Maison Thérèse-Casgrain
In 1980, the Société Elizabeth Fry du Québec opened Maison Thérèse-Casgrain, the first halfway house for women in Québec. While the house is in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood of Montreal, it serves the entire Montreal region as well as the southwest part of the province. Approximately 100 women in the process of reintegration into society are housed in Maison Thérèse-Casgrain each year. The house is financed in large part by Correctional Service Canada as well as les Services correctionnels du Québec.
Maison Thérèse-Casgrain can welcome up to approximately 40 women for stays that range from several weeks to several months. The residents can be referred by the Établissement Leclerc de Laval (provincial prison), Joliette federal penitentiary or community correctional workers.
Women coming from the provincial prison can stay at the house in a context of:
- Temporary absence;
- Temporary absence in preparation for conditional release;
- Conditional release.
Women coming from a federal penitentiary can be accommodated at the Maison Thérèse-Casgrain if they are under one of the following statuses:
- Temporary absence;
- Day parole;
- Full parole;
- Statutory release.
The halfway house can exceptionally accept women with suspended sentences or on supervised probation if a correctional worker in the community referred them.
Objectives
- To promote the socio-community re (integration) of female offenders
- To be an alternative solution to imprisonment
- To prevent recidivism
- To help the offender accept responsibility for her behaviour
- To help the offender develop attitudes and skills that will assist her in developing her potential
Services
In addition to the Maison Thérèse-Casgrain (community-based residential centre), the Société provides different services for women.
In the community
- Community monitoring program: annual average of 245 cases in external follow-up per month
- EVE program (Shoplifting support program): 686 open cases and/or cases being monitored for 2017–2018
- Psychosocial programs (anger management, autonomous and free, etc.)
- Creativity workshops
- Community art projects with the Art Entr’Elles collective
- Volunteer-based guidance service
In detention facilities
- Legal advice services with a lawyer at Etablissement Leclerc in Laval
- Bible workshops made possible thanks to the contribution of the Congregation of Sisters of Sainte-Anne
- Mommy reads to me at Etablissement Leclerc in Laval and Joliette
- Mommy and Aboriginal stories in partnership with the Applied Social Sciences department of Concordia University
- Psychosocial programs in the provincial prison (Release preparation, drug abuse awareness, anger management, connecting to the self and others, cooking workshops, leisure activities, vis-à-vis, face to face, break time)
Contact information
