Previous research on the “school to prison pipeline” has focused mainly on boys, thus there is little research on how to interrupt this pipeline from school to prison for at-risk girls. The current study sought to probe the connections between abuse suffered by girls and women and their experiences with education, drugs, and involvement with the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Participants were 35 girls incarcerated in the juvenile justice system and 26 adult women with criminal histories and drug dependencies. Results of semi-structured interviews revealed that childhood physical and sexual abuse in the lives of girls and women led to incarceration for these females. Abuse affected their ability to function in school and caused behavior which resulted in their incarceration. Moreover, the participants repeatedly remarked about their inability to receive academic and therapeutic help, indicating a failure of both their communities and their schools. Some of the girls complained of trouble even getting to school and many lived in states of constant transition from incarceration, to foster care, to other living arrangements that severely interrupted their schooling. Drug use was often initiated as an escape mechanism. Policy recommendations are offered and include the need to change the culture of schools to be more welcoming and supportive and the need to provide adequate training to teachers and school administrators on the signs of abuse. Future research should continue to probe the connections between abuse, school difficulties, and incarceration for girls. Endnotes