Girl Scouts Beyond Bars (GSBB) brings girls and their incarcerated
mothers together to build and preserve relationships, reduce trauma,
and foster leadership development in both girls and their mothers.
Through GSBB we provide regular, supervised visits and interaction
between girls and their mothers who are incarcerated in the Perryville
Complex in Goodyear, AZ. One of our most successful programs, GSBB
enhances the parent-child bond while instilling increased self-esteem
and self-worth in both parent and child.
Twice a month, our trained staff bring girls to Perryville Prison to
visit their mothers and work side-by-side on Girl Scouts facilitated
projects. During these meetings, girls and their mothers engage in
Girl Scouts activities in topics such as: STEM, interpersonal life
skills, goal-setting and challenge seeking, and much more. Unlike
traditional visitation, girls and their mothers develop practical
skills while working together in a classroom-like setting as a more
engaging way to relate to one another and work toward a common goal.
GSBB is effective because it is so much more than visitation, offering
wider opportunities for girls and their mothers to participate in
leadership development opportunities that will benefit them for life.