The Prison Policy Initiative reports that every year nearly 1.9 million women in America are released from prison or jail.

And without jobs, housing or other support, nearly half will be rearrested.

Hello, I'm Bonnie Boswell.

And today we start a multipart series about reducing recidivism among women.

In upcoming episodes, you'll meet Raven MacDowell, a young woman who's breaking barriers one step at a time.

But today, we're going to talk with Congresswoman Karen Bass.

She's working to make reentry smooth for everyone.

So what is the problem?

We invest billions of dollars in incarceration.

Instead of addressing why people are incarcerated, they are a contributing factor to homelessness in Los Angeles.

Is are people being released from prison with nowhere to go.

Can you tell us what particular problems women have?

When a woman is incarcerated A lot of times the family can collapse.

50% of children who have a parent that is incarcerated eventually wind up incarcerated.

A significant percentage of women are incarcerated for crimes, really that is connected to their relationship with men.

You know, it's so crazy that women who are traumatized and in jail have fewer supports and more burdens than men.

There are very few institutions for women.

So oftentimes they're incarcerated at great distances to their families.

So you're working on a bipartisan bill called One Stop Shop.

So you have a 24 hour one stop shop where you can drop in and people who have experienced the same thing you've experienced are there waiting to support you to become a productive citizen.

Congresswoman Bass, thank you so much for helping us understand this problem and possible solutions.

For KCET, I'm Bonnie Boswell.