About Us
Mission Statement
The Reentry Clinic seeks to assist and empower women as they reenter society after being in state prison. Through law students, we help clients overcome barriers to community reintegration. The Reentry Clinic is able to accomplish this by providing legal services and guiding clients to community resources. We strive to address the issues that broadly affect reentry as well as those that affect clients individually.
Through careful supervision and teaching, law students provide cost-effective and creative services to clients. The Reentry Clinic in turn helps those students become better lawyers by making them more aware of the struggles experienced by those most in need.
Program Description
The Reentry Clinic provides clients with individual and group therapy to address the emotional and psychological issues that arise as the women reenter their communities. The majority of the cases the Reentry Clinic handles are family law cases. Many clients want to regain custody of their children or reestablish parenting time. The Reentry Clinic has successfully obtained parenting time for many clients. The clinic helped three women reestablish custody. We have also completed divorces, name changes and child custody modifications. Additionally, we successfully obtained the expungement of an eviction and represented a client at an eviction hearing.
Jane Johncox Hurley, MSW, LIC SW, the Reentry Clinic’s social worker, runs two support groups for the clients, one at the prison and one in St. Paul. By having a group that meets both on the inside and outside, women in the clinic are able to maintain a continuity of care as they leave prison. Each groups meets on a bi-weekly basis. The women address past trauma, abuse and family reunification. For each woman in the group, Ms. Hurley completes an individual hour long assessment to identify risk factors. In addition to working with clients, Ms. Hurley works with the law students to help them understand women’s pathways to prison and gender specific reentry needs. The students and social worker meet once a month to discuss individual cases and the students' own reactions to the client’s situations.
We have also helped clients combat many non-legal barriers to reentry including: obtaining emergency funding for housing through the DOC, finding treatment, furniture, employment, medical providers, and many other services.
History of the Clinic
In 2008, William Mitchell College of Law teamed up with the Minnesota Department of Corrections and the State Public Defender’s Office to establish the first ever female focused reentry clinic. The clinic used the traditional law school clinic model allowing student certified attorneys to team with the supervising director to represent a small number of individual clients.
In the Reentry Clinic's first year, we had four women law students who each handled up to five clients. The individual attention each client receives, along with the broad scope of the clinic’s representation, helps us effectively advocate for our clients as they make their way from prison to society.
Beyond the legal issues, the Reentry Clinic uses a unique and effective holistic approach to assist clients with additional non-legal reentry needs. This holistic approach includes counseling services, legal assistance and even assistance obtaining a free credit report to determine what, if any, outstanding bills are owed.
Joanna Woolman
Ms. Joanna Woolman, J.D. is the Director of the Reentry Clinic and provides program leadership and supervision of the student attorneys, who in turn provide legal representation for the clients. Ms. Woolman also works part-time as a public defender for the Minnesota Public Defender´s Office. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of San Francisco Law School. Prior to working as a public defender, Ms. Woolman worked in civil rights litigation focusing on police brutality cases.Jane Johncox Hurley
Ms. Jane Hurley Johncox, MSW, LICSW developed the pilot demonstration for adding a social component to the Reentry Clinic. She will implement the research and conduct the assessments. Ms. Johncox is a licensed clinical social worker with experience in restorative justice issues and the issues faced by women offenders. She currently teaches in the graduate program at the University of St. Thomas School of Social Work, in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a family therapist with Washington County Community Corrections program, and maintains a private practice. As part of the Reentry Clinic program she facilitates a weekly therapeutic support group for women offenders at Shakopee Women’s Correctional Facility, including prescreening of participants, engaging in case discussions with student attorneys and providing consultation services to the Reentry Clinic on a case by case basis.Student Bios
Jennifer Brennan
Jennifer Brennan is in her third year of law school at William Mitchell. Before attending law school, Jennifer graduated with a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. She has a fierce dedication to social justice and has spend over two years volunteering at a women’s shelter. This past year Jennifer was on the William Mitchell Jessup International Moot Court Team. After law school, Jennifer would like to practice international law.Cara Clausing
Cara Clausing is also in her third year of law school at William Mitchell. Before coming to law school, Cara participated in the Lutheran Volunteer Corps for a year and was a rehabilitation counselor for individuals with chronic mental illness. As a law student, Cara studied abroad in both Prague and Amsterdam following her first year of law school. In her second year, Cara worked as a research assistant for the Tobacco Law Center. This summer, she is working in the public defender's office in Grand Rapids, MN.Jennifer Congdon
Jennifer Congdon is in her third year of law school at William Mitchell College of Law. Before law school, Jennifer graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities with degrees in Spanish and Political Science. During her law school career, Jennifer has been an active member of the William Mitchell Spanish Club, as well as a member of the Rosalie Wahl Moot Court. After graduation Jennifer plans to pursue a career in criminal defense.Client's Perspective
Sharon: "The Reentry Clinic keeps me grounded and focused - you understand."
Thank You
The Reentry Clinic would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their support:The Reentry Clinic founders, Bradford Colbert of William Mitchell College of Law; Gary Johnson of the Minnesota Department of Corrections; and to the memory of Larry Hammerling, former Chief of the Minnesota State Defender’s Appellate Office.
The members of the Reentry Clinic’s Advisory Council including, RS Eden, 180 Degrees, Amicus, The Council on Crime and Justice, Hennepin County Corrections and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services.
Our financial contributors including: the Pohlad Family Foundation, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, the WCA Foundation, and many private donors.