The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) is an association of groups operating under the Elizabeth Fry Society banner. The groups work on issues affecting women and girls in the justice system. The societies take their name from prison reformer

Prison reform

Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, aiming at a more effective penal system.-History:Prisons have only been used as the primary punishment for criminal acts in the last couple of centuries...

 Elizabeth Fry

Elizabeth Fry

Elizabeth Fry , née Gurney, was an English prison reformer, social reformer and, as a Quaker, a Christian philanthropist...

.

The organization was started in 1969, with formal incorporation as a non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 occurring in 1978. They help offenders to re-integrate into society. They work independently from the government.

The original Elizabeth Fry Society of Canada was founded in 1939 by Member of Parliament Agnes Macphail

Agnes Macphail

Agnes Campbell Macphail was the first woman to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons, and one of the first two women elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario...

 http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/womengov/p/agnesmacphail.htmhttp://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-1994-12753-10/politics_economy/twt/.

The current Executive Director of CAEFS is Kim Pate.