The Women’s Residential Community Center

The Women’s Residential Community Center (W.R.C.C.) is the official Lehigh County work release facility for women.  W.R.C.C. is a community-based alternative to incarceration that gives the women an opportunity to secure employment or in some cases continue working while serving their sentences.  We also provide access to services that give the women an opportunity to address the issues that led to their involvement in the criminal justice system. All of the women come to the facility by court order or by order of the Lehigh County Department of Corrections.  While the staff of THE PROGRAM strives to minimize the stigma associated with their status, all of the women housed at the facility are inmates; unauthorized departures from the facility are considered escapes under the law.

THE PROGRAM for Women and Families has operated W.R.C.C. for the county since 1989.  In the early days, the facility operated out of a converted twin with a maximum capacity of 25 women.  Today the facility operates out of a converted school building in center city Allentown and its maximum capacity is 71.  The average daily population at W.R.C.C. ranges from 35 to 40 women, and annually more than 200 women are served.  Mirroring trends seen among women offenders nationally, every year since 2003 the annual unduplicated number of women served by THE PROGRAM at W.R.C.C. has increased by 15 percent. 

In working with these women offenders, our emphasis is on teaching them the importance of taking full responsibility for their actions, and helping them learn appropriate ways of coping to avoid re-incarceration.   The facility’s Level of Earned Privileges is a behavioral modification point system that recognizes the women as they behave responsibly both in and out of the facility by rewarding them with court-sanctioned furloughs and home passes.  This system is designed to teach the women that while acting responsibly can take hard work, it has real rewards. 

THE PROGRAM’s W.R.C.C. Resident Advisors are responsible for monitoring the whereabouts of the women at the center 24/7 and ensuring the safety and security of all of the residents living at the facility.  The W.R.C.C. Intensive Case Managers are responsible for ensuring women are connected with the services they need to successfully transition back to the community.  Case Managers may refer women to a variety of community-based organizations including: The Allentown Health Bureau, Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley, Crime Victims Council, Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, A Perfect Fit for Working Women, the Lehigh County Drug and Alcohol Intake Unit, Family Answers Counseling Services, Lehigh County Conference of Churches, Lehigh County Mental Health Office, Lehigh County Department of Public Welfare, Lehigh Carbon Community College, local 12-Step Anonymous groups and PA CareerLink.  

For the mothers housed at W.R.C.C., separation from their children is difficult.  Maintaining positive connections to their children is an important motivator when working with women offenders.  The agency’s P.A.C.T. (Parents and Children Together) programs provide mothers housed at W.R.C.C. the opportunity to celebrate special holidays with their children, helping them to create happy family memories during what otherwise would be a very sad and lonely time.  In the spring, we sponsor an egg hunt, where the children receive toys and candy after gathering baskets of decorated eggs at a local park.  In the summer, the women are encouraged to invite their entire families to a special picnic.  The children play games and win prizes, while everyone enjoys a family-style cookout.  By far the biggest event of the year is the December holiday party that THE PROGRAM has sponsored in collaboration with the Lehigh County Bar Association since 2001.  The mothers register for the party by submitting a list with each child’s “wish” gift and “need” gift.  On the day of the event, families share a full dinner together and the children receive their gifts from none other than Santa himself. 

With estimates of recidivism rates nationally running as high as 67 percent the recidivism rate among the women served by THE PROGRAM at W.R.C.C. is impressive - typically only 20 to 25 percent of the women return to the facility within a 12-month period. 

While the bulk of the services at W.R.C.C. are funded through a contract with the Lehigh County Department of Corrections, THE PROGRAM must rely on volunteers and private contributions for P.A.C.T. events. 

This site last maintained July 15, 2008