Girl Scouts Beyond Bars

Instituted in 1992 through a partnership with the National Institute of Justice, Girl Scouts Beyond Bars provides girls an opportunity to visit their incarcerated mothers weekly to monthly and take part in mother/daughter Girl Scout troop meetings.

Through GSBB, mothers lead troop meetings and develop skills in leadership, conflict resolution and parenting, all of which are critical to their success in family life and employment after their release. In addition, girls and their mothers often have facilitated discussions about family life, violence and drug abuse prevention.


Locate Councils Across the Nation with GSBB

A recently developed component of GSBB provides programming to mothers in pre-release and post-release transitional facilities.

Girls also continue their involvement in weekly girl-only troop meetings in their community, making the program and its leaders a consistent presence in their lives. Girl Scouts Beyond Bars serves approximately 800 girls ages 5-17 in 17 states. 

Girl Scouting in Detention Centers

Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program led the way to Girl Scouting in Detention Centers, a program that reaches girls who have been adjudicated, are wards of the court, or are court-referred delinquents. Since the 1990s, Girl Scout councils have brought the Girl Scout program to detention centers.

Locate Councils Across the Nation with GSDC

Girl Scouting in Detention Centers is often a court-mandated program for teens and 'tweens, and provides them with opportunities to participate in activities that work to cultivate a positive value system, a strong social conscious and the critical life-skills needed to become healthy, productive women. Girl Scout councils serve over 10,000 girls ages 12-17 living in detention facilities in 20 states.

Did you know?

Roots and Wings Tool Kit

In October 2006, Girl Scouts of the USA released a comprehensive, multimedia resource that supports programming that targets some of the most underserved and undocumented populations in the country: girls whose mothers are incarcerated or are themselves in detention centers.

Roots and Wings — A Tool Kit for Launching and Supporting Girl Scouts Beyond Bars (GSBB) and Girl Scouting in Detention Centers (GSDC) Programs is designed for Girl Scout Councils and volunteers interested in enhancing council and community work with girls and families affected by the justice system.

This toolkit includes:

• BEYOND BARS: Connecting Incarcerated Mothers and Their Daughters
  A  manual outlining GSBB program launch basics.
• GIRL SCOUTING IN DETENTION CENTERS: Leaving No Girls Behind
  A  manual outlining GSDC program launch basics.
• ‘Beyond Bars…A Curriculum for Life, Building Resilience Through Life Skills Development’
  A life skills activity booklet designed specifically for GSBB programs.
• Troop 1500 DVD
  A nationally broadcast, documentary film focusing on the stories of Girl Scouts-Lonestar Council’s (TX) GSBB program participants.

To order tool kits at no cost, or to learn more about the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars and Girl Scouting in Detention Center projects, contact Christine Brongniart, Project Manager, GSBB & GSDC, at cbrongniart@girlscouts.org.

The tool kit features GSBB program participants from Girl Scouts-Columbia River Council in Portland, Ore.