Our Mission

We Help Women Avoid Jail While Awaiting Trial

First Chance helps indigent women avoid the devastating consequences of pretrial detention by paying the bail set by the court. Our goal is to keep women in their communities and with their families while they prepare for their defense and await trial; our goal is to negate the harsh consequences of a justice system that abuses the presumption of innocence based on socioeconomic circumstances. We aim to even the playing field for those women who do not have the means to pay bail by paying it for them.

When women can join their families and communities while working towards resolving their cases, the community at large benefits. Studies have shown that people in jail pending trial for 15 days or more are 143% more likely to commit a crime once released and are 25% more likely to plead guilty, whether or not they are guilty, just to end their pretrial detention. Thus, releasing indigent women by paying their bail reduces crime, avoids jail time for innocent women, avoids an unnecessary breakdown of the family structure and saves taxpayers millions of dollars each year in jail costs.

Pretrial jail produces devastating consequences for women:

  • Loss of custody of children, loss of job, loss of home

  • The beginning of a downward spiral for children, their development and their care

  • Separation from family and support system

  • Loss of ability to communicate with lawyers, family members, support groups and others who can help

  • Higher conviction rates, due in part to an inability to help prepare the defense

  • Exposure to a criminal population that causes long lasting emotional, psychological and, sometimes physical, harm.

We Introduce Services to Change Lives

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Women are the fastest growing segment of jail population. A large percentage of women arrested have a history of mental, emotional or sexual abuse and/or are arrested for nonviolent drug‐related offenses. Thus, the pretrial detention for women often provides little or no benefit to the community holding them or the women themselves.

We work with our partners to introduce services to women who are released from jail and need help.

The Facts

  • 65% of the people in jail in the United States have not been convicted of a crime but are in pretrial detention

  • 3578 women in Florida in 2017 were in jail waiting for trial, 10 of which were juvenile females on average on any given day

  • 560 people in Palm Beach County in 2017 were in jail awaiting trial on average on any given day

  • 2 women are added to the jails in Palm Beach County awaiting trial on average on any given day

  • 70% of the women held in pretrial detention are mothers

  • $135 is the cost to the taxpayers of Palm Beach County each day a woman is held in jail pretrial

  • $22 million is the annual cost to residents of Palm Beach County for pretrial detention

  • 3 months is the average length of pretrial detention in jail in Palm Beach County

  • 95+% is the rate of released defendants timely returning to court when the community pays the bail in 5 cities where bail funds are already in place.