Women's Policy Institute Action Center 2008

In 2003, the Women's Foundation of California launched the Women's Policy Institute, a training program in policy advocacy for community-based women leaders. The core of the fellows' participation in the Institute is a team policy project. Groups of 4-6 fellows form a team to identity and address a specific issues that affects women and girls is Californoa through legislative or administrative advocacy.

This year, teams are working on policy projects in the areas of criminal justice, economic justice, environmental justice and reproductive justice. Please take a moment to learn about each team's policy project and take action to support their efforts.

Criminal Justice Team
AB 1900 (Skinner-D, Berkeley) protects the health and safety of incarcerated pregnant women by requiring that statewide standards are established for how they are retrained during transportation to and from state and local correctional facilities. Shackling pregnant women puts their health at risk and restraint policies must be standardized. Currently, nearly two-thirds of county jails shackle pregnany women in ways that could cause miscarriage or other injuries. AB 1900 requires the Corrections Standards Authority (CSA) to set standards for how pregnant women are restrained. This will protect financially-strapped counties from being sued and ensure the health and safety of one of our most vulnerable populations.

Take Action!
AB 1900 will be heard in the Assembly Committe on Public Safety. You can support AB 1900 in five easy ways:

1. CUSTOMIZE the attached support letter template on your letterhead.
2. FAX the letter to Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Public Safety at (916) 319-3746.
3. FAX or EMAIL the letter to Assembly Member Skinner's office by fax at (916) 319-2114.
4. FAX a copy of the letter to Marci Fukuroda at (310) 548-0611 so the criminal justice team can track your support. If you have any questions, please contact Marci at (310) 548-5450 x. 109
5. DISTRIBUTE this request to your networks.