over 40 relevant innovations
including the triple bottom line, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing, duolingo, the sharing
economy, and impact investing. Our team examined clusters of innovation for patterns and
highlighted several elements within them that we wanted to try to carry forward through the
process, namely metrics/data, empathy, irrational drivers of behaviour (see Quilley, 2014) and
financial inclusion (see Social Planning, Policy, and Program Administration, 2012). To us,
these represented potential elements of a successful intervention in the current system. (Refer to
Appendix B and C for further details on our systems mapping and innovation research.)
Economic
Social Environmental
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3.2 Enhancing Resilience By Reintegrating Vulnerable Populations
[I]f the generation of novelty is largely dependent on the recombination of elements
(bricolage), then as we exclude these groups from contribution we also lose their
viewpoints, their diversity, and the particular elements they have to offer the whole. So
social innovation not only serves vulnerable populations, it is served by it. (Westley,
2008)
As our team continued to hold the tension between economic, environmental, and social
wellbeing and began to research deeper into existing innovations, we became increasingly
invested in the notion of re-engaging vulnerable populations as a crucial component of building
the resilience of complex adaptive systems (see
McCarthy & Westley, 2013; Westley, 2008). The
exclusion of large parts of the worlds population from
basic economic and ecological services exposes the
system as a whole to waves of systems failure and
losses of resilience. In contrast, re-engaging vulnerable
populations increases the level of diversity present
within a system, augmenting the elements that are available for bricolage and building the
systems capacity to respond to external shocks (McCarthy & Westley, 2013). The
recombination of elements creates space for the innovations to move more fluidly through the
back loop of the adaptability cycle without getting stuck in a rigity or a poverty trap (Westley,
2013). As such, our strategy allows for the juxtaposition of old and new elements to facilitate
experimentation and emergence (see Westley, 2013). (See Appendix B for more information
about the elements incorporated into this strategy though bricolage.)
One of the most useful things I
learned during this project was how
to look deeply at existing
innovations, separate them into
their central elements, and then
work to recombine them in
interesting ways. Going through
this process as a team helped me
understand how the notion of
bricolage can be operationalized in
a very practical way when
designing a strategy.
- Katharine
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What we were learning about complex adaptive systems in general (see Zimmerman et
al., 2008; Meadows, 2008) and about the intersection of the social, environmental, and economic
systems in particular (see Homer-Dixon, 2013; Quilley, 2013; McCarthy & Westley, 2013) led
us to identify re-engaging vulnerable populations as a place of high leverage for intervention. It
became clear that creating strategies to involve marginalized groups as equal contributors could
have a transformative effect not only for the wellbeing of vulnerable populations themselves, but
for the system as a whole (McCarthy & Westley, 2013; Westley, 2008).
"Social inclusion mustembrace not only ethnic or religious difference, but also people
historically and consistently marginalized, including people with physical or mental
health challenges, or those isolated by poverty, age, or by being otherwise vulnerable.
Being inclusive goes beyond mainstreaming marginalized or isolated groups. It means
creating true communities that are both diverse and cohesive. The importance of
strengthening social cohesion is arguably more important now, given the many influences
in contemporary culture that foster individualism." (Brodhead, 2011)
Choosing to focus on reintegrating
vulnerable populations into existing
systems to build resilience led us to a
new set of tensions that we hoped our
strategy would be able to reconcile. We
wanted to ensure that we werent merely
creating a strategy that would be
transactional in nature or that would
simply make it easier for vulnerable
Are we re-integrating marginalized populations
into a broken system, or a system that works for
them? How do we know when the rules are fair
enough? How our team answered these
questions was by focusing on a strategy that
operates at the niche level. We wanted to create
a niche system that uplifts populations out of
vulnerability. Ultimately with the vision of
strengthening the niche level to the extent that it
challenges and/or interacts with the regime.
Another immense learning for me was realizing
how different but very much the same my
teammates views are on the economy, and who
it works for, and where it can go. Each of us had
faith in our economy to be used as a means to
social and environmental ends
- Devon
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populations to enter a system that was stuck in a deep basin of attraction oriented toward their
continued exclusion. We recognized that despite what we thought would become central
elements of our strategy earlier in the process, we had to make a critical decision to respond to
what the current system was telling us, rather than pursuing what we thought would be most
interesting to develop.
3.3 Transitions as Times of Increased Vulnerability
Our society does not do a good job of handling transitions. Allyson Hewitt, Director,
SiG@MaRS
It was at this point in our process that Allyson Hewitt, Director at SiG@MaRS, noted that
our society often fails to support people during life transitions such as coming to a new country,
leaving an abusive relationship, and seeking employment after completing ones education
(personal communication, 2014). Because of this, times of transition can become phases of
increased vulnerability, particularly for those already affected by marginalizing forces such as
isolation, unemployment, and lack of financial services. This was a turning point in the
development of our strategy. What Allyson said about transitions resonated strongly with what
we had been hearing from the system. As we explored the complexities and barriers often
encountered by vulnerable populations within marginalizing systems, we developed a new
wicked question reflecting the horns of the dilemma being revealed in the existing system:
How do we ensure that vulnerable populations in transition have easy access to
financial and social services without further entrenching their vulnerability?
Allyson also highlighted populations in transition as a neglected market that could benefit
from emerging social finance tools, aligning our growing understanding of the problem domain
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with some of our earlier research into innovations in the realm of impact investing. In seeking to
reincorporate voices on the fringes into existing systems, we therefore decided to narrow the
scope of our strategy to serve vulnerable populations in transition. With this focus, we felt that
we could incite systemic change to reduce the path dependency of existing patterns of
marginalization currently held in place by a deep basin of attraction (see Westley et al., 2011).
Exploring Allysons insights further, we recognized an opening at the landscape level to
contribute to a new disruptive narrative about the need to increase supports available to people
during important life transitions. While our culture does not deal well with times of transition,
perceiving them as phases of uncertainty, instability and ambiguity, there is beginning to be an
increase in public attention to times of transition, particularly in discussions about the transition
out of education and into the job market (Hewitt, personal communication, 2014) as well as
transitions for foster children out of care and into independence (Gaetz, 2014). This new
visibility has been inspired by the growing awareness that times of transition for young people
are lengthening and that our societies are no longer able to provide clear pathways through this
phase (Hewitt, personal communication, 2014). At the same time as our society is becoming
more aware that people often require additional supports during times of transition, research is
demonstrating the significant impact that experiences during these times can have on outcomes
later in life (Osgood, Foster, Flanagan & Gretchen, 2005).
At this point, we sought the input of experts including Tim Brodhead, Alex Himelfarb
and Bill Young. They encouraged us to conduct further research on a range of vulnerable
populations to understand the marginalizing forces that contributed to maintaining their
vulnerability within the existing system. We explored a number of populations in transition
including newcomers, youth aging out of the foster care system, women leaving shelters, men
14
and women leaving correctional services, homeless populations, and victims of abuse. Our
research was focused on understanding the general size and demographics of each population
group, the factors that make and keep them vulnerable, the barriers that keep these populations
systemically locked out of social and economic prosperity, and what types of services could help
to eliminate these barriers.
Through this process, we discovered a number of cross-cutting patterns of marginalization
(Figure 4) that exist for all of these populations and that are held in place by the legal, political,
economic, and cultural institutions of the current system (Susan Pigott, personal communication,
2014).
Figure 4: Patterns of Marginalization



Patterns of
Marginalization
Unemploy-
ment
Lack of
Affordable
Housing
Lack of
Financial
Services
Limited
Access to
Child Care
Stigmatiz-
ation
Isolation
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3.4 Women Transitioning Out of the Federal Prison System
There is a call under the current government for tougher and longer sentences, however
there is mounting evidence that the longer people stay in prison the harder it is for them
to re-integrate into society. Frum Himelfarb, Former Acting Assistant Commissioner,
Correctional Services Canada
While many of the vulnerable populations in transition that we researched could be
supported by cultivating new resource flows, new relationships, and new cultural attitudes, we
were also convinced that the diverse circumstances of each of these populations needed to be
addressed in slightly different ways to respond to the particular tensions and complexities present
in each unique context. As such, we
decided to further bound our area of focus
to one specific marginalized group. We
found that the most important thing about
the research we had conducted on various
groups were the patterns of perception and
marginalization that emerged, so in order
to bound our focus we decided it would be
helpful to explore what our intended
outcome for this strategy was. As we
discussed this further, we recognized how
important it was for us that this be a
strategy that could be scaled up, out and deep. We decided that rather than bounding according
to statistics, we could bound the scope of our strategy according to intention and potential.
There was a point where our team was at the
crossroads of deciding how to bound our
problem, so that we could create a strategy that
was responsive to what the system was telling
us. As we talked about the essence of what we
wanted to scale up, out and deep it really
crystallized the value of choosing to work on the
issue of women in federal prisons. We knew
that regardless of what population we choose,
we wanted something that would ripple through
multiple systems at multiples scales. And by
focusing on women in federal prisons we had an
opportunity to learn about change at each of
those scales and use those lessons to leverage
further possibilities. It felt like a breakthrough
moment for us, that was only possible because
we had lived in the tension of the paradox for so
long and had been able to talk about our
understanding of scale clearly. Now we could
move ahead!
Anita
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A team members personal experience, in combination with the opportunities emerging at
the landscape level, led our team to focus on women transitioning out of incarceration and back
into community. This population offered a tangible way to demonstrate how this strategy could
have transformative impact at the broad systems level. After conducting research into various
populations, we observed increasing cultural energy and dialogue in the public sphere around
women leaving the prison system that could propel our strategy forward (see section 3.5, Acting
on the Opportunity Context). The section that follows is a personal story written by one of our
team members, Anita Abraham, who volunteers at a federal womens prison in Kitchener,
Ontario. Anitas story provides a rich narrative through which to understand the challenges
generally faced by women transitioning out of prison.
Anitas Experiences as a Volunteer at Grand Valley Institution
Every week I get the extreme privilege of volunteering at Grand Valley Institution, a
federal womens prison that sits on the fringes of Kitchener. While many would think this is a
scary place to go, for me it is a place of revival and hope. Within that compound I have built
friendships with strangers. I have felt inspiration that I havent found elsewhere in the world.
The best days at the prison are when you get to say goodbye to women, because they are getting
out and even though we don't get to stay in touch, they take with them our very best wishes and
hopes. And the worst days are those when we see them back on the inside.
JJ is a woman who I met 6 years ago at GVI. She came into prison at the age of 18 years
old, wide eyed and surprised that this is where her life had landed her. I have watched her over
the last number of years grow, take ownership and feel responsible for the crime that placed her
on the inside. On January 18
th
I said goodbye to her, because she had served her time and
earned her freedom. I remember looking at her from across the room that night and feeling like
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I was seeing a new woman. She was on top of the world, as she imagined spending time with her
family, walking in parks and sinking her teeth into a Big Mac. She was dressed well, had her
hair done, and had an undeniable sparkle in her eyes. I cant get that image out of my head. I
was so happy for her.
And then just three weeks later, my heart sank. There she was, back on the inside. She
looked terrible, dressed in her pajamas (tucked into her socks) and just feeling down on life and
herself. She looked like the weight of the world was on her. It was like I could see failure
written all over her face. She spoke to me about how hard it had been to transition to life on the
outside. How she felt like she just didnt know how to navigate the world out there with the tools
she had. And so she did what I think all of us would do; she reached out to people who had
supported her in her life. While that would be a healthy step for most people, for her it was a
violation of her parole and that means GVI is her home for the next couple of months. Another
chance in September for her, but nothing in her is feeling hopeful or supported. I wish I could
say her story is unique, but what I've learned in my time of volunteering is that it just isn't...
What the Research Tells Us
Anitas narrative illustrates many of the difficulties women like JJ face in their transition
back into community following incarceration. The federal governments Tough on Crime
approach has created a context both within and outside of prison that exposes women to stricter
sentencing, fewer opportunities for parole, and more stringent restrictions upon release (OCI,
2013a). In the current system, more than 20% of women return to prison, and of that number 98-
99% do so because of parole violations, not because they commit a new crime (EFSP). The
Tough on Crime approach has also led to the number of women in federal prison to increase by
almost 40 per cent in the last 5 years in Canada (OCI, 2013b). Existing systems surrounding
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people leaving correctional services are therefore more focused on ensuring compliance to
restrictive regulations in the name of public safety than they are to ensuring the successful
reintegration of previously incarcerated women into communities.
Once they have been released, cultural attitudes
and institutional policies further prohibit the successful
reintegration of formerly incarcerated women into
community. For instance, an increasing number of
fields are requiring criminal records checks prior to
employment, meaning that three million people in
Canada have criminal records that limit their access to
employment, increasing their social isolation and
cementing their vulnerability (John Howard Society of BC, 2013). In recent years, the length of
time it takes to obtain a formal pardon and the costs associated with this process have also
increased, prolonging the period in which criminal records act as a barrier to successful transition
into communities for people leaving correctional services (The Canadian Press, 2013).
Exclusion from the formal economy during this period not only prevents women from becoming
financially secure and from developing a sense of community through employment, but increases
the likelihood that they will break the conditions of their parole by reaching out to their friends
and family for support as observed in JJs story.
For women leaving federal prison, the complexities of transitioning back into community
following incarceration are compounded by the complexities inherent in their initial involvement
with the law. Elizabeth Fry Society reports that 80% of women who enter the prison system are
there for reasons of survival, their criminal activities often relating to experiences of physical or
A memorable moment of key
learning that stood out for me was
the importance of valuing the
intersections between each
members lived experiences and
our collective academic interests.
These intersections ultimately
helped to inform and bound our
strategy in familiar territory, while
providing us with a means to
explore big picture ideas with
confidence that we'll land
somewhere exciting.
- Roger
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sexual abuse (82% of prisoners) and life circumstances involving entrenched poverty, mental
health issues, or addictions (EFSP). As such, the majority of women who are incarcerated have
experienced trauma on the outside, and the system has failed to support their resilience through
these times. Furthermore, it currently costs close to $225,000 per year to keep one woman in
prison (OCI, 2013). In a society that assumes that money demonstrates what we value, this
startling number suggests that we value the exclusion of formerly incarcerated women from
society more than we value the contributions they could potentially make in their communities.
3.5 Acting on the Opportunity Context
In complex systems, agency must align itself with opportunities that exist within the
broader social and institutional context. In order to be taken up, social innovations can be aided
by market demand, political demand, or by cultural demand. In the parlance of the multi-level
perspective (MLP), the new technology, having been developed at the niche level, is in
competition with the established regime. To break through to achieve wide diffusion, external
factors or windows of opportunity must be recognized and acted upon (Geels & Schot, 2007,
p. 401).
Research into existing innovations in the realm of social finance, microcredit, and
populations in transition exposed a number of trends currently emerging in policy, practice, and
public discourse that could support the successful implementation of this strategy. Various
trends or windows of opportunity are illustrated in Figure 5 including Harpers Tough on Crime
policies, restorative vs. retributive justice, Orange is the New Black, the Ashley Smith inquest,
the Lean In movement, and impact investing.

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Figure 5: Windows of Opportunity

The opportunities that we recognized within the current system include cultural, social,
and political windows of opportunity (see Geels & Schot, 2007, p. 401). For instance, there is
growing opposition to the federal governments Tough on Crime approach, including arguments
from correctional service workers and unions which have tried to demonstrate that overcrowding
in prisons makes their jobs more difficult and more dangerous (Raj, 2013). Public discourse
about Tough on Crime offers an opportunity to shift a national conversation about the need to
provide services to enable successful transitions back into community following incarceration in
order to reduce recidivism. It also opens up space for increased dialogue about the value of
restorative vs. retributive justice. Retributive justice focuses on criminal activity as an act of
violence against the state, while restorative justice changes this dialogue, seeing crime as an act
against an individual and community. By shifting the understanding of what crime is, it allows
for new ways of imagining how it should be responded to.
The popularity of the Netflix Series Orange is the New Black, which brought to light
womens experiences of incarceration, has also begun to change the conversation around the
Opportunity
Context
Tough on Crime Policies
Restorative vs. Retributive
Justice
Orange is the New Black
Ashley Smith Inquest
Lean In Movement
Impact Investing
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relationship between responsibility, circumstance, poverty, and abuse in criminal activity.
Further, the Ashley Smith inquest, the well documented news story about a young girl who
entered the prison system for throwing crab apples at a postal worker and then committed suicide
in front of her parole officer and guards four years later (OCYA, 2008; OCI, 2010), has
stimulated dialogue about the appropriateness of harsh sentences for young offenders. It has also
sparked conversation about how the correctional services system could respond to the high needs
of these offenders.
Other cultural and economic trends have also created space for this strategy at the
landscape level. The Lean In movement, for instance, has brought a current of worldwide
recognition to the value of focusing efforts on the development of women as a strategy for
building stronger communities (see leanin.org). In addition, the growing field of impact
investing has inspired banks to begin looking for opportunities to invest in social finance (Harji,
Reynolds, Best, Jeyaloganathan, 1990). In the UK, prisons have been a key focus for impact
investing, with one of the first Social Impact Bonds addressing prison recidivism (Fiennes,
2013). As such, financial institutions may have some familiarity with the application of social
finance tools to this particular population, making it easier to build a case for investment in a
Canadian context.
This strategy therefore has the potential to create transformation at the systems level by
positioning itself alongside a number of emerging opportunities. Amidst these opportunities,
however, there are also barriers that this strategy will need to respond to in order to be
successful. The ways in which this strategy will address barriers including the perception that
vulnerable populations are too risky to qualify for credit in traditional financial institutions,
22
barriers to employment, and the risk-aversion of social services organizations, are elaborated in
section 4. At this point, therefore, it is critical to acknowledge and respond to the federal
governments Tough on Crime approach, which has the potential to act both as an opportunity
and a barrier for this strategy.
Recognizing that Harpers Tough on Crime policies may be galvanizing public support
for stricter sentencing and fuelling a culture that lacks empathy for people who have committed
crimes and served time in prison, this strategy will frame services for women coming out of
federal prison in such a way that the narrative:
Emphasizes the financial cost of keeping people in prison vs. their potential to become
contributing citizens, and
Frames the problem from a public safety perspective to highlight the improvement to
community wellbeing if individuals are successfully reintegrated into communities.
In this way, we hope to leverage discourse about Tough on Crime in such a way that it acts as
an opportunity as opposed to a barrier for the implementation of this strategy.
3.6 Niche-Regime Dynamics
This strategy is essentially a niche experiment designed to deepen an alternative basin of
attraction to eventually tip existing systems into a new regime that would support vulnerable
populations during times of transition so that these are no longer phases of enhanced
marginalization (see Westley et al., 2011; Geels & Schot, 2007). We see this strategy as a
disruptive innovation that would occur in a niche environment so as to enable its implementers to
learn and to build and strengthen networks of users, producers, policy-makers, regulators, and
other key stakeholders (see Smith, 2007). As a niche intervention, this strategy will have the
23
freedom to experiment with new products and processes while remaining sheltered from the
pressures of the dominant regime (Westley et al., 2011). At the same time, it will be able to
draw on the resources of the dominant regime, leveraging authority and resource flows in new
ways to support the reintegration of vulnerable populations.
Opportunities to draw on the resources of the dominant regime include:
1. Using the interest from Bank of Canada dormant funds to guarantee user accounts
2. Leveraging existing infrastructure to enable easier access for vulnerable
populations to financial institutions
3. Engaging corporate partners to provide skills training and to offer guaranteed
employment to women in transition
4. Coordinating existing community organizations to deliver enhanced supports to
women in transition
3.7 Potential for Scaling
Figure 6: Potential for Scaling

The first iteration of this strategy will operate on a national level to support incarcerated
women to transition into communities by offering a suite of financial services and constructing a
more coordinated, responsive, and comprehensive service delivery system to support successful
Designing a
similar
strategy to
support other
vulnerable
populations in
transition
Scaling
Out
Influencing
laws, policies,
and cultural
attitudes
Scaling
Up
Shifting
individually-
held cultural
values, beliefs,
and behaviours
Scaling
Deep
24
transitions. As shown in Figure 6, the strategy also has clear potential for scalability on three
dimensions, providing opportunities to:
1. Scale Out. This strategy could be transformative not only for women leaving the prison
system, but for vulnerable populations in transition more broadly, providing financial and
social services to intervene within cycles of entrenched poverty. The strategy can be
scaled out by extending services to other populations in transition, for instance foster
children aging out of care, women leaving shelters, newcomers to Canada, students
transitioning from education to employment, and men leaving correctional services. In
order to effectively scale out, the strategy would likely need to be redesigned to
coordinate relevant employment partners and community organizations, though the
financial products could remain consistent across a range of populations in transition.
2. Scale Up. Once the strategy has been demonstrated to be an effective way to disrupt
patterns of marginalization, new strategies could be designed to more directly target
broad economic, political, and cultural institutions. For instance, it could seek to shift
restrictive parole regulations or policies within financial institutions that make it difficult
for vulnerable populations to access services.
3. Scale Deep. By creating social and financial supports for vulnerable populations in
transition that do not further marginalize these individuals, this strategy has the potential
to scale deep new notions about the value incarcerated women can offer communities.
As a society, the way we treat those who are perceived to have broken the social code
impacts how we conceive of belonging within community and how we value
contributions to community life. Creating successful transitions for women leaving
25
federal prisons has the potential to shift values and beliefs related to community
inclusion, justice, and the stigmatization of vulnerable populations.
4.0 Elements of an Integrated Strategy
To ensure successful transitions into community for women leaving federal prison, this
strategy proposes a suite of integrated services with three central components: guaranteed
employment, community supports, and financial inclusion. Each of these components will now
be considered in turn.
4.1 Guaranteed Employment
Transition employment towards long-term
security is vital to women leaving the prison system
because employment helps to build resilience, break
cycles of vulnerability, and provide a sense of purpose.
The social stigma around people with a criminal record
along with the systemic barriers that women face in
securing employment results in multiple challenges to
re-entering the workforce.
Having a criminal record can be a real barrier to
both obtaining and maintaining employment.
According to the John Howard Society of British
Columbia, there are over three million people in
Canada who have a criminal record (2013). Criminal record search requests by employers are
becoming the norm within the Canadian labor market (John Howard Society of BC, 2013). In
Throughout this process there
have been many unexpected
lessons, from how to give into the
process, let go of control and be
more explorative. But perhaps the
most profound and impactful lesson
was in the necessity of an
integrative approach in this
context. I really pushed our team to
focus on one innovation that we
could do really well (like financial
inclusion for example) but the more
we talked to people working in the
space and did Bellwether testing,
the more I realized that what is
missing in the space is a more
complete approach to service
delivery, not one where each
service is siloed and requires the
user to hop from agency to
agency. The approach is a bit
"messier" but it is what is needed.
- Kali
26
addition to the general stigma associated with having a criminal record, employers might feel it
can impede ones ability to perform their job especially if it requires travelling outside the
country. This trend of requesting criminal records further hinders women exiting the prison
system from gaining long-term employment.
Incarceration is expected to influence employment prospects in three ways: loss of human
capital such as skills erosion, absence from the labor market, and the stigma/restrictions
associated with criminal records (Visher, Debus-Sherrill, & Yahner, 2011). Therefore, some
formerly incarcerated women may find themselves incapable of finding or keeping employment,
which increases the risk of personal and social dysfunction as well as recidivism. Individuals
leaving the prison system are often faced with the responsibilities of everyday life without the
appropriate supports in place for them to cope with such responsibilities. Their loss of wages
and skills compounds these issues.
However, there are instances when incarceration does not impact employment prospects
negatively, and may even improve them. When incarcerated women receive training that
improves life functioning and imparts employable skills, their prospects of employment may be
better than they were pre-incarceration (Visher et al., 2011). For instance, there are negative
perceptions of previous offenders among some employers such as an increased likelihood of
engaging in interpersonal conflict and lack of commitment. Training that addresses these soft
skills could shift employers attitudes and perceptions, which act as barriers to employment.
Given these issues, a sound strategy that includes individual, social, and economic
components is necessary to address incarcerations consequences on reintegration into the labor
market. Research shows that a large percentage of women who have served time in the prison
27
system come from low income families with minimum levels of education and employable skills
(Comack & Brickey, 2007). This lack of education and marketable skills further entrenches their
marginalization from the economic system. Evidence suggests that women may experience
unique social and economic impacts related to incarceration (Decker, Spohn, & Ortiz, 2010).
One such impact is the greater likelihood of incarcerated women to have been a custodial parent
before incarceration (Visher, Debus-Sherrill, & Yahner, 2011). The implication is that poor (or
improved) prospects of employment post-incarceration affect not only the woman, but her
dependent children as well. Thus, strategies and policies that target employment post-
incarceration must consider how society will deal with the limitations of employment prospects
for custodial parents. Women are also less likely to be incarcerated for violent crimes and to
serve lengthy sentences than men (Statistics Canada, 2011). It is therefore economically prudent
to incorporate future employment programs for non-violent offenders.
Those who have a history of incarceration and do manage to gain employment continue
to be disadvantaged in the work place. They tend to work an average of nine weeks less per year,
earn 11% less hourly wages and have 40% less annual income compared to those with no history
of incarceration. Therefore, a history of incarceration often impedes future economic wellbeing
(The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2010).
To address these considerations, we have proposed an employment strategy that features
pre-employment training, an employment placement, and supports to create a strong foundation
for the long-term employment of formerly incarcerated women (Figure 7).


28
Figure 7: Transition Employment Toward Long-Term Security

The first phase of the employment services strategy involves partnering with local
community-based organizations that will provide pre-employment supports and deliver on-site
pre-employment training within federal prisons. Approximately one year prior to release, staff
from partner community organizations will conduct an assessment of employability based on the
skills, assets and resources of the women. Staff will provide a set of workshops and tools to
assist the women in pre-employment, addressing their specific needs. All training provided by
partner community organizations will be market-driven; the training program development and
delivery will be tailored to the needs of potential employers. This is a unique approach to
ensuring that those coming out prison will have employable skills as they transition into the
Pre-employment
YWCA Toronto
Employment Centers
Fred Victor Centre
Interval House


Employment
Placement
EMBERS Staffing
Solutions
Career Edge

Long-Term
Employment
29
outside world. Examples of community organizations that provide pre-employment services in
Toronto include the YWCA Toronto
1
, Fred Victor Centre
2
and Interval House
3
.
Following pre-employment supports, job matching agencies will provide guaranteed, one
year employment placements following release from prison through strategic partnerships with
large organizations to fill a significant volume of entry level positions. Groups such as Career
Edge and EMBERS Staffing Solutions already provide one year employment placements to
people in transition. To facilitate such connections, we are proposing that a backbone
intermediary establish connections between a potential employer and a job matching agency, as
well as the prison staff administering this program. Once a potential employer and employment
placement agency are on board, their role as champions will be key to getting buy-in from other
partners such as the federal government to adopt this as a viable employment strategy for women
in the federal prison system. Ultimately, it is our hope that this strategy will be scaled across
population groups to support other women in transition (see section 3.7).
One of the systemic barriers that currently exists is that employers may not hire people
with a criminal record, especially in positions where employees interact with vulnerable
populations or sensitive data (Hayman, 2006; Schnarr, personal communication, 2014). We
foresee this as an issue that may pose a challenge for the employment component of our strategy

1
YWCA Toronto supports women and girls to flee violence, secure housing, find jobs, establish their voices, enhance skills and
develop confidence. YWCA Toronto Employment Centers offers free services to prepare for employment, and can connect
women to an employment counsellor (YWCA, 2014).
2
Fred Victor Centre is a social services organization that fosters long-lasting and positive change in the lives of homeless and
low income people across Toronto. They provide employment and training services, where job-seekers are matched with a
caseworker and together they develop an action plan. The plan might include upgrading their skills or furthering their education
and finally, finding the right job (Fred Victor, 2014).
3
Interval House provides a continuum of services that enable abused women and children to have access to safe shelter and
responsive services that help them establish lives free from violence (Interval House, 2014).

30
moving forward. To address this issue, we propose that employers provide job placements for
women leaving the prison system in areas that have fewer interactions with vulnerable
populations and sensitive data such as the arts, culture, trades, and construction. The National
Worker Integration program in Austria is an example of an existing program that matches people
leaving prison with one year employment placements in such areas (Gruber, 2006).
Through our strategy, women re-entering society from prison will have a guaranteed one
year employment placement as well as built relationships with staff at social service agencies
that will be there to meet them on their release date. The job placements will be evaluated on an
ongoing basis by the employment placement providers to ensure success and to scale up best
practices moving forward. In addition, women will have ongoing access to community service
supports and programs through relationships that began in prison while undergoing assessment
and pre-employment training.
The partnership between employers, job matching agencies and the prison system can be
presented to the public and current government as a means to provide pathways towards
sustainable reintegration into society, and to provide a means for women leaving prison to
remain productive and away from re-offending. As mentioned in section 3.5, this employment
component can be proposed to the federal government as a means to ease the economic burden
on tax dollars (Alex Himelfarb, personal communication, 2014). Furthermore, being able to
redirect the $225,000 that goes towards keeping a woman in prison per year may incentivize the
general public to support this reintegration strategy.
The success of such a strategy will shift norms around how criminalized women are
viewed in the job force, as well as bring the employment of people in transition out of a niche
31
market into the dominant regime (see Smith, 2007). Frequently, women find themselves caught
in a vicious cycle; with a criminal record it is difficult to secure employment, and without an
income, they cannot obtain housing (Legalline, 2014; Powell & Winsa, 2008). With the help of
this strategy, formerly incarcerated women can begin their journey outside of prison with a sense
of belonging, purpose, and a means to ensure their long-term employment security, helping to
prevent them from encountering the isolation and lack of resources that often leads people to
break their parole.
4.2 Community Supports
Our strategys theory of change is predicated on working with existing players in the system
to drastically shift the way in which these players engage with one another. One of the key
players in the system is the social services organization, which serves women who are exiting the
prison system and re-entering society. When transitioning back into communities, formerly
incarcerated women may need access to social services and community supports such as
affordable housing, child care, mental health and addictions services, and recreation and culture
opportunities. In our strategy, the social services partner would play a key role in connecting the
financial and employment partners to the existing social services provided (see Figure 8).
Providing holistic support to women released from prison must involve the engagement of
diverse organizations that specialize in particular areas of support. These organizations must be
able to offer an array of programs ranging from parenting classes to job skills development,
housing support to substance abuse counselling. The key to holistic support is using what
works from each organization for each woman (see Sheehan & Trotte, 2013; Zurhold et al.,
2011). Women in prison would be offered these services with the coordination of experienced
32
and knowledgeable case workers who are committed to a providing the women collaborative
wrap around services.
Figure 8: Partners in an Integrated Strategy

In connecting women leaving federal prison to the social services and supports they need,
organizations such as the Elizabeth Fry Society (EFS) and Community Justice Initiatives (CJI)
could act as central coordinating partners. The Elizabeth Fry Society (EFS) has been serving
criminalized women since 1939. There are over 25 independently operated EFS across Canada
(Association of EFS, website, 2014). EFS is the only organization solely dedicated to supporting
women who are, have been, or are at risk of being in conflict with the criminal justice system
(EF Toronto website, 2014). Community Justice Initiatives is a non-profit organization known
world-wide as having started the first Restorative Justice program. Stride is a weekly
33
engagement program of CJI that assists women serving a federal prison sentence to make the
difficult, often traumatic transition from prison into the community by engaging and involving
community volunteers. Employing principles of restorative justice, the program focuses on
building on the strengths of the women while they are in prison to increase the chances of
successful reintegration to community.
Strengths
By interviewing and researching organizations like EF Toronto and CJI, we determined
what our minimum specifications would be when looking for networks or organizations to work
in this connector role at a systems level. These strengths would include a basic experience and
familiarity creating programs that work for women in prison systems and having existing
relationships with Correctional Services Canada and its staff. One of the key values that has
emerged for those working in this space is the commitment to the idea that each woman is an
individual and that no one story of success (or failure) is quite the same. Programs are
undertaken only if there is interest from the beneficiary and are tailored to the needs of each user.
This is a difficult value for many organizations to hold, but is critical when working in this
particular field.
Organizations that will act as central coordinating forces within this strategy also need to
have (or be willing to build) strong relationships with other social service agencies and
community supports. Our strategy is encouraging a wrap around approach where women will
have access to a number of services that will support their successful transition back into
communities. To do this effectively, the community organizations that are working with them
need to have not only trustworthy connections with the women, but also with organizations who
offer other social supports. Their commitment and perspective needs to be rooted in an
34
understanding of the mutual benefit to the community and to the women in taking this kind of
coordinated approach.
Within the current system, there are gaps in the social services and community supports
available during the transition phase. Women who are transitioning back into society are often
offered support that exists in different siloes, an experience that is not only confusing, but also
overwhelming. By taking an approach that supports the transition specifically, women will be
able to focus on the things they need to do to be successful rather than spending time and energy
focusing on who they should be speaking to and the process they have to follow. Lastly,
organizations that are linked to umbrella organizations or networks are more likely to act as
advocates for incarcerated women and the unique issues they face at a systems level, and are
therefore natural partners to lead coordination. Our strategy intends to build cross-scale
resilience by working with individuals, groups, networks and systems. It is a strategy that will
not only make peoples lives better, but will shift current system dynamics, honour the
complexity of systems, and offer opportunities to tip existing systems into an alternative basin.
Community support organizations that play a central coordinating role within this strategy have
the potential to advocate across multiple scales for the many issues this strategy surfaces. One of
their strengths is the ability to work at these multiple scales with the kind of perspective and
approach that is needed.
Barriers
When interviewing EF Toronto and CJI, a number of barriers were identified that would
need to be addressed when taking this strategy forward. Primarily, within this network of
organizations there is often a struggle to secure funding for their programs, and the funding they
do receive is highly fragmented. While this is an issue many NGOs face regardless of their area
35
of focus and is a reality of the current system, this dynamic makes it difficult to design programs
strategically and for the long-term since program funding is changing year by year. Because it
has not yet been determined where this strategy will be housed (see section 4.4), exactly how this
issue will be addressed remains unclear. However, at its core, our strategy is encouraging a
reframing of the role of community supports during the transition phase from convenient to
crucial. The hope would be that with the shift in resource flow, there would also be a shift in
how this central coordinating force is viewed and therefore supported. The other barrier that is
evident in this sector is a culture of risk-aversion. Sometimes tied to issues of funding,
organizations often feel like they dont have the freedom to take risks because the cost is too
high or they do not have the bandwidth to manage the repercussions of failure.
The success of this strategy depends on an approach that places community supports at
the crux of the intervention rather than at the fringes. In order to ensure that women are able to
successfully leave the prison system and return to communities as valued and contributing
citizens, social services and community agencies must be positioned to provide coordinated
supports throughout the transition phase.
4.3 Financial Inclusion
In times of transition, people coming out of prisons, shelters, foster care, between
education and employment, and new immigrants, find themselves in vulnerable situations in
which they require financial services but are restricted from accessing these services in
mainstream institutions. From our research we identified the lack of financial inclusion as a
major barrier for women leaving the prison system. Upon being released a women may have
limited funds, have access to little or no credit and may not feel comfortable navigating
traditional financial institutions to access these funds (Kool, personal communication, 2014;
36
As we learned about design thinking and
using a user-centered methodologies to create
transformative innovations and effect system
changes. One of the most revealing moments
for me was when our team plotted the journey
of a 45 year old immigrant woman through the
financial system. We were able to showcase
the pain points of this woman, the challenges
and barriers she would face to gain financial
well-being. This was a starting point for our
group`s focus on access to credit as a safety
blanket for those who are financially
vulnerable. Although our project has gone
through countless iterations, providing support
systems for women to access credit remains a
major component of our final strategy.
- Samiya
Fortune, personal communication, 2014). This lack of financial inclusion can further entrench
poverty among this already vulnerable population.
We therefore determined that a necessary component of our strategy was to create a
financial product that meets the immediate needs of these women, as well as establishes the
infrastructure for them to access it. In creating financial products/services, we wanted to meet
two needs. First, provide access to emergency funds to meet basic living needs. Second, provide
these women with an incentive to save for personal goals and to start building for their financial
future.
In order to meet these needs, our strategy includes two financial products:
1. A revolving line of credit, and
2. A savings account with matched funds
Revolving line of credit
The revolving line of credit would be
issued for a nominal amount ($1000 - $2000)
and would be subject to a reasonable rate of
interest charged. The rate would be similar
to those set by the Canadian banks for
regular lines of credit (currently at 3-5%) or
slightly higher (1-3% higher). Providing a
revolving line of credit will allow women
leaving the prison system access to funds to
37
pay for things that require a cash advance such as first and last months rent, clothes they may
need to purchase for their employment, and deposits for childcare.
This product is designed to be an alternative to predatory fringe financial services such as
payday lending institutions, meeting a gap that is currently not being filled in the financial
system.
What is currently available in the system?
Mainstream financial institutions (Canadas six largest banks) currently do not provide
lines of credit for nominal amounts. Further, to qualify for a line of credit these institutions
require the borrower to have a credit history, long term employment, and to secure the loan with
collateral (another asset having the same or greater value than the loan). Individuals who cannot
meet these requirements would be considered high risk and are not part of a banks target
market (Buckland, Carter, Simpson, Friesen & Osborne, 2007; Leyshon & Pollard, 2000).
Finally, the process for obtaining a line of credit can often be lengthy and cumbersome, resulting
from the numerous background checks and paperwork required (Buckland, 2008). For these
reasons, vulnerable populations are often more willing to pay a higher interest rate at payday
lending institutions to access a loan (Environics, 2013). Appendix D provides further background
on our groups analysis of vulnerable populations accessing credit including a systems map and
user journey.
Pay day lending
A payday loan is an unsecured, short-term sum of money given to a person at a high
interest rate (CPLA, 2006). On average, interest rates from payday loans range from 20-30%
over a term of two weeks, which can translate to 250-400% in interest over a year (Kitching &
38
Starky, 2006). In order to qualify for a payday loan, the borrower generally must have
identification, a personal chequing account, and a pay stub or alternative proof of a regular
income (CPLA, 2006). Payday lenders typically extend credit based on a percentage of the
borrowers net pay until his/her next payday (generally within two weeks or less). The borrower
provides the payday lender with a post-dated cheque, or authorizes a direct withdrawal, for the
value of the loan plus any interest or fees charged.
The average payday loan in Canada is $280 for a period of 10 days (CPLA, 2006). Five
percent of Canadians use payday lending and low-income families are twice as likely as those
not in a low-income bracket to have used payday loans (Environics, 2013). Those who use
payday lending find it fast, easy, and that it allows them to avoid the stigma they often encounter
in traditional financial institutions (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, 2005). Perhaps a
more troubling reason people use pay day lending is that they often feel their only other options
are dangerous and/or illegal, for example loan sharks. Critics of payday lending argue that it is
exploitative and takes advantage of people's financial hardships. Low-income borrowers are
more likely to be trapped in a debt cycle where they have to repeatedly renew the loan and pay
charges or fees every two weeks until they pay off the principal amount to get out of this cycle
(Kitching & Starky, 2006).
Credit Unions
Credit unions have attempted to provide an alternative to payday lending by creating a
comparable product for those that are underserved by mainstream financial institutions. Vancity
is currently testing a new product where lines of credit are issued to those that would not
otherwise qualify for the product (Broderick, 2014, personal communication). Vancity attempts
to provide more access to credit by targeting specific vulnerable populations and lowering some
39
of the barriers to access (paperwork, credit history
etc.). However, due to the fact that they are a for-profit
enterprise and therefore need to account for the
financial risk (probability of high rate of default), they
are still charging a relatively high rate of interest at
19% (Broderick, 2014, personal communication).
While lower than the rates and fees charged by payday
lending institutions, Vancitys interest rates will
continue to entrench their users in financial
vulnerability.
In the past decade at least one mainstream
financial institution has attempted to provide cheque
cashing, bill payment and other immediate financial
services for underserved populations. In partnership
with St. Christopher House and Bain Consulting, RBC opened Cash & Save locations in two
low-income Toronto communities to provide limited financial services that were targeted to the
needs of the community. These locations showed success for about a decade until it eventually
closed, likely due to changes in leadership with the partners leading Cash & Save. (Conway,
2014, personal communication).
Removing barriers in the current system
In developing our strategy for formerly incarcerated women, we recognized that in order
to address the barriers described above, we needed to:
In conducting our research it was
exciting to find that the banks or
credit unions had products designed
to assist vulnerable populations.
However, when looking at the
needs of women leaving the prison
system we determined that having
access to financial services was not
enough. These women needed
employment to support themselves
on a daily basis and then help
saving. Most of the bank products
were one off initiatives that were
either tied to their community
giving strategy or regulatory
requirement. They hadn't partnered
with organizations that were
serving the vulnerable populations
to determine their needs and
provide complementary services.
That was a key learning and the
point in which we incorporated
partnerships with employment
organizations and other social
services into our strategy.
- Bindu
40
1. Provide credit in a way that is accessible to women leaving the prison system, and
2. Provide a more reasonable interest rate by eliminating the financial risk to the
banks that are offering the product.
Accessibility
We wanted to establish a structure where these products would be offered in a way that
minimizes the stigma that these women face in mainstream financial institutions and competes
with the easy access of fringe financial services (S.H.A.R.E., 2013). We needed to create a
structure where these women could avoid dealing with the bureaucracy of a large corporation.
Our strategy proposes that these products be offered by financial institutions and
distributed through non-governmental organization (NGO) partners. The client of the
institution is then the NGO, not the individual. The savings accounts are structured as custodial
accounts where the NGO partner (approved by the financial institution and ideally one of our
social service partners) is named as the custodian and the woman leaving the prison system as
the beneficiary. Under this structure, all interactions (paperwork, meetings and meeting
requirements) would occur between the financial institution and the NGO. The NGO and the
beneficiary (women leaving the prison system) would have their own agreement/terms by which
their relationship would be governed.
The relationship can be illustrated as below:
Figure 9: Relationship Between Financial Institutions, NGOs, and Women in Transition

Bank owns
financial
product
NGOs apply
to be partners
Bank issues
products to
NGOs
NGOs
distribue
products to
vulnerable
populations
41
From a customer point of view, the product can be accessed from either the NGO, the
bank, or a website. The goal would be to make it easily and quickly retrievable. Each of these
channels would also have marketing targeted at vulnerable populations to try and increase
awareness of the products.
Eliminating financial risk
In order for this product (line of credit with a reasonable interest rate) to be more
palatable to mainstream financial institutions, we determined that the credit risk had to be
guaranteed by another source. Similar to how the majority of lines of credit are collateralized by
secondary assets, these loans needed to be backed in case of default.
Dormant bank accounts offer an untapped pool of funds to guarantee the lines of credit
that would be offered by mainstream financial institutions. As of December 2013, there were
$532 million worth of dormant/unclaimed balance bank accounts held with the Bank of
Canada. If an account, bank draft, GIC, term deposit, credit card or travelers cheque held with a
federally regulated Canadian financial institution has not been accessed in 10 years, it is
transferred (by the financial institution) to the Bank of Canada, which acts as a custodian on
behalf of the owner. Accounts valued under $1000 are held for an additional 30 years and
accounts over $1000 are held for an additional 100 years. If unclaimed after such time, they are
transferred to the Receiver General. Each year the government pays out millions to those that
make successful claims to these dormant accounts (Bank of Canada, n.d.).
We propose to guarantee these accounts by using the interest of the dormant bank
accounts held with the Bank of Canada. As described below, the use of dormant accounts to
fund community investment or social innovation has been done before. However, we do not
42
propose to use the actual funds but rather one years interest from these accounts. By
guaranteeing the loans, the mainstream financial institutions would have little or no risk. This
would eliminate the need for high interest rates and lengthy approval processes.
Borrowed innovations from the current system
Use of dormant accounts
The use of dormant accounts as a basis for a financial product or services has been
demonstrated in the UK. The UK government used the funds held in dormant accounts to create
Big Society Capital, a wholesale bank mandated to develop a sustainable social investment
market, by investing in social investment finance intermediaries that offer social impact bonds or
other impact investing products (North, 2013;Gov.uk, n.d.).
In Canada, some provinces have enacted legislation to address the issue of unclaimed
intangible property. Intangible Property is defined as credit union accounts, unpaid wages,
overpayment to debt collectors, as well as unclaimed proceeds from courts, tax offices and
estates (Carlsey, n.d.). To date, British Columbia is the only province to designate a percentage
of the assets controlled by the government to good public use. Since 2003, the BC Unclaimed
Property Society has donated $11.5 million to the Vancouver Foundation (BC Unclaimed
Property Society, 2009). In Ontario there is proposed legislation regarding unclaimed intangible
property. Although the legislation is far from being enacted, there are already a number of
Ontario organizations submitting a proposal to the provincial government as to what to do with
these funds (Laird, 2014, personal communication).
Although there is no precedent to distribute the federally controlled dormant accounts, we
propose to use these funds as opposed to the provincial regulated unclaimed intangible property,
43
since our target populations is affected by a federally regulated institution. We recognize that it
may be a challenge to access the funds, even if it is just one years interest. The federal
government has expressed no interest in releasing these funds or allowing distribution of the
interest. Further, there are multiple causes, organizations and coalitions who would likely want
to have access to these funds. Big Society Capital was established after years of lobbying by
individuals and organizations interested in social finance (Cohen, 2012). The ability to use the
dormant accounts for this purpose required the government to enact special legislation
specifically for this purpose
4
. However, we believe that our strategy will increase the economic
and social wellbeing of low-income populations in transition, helping them to make successful
transitions and having a positive impact on entrenched poverty. Further, if accepted, our model
of only using one-years interest will allow the federal government to fund other innovation
strategies on an annual basis.
Custodial Accounts
The use of custodial accounts (when an individual or organization acts on behalf of a
beneficiary) is common practice in the mainstream financial system (Financial Services
Manager, 2013, personal communication). Custodial accounts are established when the
beneficiary is a minor, unable to manage their account, or where a third party controls an account
(Bryan-Low, 2000). By using this model we eliminate the need for the women leaving the
prison system to endure a lengthy approval process and engage directly with mainstream
financial institutions, which vulnerable populations have described as stigmatizing (S.H.A.R.E.,
2013).

4
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/promoting-social-action-encouraging-and-enabling-people-to-play-a-
more-active-part-in-society/supporting-pages/big-society-capital--2
44
Savings account with matched funds
In addition to making available a loan for emergency funds, our strategy includes a
vehicle to encourage savings. This product would provide matched funds once the beneficiary of
the savings account reached certain savings milestones. For example, an incentive program
could offer $100 for every $500 saved. As described above, these accounts would be established
as custodial accounts where the partner NGO would run the account on behalf of the beneficiary
(women leaving the prison system). A social contract between the NGO and beneficiary would
outline for what purpose the individual is saving the money and when it can be withdrawn (i.e.
when X amount saved for down payment, tuition of first year college, apprentice program). If
the beneficiary withdraws the funds before the pre-stated goal is reached, they can access their
savings but not the matched portion.
The savings account would not just be a financial product that the financial institution
offered, but would also be part of their corporate social responsibility program. The matched
funds would be sourced from a financial institutions corporate donations fund or structured as
impact investing and sourced through the bank capital. Ultimately, we would like to see the
federal government also be a source of the matched funds, similar to their participation in the
Canadian Learning Bond (see below).
Borrowed innovations from the current system
Canadian Learning Bond
The Canadian Learning Bond (CLB) provides matched funds to encourage low-income
families to save for their children's post-secondary education. The CLB is available to all
families with a household income of less then $41,000/year and who have opened a Registered
Education Savings Plan (RESP) under the childs name. This incentive program does not even
45
require an initial deposit into the RESP. Families can receive up to $2,000 without ever
contributing to the RESP (Smart Saver, 2014). Our research has found that having a savings
account dedicated to education savings changes the conversation for children from low income
families from should I pursue further education to what should I study said Omega Executive
Director May Wong (The Tonto Star, 2014). Learning from this initiative, we believe
incentivizing these women to save will result in a similar shift in thinking about their ability to
build a financial future.
Despite these incentives, only 27.5% of eligible children are enrolled in the CLB
matching program. The lack of awareness of the program has been cited as the main reason for
low participation (Smart Saver, 2014). We have designed our financial product/service offerings
to be accessed and facilitated through an NGO. Throughout this strategy, these women will
encounter a number of partners (employment agencies, social service agencies, etc.), all of whom
will be able to direct them to the financial products/services available. This coordination will
ensure that all women accessing the line of credit are aware of the opportunity.
Matched savings in mainstream financial institutions
Currently, the US operations of a Canadian bank offer a savings account product for low-
income individuals saving for their housing needs. These accounts are facilitated through an
NGO which, as the custodian of the account, encourages the individual beneficiary to make
regular savings deposits. At the moment this product is limited to a small geographic area (BMO
Product Manager, 2014, personal communication). The bank does fund the matched deposits,
however this is not from their corporate donations program.
In the US, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requires commercial banks to
46
develop programs where they reinvest in low and moderate-income neighborhoods by creating
investment products that would benefit local communities (Rand, Bowdler, 2010). The matched
savings account is one way this bank has met their requirements under the CRA. Although
similar legislation does not exist in Canada, the fact that a mainstream bank is offering a matched
savings product through a custodial arrangement with an NGO is encouraging. Our strategy may
be more palatable to mainstream financial institutions if they see that the process/infrastructure
we are proposing has already been implemented with a competitor. Further, the recent interest
by Canadian banks for impact investing opportunities also makes this product attractive (Harji et
al, 2014).
The financial component of our strategy was developed to meet the immediate and long
term financial needs of women leaving the prison system. Financial inclusion is an integral part
of a successful transition. We envision that as a community, we are more resilient with the
successful reintegration of these women than we are without.
4.4 Questions Were Still Holding
In proposing this integrated strategy, there are a number of questions regarding its
implementation that remain unanswered. The answers to these questions would have to be
negotiated within the particular implementation context. However, preliminary responses are
suggested below.
1. Where will this strategy be housed? Who will own it?
This strategy does not call for the creation of a new organization, but rather for the
cultivation of new relationships between existing players including correctional facilities,
employment agencies, corporations, community organizations, and incarcerated women.
47
As such, there are a variety of options for which agency could take a leadership role in
coordinating these new systems. In this task, it is clear that institutional entrepreneurs
who are able to convene diverse partners and coordinate multiple branches of activity
(see Westley, Tjornbo, Schultz, Olsson, Folke, Crona 2013; Young et al., 2010) would
play an essential role. This being said, there are a number of options for the organization
of leadership within the strategy which we have explored. These include:
a) This strategy could be a pilot/demonstration project led by a champion that will
act as an intermediary between a federal prison, employers, job matching
agencies, and pre-employment service providers. We recommend that an
organization similar to Social Capital Partners (SCP) be such a champion. SCP is
a national non-profit organization that works with youth, new Canadians, persons
with disabilities, aboriginals and single parents that face employment barriers.
Furthermore, SCP focuses on systemic change and shifting the supply and
demand of employment needs. Recently, SCP has been designing and
coordinating strategies to bridge employment opportunities with marginalized
groups. In a conversation with Bill Young, founder and president of SCP, he
indicated that SCP is well-positioned to implement this strategy; however, SCP is
currently in transition and he does not foresee conducting more demonstration
projects at this time. Bill was keen to emphasize the need for this strategy and
highlighted the current gaps in the system that it has the potential to fill (personal
communication, 2014).
b) Engaging a government department such as Public Safety Canada to house the
strategy. This option was suggested by Frum Himelfarb, former Acting Assistant
48
Commissioner, Correctional Services Canada, who saw a natural alignment
between the goals of the ministry and the outcome of the strategy (personal
communication, 2014). Alex Himelfarb also suggested that reducing recidivism
is a goal that is relatively absent of ideology and that can appeal to all
governments. He similarly suggested that framing the strategy as a response to
public safety concerns would appeal within the current conservative agenda
(personal communication, 2014).
c) A network of NGOs or a lead NGO like the Elizabeth Fry Society could act as a
convener for the various partners that would need to be engaged to ensure the
strategys success. This approach would require some form of financial incentive
for community organizations (see below).
2. What incentivizes social services agencies to participate?
Within this strategy, a question remains as to what would incentivize social services
agencies to be the holders of accounts on behalf of women leaving federal prison and to
coordinate their services for more effective delivery to this population. Possible
incentives include using a percentage of the interest from dormant funds to pay for staff
to administer the program, applying for a federal grant to cover these expenses, or
creating a partnership with financial institutions to provide funding to community
organizations through their CSR programs.
3. What kind of evaluation strategy will be best suited to this innovation?
During the first iteration of this strategy, developmental evaluation would offer insight
into what was working well, what was being achieved, and which intended outcomes
49
were not yet being realized. Indicators for success could be determined with the help of
an external evaluator (see Quinn Patton, 2011). As this strategy involves multiple
partners delivering a range of employment, community, and financial services throughout
the transition phase, evaluation would likely involve establishing a shared measurement
system in which data could be collected from each of the partner organizations and
interpreted to assess whether the strategy was moving the needle on metrics such as
recidivism and community inclusion (see Kania & Kramer, 2011).
4. How do we ensure that women are co-creators of the strategy on an ongoing basis?
As this strategy aims to reengage vulnerable populations in order to increase the
resilience of the system as a whole, it must also incorporate the voices of women leaving
federal prison in the design of the strategy. Design thinking sessions (see Brown, 2009)
could be held within prisons and with women on the outside, both those who had
achieved a successful transition into community and those who were encountering
challenges.
5. What is unknowable for this strategy?
a) If this strategy is successfully adopted by the federal government, funds used to
support this strategy may be diverted away from other crucial services that
support vulnerable populations (The Council of Canadians, 2011; Canadian
Federation of University Women, 2012). As part of ongoing austerity measures,
the federal government has been known to financially support initiatives by
shifting funds from one portfolio to another rather than introducing new streams
of funding (Canadian Literacy and Learning Network, 2014; Thompson, 2011).
For instance, if the federal government decides to support the employment
50
components of this strategy through the prison system, funds may be diverted
away from programs that are currently supporting employment services for
newcomers.
b) There is a potential for negative stories being published by the media on issues
that may arise during the job placements of women leaving the federal prison
system, which could be detrimental to the strategys perceived success.
Foreseeable events such as disagreements between the employee and employer,
accusations of wrongdoings by the women, or a high rate of dropping out can all
prove to be damaging to the sustainability of this strategy.
c) Another potential issue of this strategy may be the bureaucratic barriers that
women leaving the federal prison system face when attempting to access the
financial inclusion components of this strategy (the revolving line of credit and
the savings account with matched funds). Depending on the NGO that will be
delivering these financial products, staff may be misinformed regarding the
process of providing access to these services or may have caseloads that are too
high for them to be able to properly spend the time to administer such products. It
is also difficult to foresee in advance whether the various stakeholders involved in
implementing this strategy would be able to maintain their commitment to the
strategy as a whole, or whether they would become invested only in one specific
component. For instance, one inherent barrier to our strategy is that the three core
elements have vastly different resource input requirements and necessitate buy-in
from players with very different interests.
51
d) Lastly, it is unclear what needs to happen to tip the current system into an
alternative basin of attraction. We decided on this approach amongst others
because of the opportunity context that surrounded it. However, there are a
variety of legal, political and cultural factors that are keeping the current system
rigid. For example, as explored in this paper, the aggressive parole sentences are
definitely contributing to the rate of recidivism and are at the heart of what our
strategy is proposing to reconcile. What the current system was telling us was
that there was no opportunity to work on changing that right now, but that by
shifting the conditions that these parole sentences are releasing women into, we
might be able to change the belief systems that are keeping our current system
rigid.
5.0 Conclusion
This strategy works to create the conditions within a resilient system that will support
incarcerated women to transition back into community. It offers new resource flows through
social finance, creates novel relationships between existing employment and community service
providers, and seeks to transform a culture that stigmatizes vulnerable populations in transition.
While the strategy itself can be scaled out to serve many populations, for the purposes of
prototyping, the initial phase will focus on supporting women leaving the federal prison system
to develop a sense of belonging, security, and purpose on the outside.
Stories like JJs illustrate the need for transformation to create supports for a successful
transition into community life following incarceration. In an environment of increased
conviction rates, extended sentences, and restrictive parole regulations, women are finding it
52
increasingly difficult to find their place in community upon their release (OCI, 2013a; Kool,
personal communication, 2014). Responding to windows of opportunity including the
governments Tough on Crime policies, interest in restorative vs. retributive justice, increased
dialogue in the public sphere resulting from the Ashley Smith inquest, the Lean In movement,
and Orange is the New Black, as well as an emerging market for impact investing, this is a
strategy whose time has come. With the potential to scale out, scale up, and scale deep, this
strategy proposes a disruptive innovation to transform the lives of women leaving federal prison
and to build the resilience of the communities into which they return.


53
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Appendix A: Interviews
Informant Interviews
In various stages during our research, we conducted interviews with experts to gain
insight into the complexities of our problem domain and the components of our strategy. These
individuals included:
Interviewee Name Interviewee Job Title
Tanya Darisi Director, The OHalloran Group
Gerry Remers COO, Christie Digital Systems
Bryan Smale Director, Canadian Index of Wellbeing
Beth Wilson Senior Researcher at Social Planning Toronto
Bill Young President of Social Capital Partners
Colette Murphy Executive Director of Atkinson Foundation
Ernie Lightman Economist & Social Policy professor (retired)
at the University of Toronto
Michael Mendelson Senior Scholar at Caledon Institute of Social
Policy
Bill Murphy National Leader, Climate Change &
Sustainability Reporting at KPMG
Charmian Love Co-founder and Director at Volans
Sarah Schulman Partner at InWithFor
Geraldine Cahill Communications Manager at Social Innovation
Generation
Shawn Conway Executive Director at Ralph Thornton
Community Centre
Anne Morais Manager of Resource Development at
Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto
Eric Beynon Sustainable Growth Corp.
Samanta Jovanovic Deloitte
Dwayne Matthews Clean 15
Karen Whiteman Social Venture Partners
Stephanie Austin Chair, Girls Action Foundation
Anonymous Economists, Bank of Canada
Andy Broderick Vancity
Various Financial Services personal and BMO and TD
Bank


60
Bellwether Interviews
Once we decided to focus on vulnerable populations in transition, we conducted a series
of bellwether interviews to determine which populations in transition could most benefit from
the social finance product proposed in the early iterations of this strategy.
Interviewee Name Interviewee Job Title
Violetta Ilkiw Former Youth Social Infrastructure Strategies
at Laidlaw Foundation
Susan Pigott VP Communications and Community
Engagement at CAMH
Kim Kool Community Justice Initiatives
Jill Schnarr Telus
Darla Fortune Researcher, Uncertain Futures
Frum Himelfarb Former Acting Assistant Commissioner,
Correctional Services Canada


61
Appendix B: Innovation Space
This strategy was informed by research into diverse clusters of social innovation that
have had a transformative effect within existing systems. Below is a summary of these
innovation clusters as well as a table describing the particular elements that were incorporated
into this strategy through bricolage.
Innovation Clusters That Informed Our Strategy:
1. Social finance products for vulnerable populations (Vancity, RBC Cash & Save, TD
Matching Savings for Youth)
2. Microfinance (Grameen Bank)
3. Employment service agencies for low-income populations (EMBERS)
4. Collective Impact (STRIVE)
5. Supports for transition (ex. Shelter system for women)
Elements of Other Social Innovations Incorporated Through Bricolage:
Element Social Innovation
Microcredit Grameen Bank
Use of Dormant Funds Big Society Bank, UK
Integration of services offered by financial institutions, NGOs The Working Centre
Financial inclusion as a central component of community
inclusion
The Working Centre
Focus on employment for vulnerable populations EMBERS
Easy access to financial services in non-stigmatizing way Pay Day Lending
Focus on populations in transition Shelters, Foster Care
Community organizations as holders of accounts BMO


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Appendix C: Systems Mapping

The original systems map we created explored the interconnections between economic,
social, and environmental systems. This map incorporated elements from our interviews with
thought leaders as well as secondary research into the most salient elements emerging within
each system. It included the following clusters of variables related to social, economic, and
environmental wellbeing: economic values, enlightened employment practices, environmental
values, financial assets, responsive economic structures, responses to reality, commitment to the
sharing economy, equitable access to resources for social wellbeing, wellbeing values, and
education and awareness of inequality.
After creating this systems map, we conducted research to deepen our understanding of
the innovation space related to the clusters identified in our systems map. We identified over 40
innovations through this process. The ones that seemed to hold the greatest potential for
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bricolage included: Triple bottom line, shorter work week, alternative federal budget, Canadian
Index of Wellbeing, Duolingo, community-based savings groups, and impact investing.
Our team recognized an especially strong potential to use data, metrics and measurements
to create comparative and/or competitive environments where social pressure would result in
desired outcomes. Within the context of this initial systems map, we identified key systems
levers including:
1. Empathy
2. Collective Impact
3. Financial Tools
4. Irrational Drivers of Behaviour
5. Metrics


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Appendix D: Access to Credit User Journey
During Module 2, we began to consider availability of credit as a key barrier for
vulnerable populations seeking to access opportunities within the mainstream economy. We
developed a systems map exploring the interconnectedness of access to credit to other elements
of social and environmental wellbeing and created a user journey exploring the experiences that
a newcomer to Canada might encounter when attempting to obtain financial services.
Access to Credit Systems Map







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Financial Inclusion User Journey