A task force was set up to investigate the conditions facing incarcerated women New York, and it was established in January 1845 as the Female Department of the Prison Association.
[1] From the outset, the Female Department criticized New York City-area prisons as inadequate, urging that "a home needs to be provided for the homeless; other doors need to be open to them than those that lead to deeper infamy.
"[1] By the summer of 1845, the Female Department founded Hopper Home, what would today be called a halfway house, focused on training and rehabilitation of former prisoners or homeless.
In the face of the rapid increase in the 1990s of the number of incarcerated women, WPA began to develop as a larger-scale provider of more diverse services.
In 1993, the WPA opened the Sarah Powell Huntington House (SPHH), a transitional residence that allows homeless women who have become involved with the criminal justice system to reunite with their children.
WPA programs include education and discharge planning in the city jail and state prisons, as well as case management services that can providing continuity after release.
From 2001, WPA has operated WomenCare, a program providing mentoring services to women leaving New York jail and prison systems.
WPA established its Brooklyn Community Office (BCO) in 1999, to address the web of poverty, poor housing, health problems, and child abuse and neglect.