On Monday, March 10, former Newton State Representative Kay Khan hosted a luncheon to honor the work of two Suffolk University faculty who have spent much of their academic careers researching the range of challenges for incarcerated women. Among her last acts as state representative, Rep. Khan issued proclamations for Susan Sered, a Newton resident, and Norma Wassell from Cambridge, for their detailed sociological investigation and publications. Joining Rep. Khan at the celebratory luncheon in Newton’s Allen Center were Somerville Representative Christine Barber, Representative Mary Keefe from Worcester, Representative Kate Donaghue from Westborough, Representative Tom Stanley from Waltham, and new State Representative Amy Sangiolo from Newton.
Rep. Khan is the founder and Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators Justice-Involved Women’s Task Force, and Rep. Barber is Co-Chair. For twelve years she served as House Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. In both capacities Rep. Khan was interested in expanding the Legislature’s understanding and support of the special problems facing incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women.
For her thirty years serving as a Newton State Representative, Kay Khan devoted herself to understanding the needs of incarcerated women, who are generally imprisoned for non-violent crimes, and finding ways to improve their lives. She fought to bring education, health, and social service programs, especially to MCI Framingham, which houses women. In her role as Task Force Co-Chair, she has been instrumental in bringing her colleagues together with people whose academic lives have been focused on researching issues related to, and confronted by, current and formerly incarcerated women.
Responding to Rep. Khan’s wish “to talk to people who’ve done the research” regarding the needs of incarcerated women, Rep. Khan first worked with Maureen Norton-Hawk, professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Center for Crime and Justice Policy Research at Suffolk University. Later, Lisa Rosenfeld, longtime legal counsel to the Joint Committee Rep. Khan chaired, introduced her to Professor Sered, a member of Suffolk University’s Women & Incarceration Project, which included Norma Wassell, LICSW, academics, attorneys, and social workers as part of the Center for Women’s Health & Human Rights, engaging with women who are presently or were formerly incarcerated.
Dr. Sered explained to Fig City News that the question of suffering led her to an exploration concerning people who cannot access health care and ultimately to the large number of women in prison who have chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, and cancer. She notes that the challenges facing the women include poverty, proximity to violence, social stigma, and dual diagnosis — addiction and mental health problems. Dr. Sered was looking for ways to use her research to “plug into policy and social Justice,” just as Rep. Khan felt it would be “helpful for us to talk to people who had done the research.”
The two women align on their frustrations and concerns. For Rep. Khan, it is the fact that there are fewer programs and supports now than there were even ten years ago because the population of women in prison has dramatically declined since Covid-19. Dr. Sered laments the Department of Correction’s inmate scoring system that determines the level of security each inmate requires. She underscores the fact that most women should be considered at minimal levels of security, but generally they are rated in the medium range because of the lack of space and programming for them. One very recent achievement the former legislator noted with pride is that people leaving prison will now leave with legitimate identification, allowing them access to some public services.
Professor Sered has lived in Newton since 1998 and has great praise for the city. She also commented on the value of Suffolk University, noting that it has been the educational launching pad for people in public service in politics and in government.
Rep. Khan recommended Can’t Catch A Break: Gender, Jail, Drugs and The Limits of Personal Responsibility, by Susan Starr Sered and Maureen Norton-Hawk, which she called an incredibly interesting exploration of their five years of working with women dealing with issues that led them into the prison system and the aftermath of finding a place in society.
