The Alliance meets about once a month to deal with issues in criminal justice and has contributed to policymaking in the United Nations. NGO's also held ancillary meetings on special topics at the Seventh Congress in Milan, including the problems of children in adult facilities and the development of halfway houses. A draft resolution on alternatives and reducing the prison population also was prepared by NGO's. In 1987, the Alliance held a meeting examining the use of alternatives in socialist countries. Other activities have included a consideration of the implementation of the resolution on alternatives; a working group on community service orders and their advantages and disadvantages; and the use of alternatives to incarceration in third world countries and with special-needs offenders such as juveniles, the mentally ill, drug users, and those with AIDS. Other reports have examined family violence and women in the penal system. The latter report sets forth propositions for the treatment of female offenders, including female petty and drug offenders, and for the development of alternatives such as bail houses, day centers, and aftercare programs.