A staggering report recently released by the Vera Institute of Justice and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge shows that the mass majority of women in jail are mentally ill, poor mothers of color.

The report also shows that the number of women in jails has increased 14 times since 1970, making women in jails the fastest-growing group of incarcerated people in the U.S. On our show, we discussed the reasons why women are being incarcerated at higher rates, the affect this has on families and communities, and initiatives to reduce over-incarceration, with special guest Elizabeth Swavola, a senior program associate with the Center on Sentencing and Corrections at the Vera Institute of Justice.