Children's Best Interest Project

10/09/2026

An overwhelming majority of women in Illinois prisons are survivors of abuse, and many of them are sentenced for their abusers' offenses.

10/09/2026

On October 17th, there will be a special online screening of Always Tracy, followed by a conversation with Tracy McCarter, director Meron Tebeje, and members of the team.

We would love for you to join us for this virtual screening and fundraiser, or share this event with your networks!

Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
Time: 6–7 PM EDT (5–6 PM CDT)
Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: Free; optional donation tickets are available
Register through Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/always-tracy-virtual-screening-and-qa-co-hosted-by-survived-punished-ny-tickets-2001425535654?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

10/06/2026

The Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights included this: I have a right to speak with, see, and touch my parent.
No one should be denied physical contact with their loved one. Very young children, especially, need to be held and hugged. Grateful to Chesa Boudin, Nell Bernstein, and all who have fought for this right.

09/28/2026

Apparently the Illinois Department of Corrections believes that aggressive tactical teams confiscating women's property and calling them "bi***es" and "hoes" constitutes "gender responsive appropriate behavior. Clearly we can expect the same at any new prison.
The lack of medical care, denial of prescribed medication for conditions such as hypertension, and the sexual assault of women by staff won't be changed by a new building.

Organizers discuss how they are fighting new women’s prisons in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Illinois.

09/26/2026

The last thing women in Logan need is a new prison. Let's invest in prevention instead of torture. About two-thirds of women are being sent to prison for minor class-three and class-four felonies. Let's invest in housing, education, mental health and substance use treatment, and job development instead of the torture of sexual assault by officers and denial of crucial medical care.

Illinois has already tried and failed to improve inhumane prison conditions with expensive design projects such as the Joliet Treatment Center.

09/19/2026

Hello, Lake County friends!
Are you a member of the Coalition to Reduce Recidivism? We will be guests at their meeting this Monday at 8:30 a.m., talking about the Children's Best Interest Act as a means of preventing childhood trauma and keeping parents out of prison.
You can contact [email protected] for the link. We hope you can join us!

09/10/2026

The Children’s Best Interest Project is launching a new series of community teach-ins! Co-host a zoom webinar and help your staff, clients and community learn about the wonderful law that requires judges to consider children's needs, helps keep families together, and can prevent parents from being locked up away from the children who need them.
Shout-out to groups that hosted teach-in events: Equity And Transformation Joliet, School Leaders, WIN Recovery in Champaign and Berwyn, Empower Decatur, the Uptown People's Law Center, the Austin Defense Center in Chicago, and the McLean County Reentry Council (ROSC). We are looking forward to seeing members of the Lake County Coalition to Reduce Recidivism at their September 21 meeting!
If your group would like to host a free teach-in to learn about the Children’s Best Interest Act, contact Gail Smith at [email protected].

09/02/2026

Excellent article in Ms. Magazine on Keshia Golden's case and the impossible situation criminalized survivors face, in which they either are guilty of a crime for defending themselves and their children, or they are dead. We really with that Eileen O'Neill Burke's office would think hard about this grossly unjust framework while other criminalized survivors are facing trial this fall.

Keshia Golden’s attorneys say that in October 2022, while she was eight-plus months pregnant, her then-boyfriend Calvin Sidney hit her, grabbed her hair and slammed her head against a kitchen counter. Golden grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Sidney in the leg. Golden only intended to make him st...

09/01/2026

If you can take a moment to sign this petition asking Governor Pritzker to pardon Keshia Golden, please do. She should never have been charged for defending her life and her unborn daughter's life. A pardon prevents her and her little girl from being harmed by the barriers to housing, employment, and some benefits that come with a felony conviction.

None

08/25/2026

It is not fair that Keshia was put in the position of pleading guilty and dealing with the barriers to employment, housing, and other vital things that will affect her and her daughter. But Julie Koehler is right on point: of course Keshia would not take the risk of being separated from her three-year-old daughter who needs her love and daily care.