THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            37
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION
  REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO PROVIDE GENDER
    SPECIFIC AND COMMUNITY BASED SERVICES FOR WOMEN OFFENDERS.



 1        WHEREAS, in recent years the number of incarcerated women
 2   has increased at an alarming rate; while the male prison
 3   population doubled between 1985 and 1995, the female population
 4   tripled, largely due to harsh sentencing that incarcerates
 5   female non-violent first time drug offenders; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, research establishes that women in prison have
 8   different needs than male inmates, resulting in part from
 9   female offenders' disproportionate victimization from sexual or
10   physical abuse and their responsibility for children; women
11   offenders are more likely to be addicted to drugs, have mental
12   illness, and to have been unemployed before incarceration than
13   men; and
14   
15        WHEREAS, because the number of women in the total prison
16   population is small, their needs are often overlooked in the
17   allocating of resources and providing of services; research
18   indicates that correctional strategies that are gender specific
19   and community based are required to give women offenders the
20   life skills they need to get out of the criminal justice system
21   and to make positive healthy choices for themselves and their
22   families; and
23   
24        WHEREAS, women offenders need gender specific services
25   that address substance abuse, family relationships, vocational
26   education and work, and prior victimization and domestic
27   violence; they also need transitional housing and aftercare
28   services to help them adjust to living in the community and
29   reuniting with their children; and
30   
31        WHEREAS, for children, the loss of contact with their
32   mother is the most devastating effect of her incarceration;
33   half of these children never visit their mothers in prison and
34   the other half visit infrequently, with geographical proximity
35   being the biggest barrier to visitation; and
36   

 
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 1        WHEREAS, because regular visits are the best indicator of
 2   families' successful reunification after release, it is
 3   critical that female inmates be incarcerated close to children
 4   and family; and
 5   
 6           WHEREAS, nearly one-third of Hawaii's female inmates
 7   are incarcerated on the mainland, making visitation with family
 8   and children difficult; and
 9   
10           WHEREAS, other problems associated with women offenders
11   in Hawaii include a lack of female correctional officers;
12   underservice by the therapeutic community; no drug court on
13   neighbor islands; decreasing availability of rehabilitation
14   programs, a lack of classification system, and little gender
15   specific programming; now, therefore,
16   
17           BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth
18   Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000,
19   the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislature
20   supports gender equity in correctional programs, and recognizes
21   that the needs of incarcerated women are different from those
22   of men and require approaches tailored to their specific
23   characteristics and situations; and
24   
25           BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public
26   Safety is requested to develop and implement gender specific
27   and community based programs for women offenders to achieve
28   gender equity in correctional programming.  To provide women
29   offenders the same range of opportunities as men and ensure
30   that women's needs are met to the same extent as male
31   offenders, this programming is requested to include:
32   
33           (1)  Program models designed to address women's needs;
34   
35           (2)  Individualized case management to help women
36                offenders set and achieve goals;
37   
38           (3)  Skills development workshops and exercise;
39   
40           (4)  Family focused programming;
41   
42           (5)  Peer support and the development of peer networks;
43   

 
 
 
 
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 1           (6)  Highly skilled staff experienced in working with
 2                women and their concerns;
 3   
 4           (7)  Formal recognition of participant achievement;
 5   
 6           (8)  Ongoing attention to building community based
 7                support; and
 8   
 9           (9)  Geographical proximity to children and family;
10   
11   and
12   
13           BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Public
14   Safety is requested to implement programs meeting the needs of
15   women offenders as soon as possible, using existing resources;
16   and
17   
18           BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that to the extent full
19   implementation using existing resources is not possible, the
20   Director of Public Safety is requested to report detailing what
21   is needed for implementation of programs to achieve gender
22   equity to the Legislature twenty days before the convening of
23   the Regular Session of 2001; and
24   
25           BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this
26   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Public
27   Safety. 
28 
29 
30                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________