Kathy Boudin

Dr. Boudin is director of the Criminal Justice Initiative: Supporting Children, Families and Communities, based at Columbia School of Social Work, where she is also an adjunct professor. The Initiative is dedicated to ending society’s reliance on incarceration and retribution and advancing solutions. Working within the University as a catalyst for education, and student and faculty engagement, the Initiative also implements community-based projects that support education for youth with incarcerated parents, advocate for parole reform and promote the use of restorative justice. Dr. Boudin also works with the Center for Comprehensive Care, St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital, where she is the founding director of the Coming Home Program, addressing the health needs of people returning from prison. She worked with other women in prison creating national model programs in the areas of HIV/AIDS, parenting, and higher education in prison. Today, people who have been formerly incarcerated play an essential role in the work she is involved in. She has done research and published widely on the relationship of criminal justice to education, women, health, and long-termers in journals including the Harvard Educational Review, Women in Therapy, Correctional Education, Rutgers Women’s Rights Law Reporter; she edited and co-authored the book Breaking the Walls of Silence: AIDS and Women in a New York State Maximum Security Prison. Dr. Boudin has served as a consultant to community-based organizations, departments of corrections, university projects, and international work around AIDS. She was honored in 2007 with the W.E.B Dubois Research Award by Citizens Against Recidivism. Dr. Boudin received her doctoral degree from Columbia University Teachers College in 2007. She is a member of the AFJ Board of Directors.