Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and Human Services, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 265, H.D. 1, entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Office of Youth Services to develop a plan for creating and implementing gender responsive environments at the Women's Community Correctional Center and at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Services, Department of Public Safety, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, Community Alliance on Prisons, the Drug Policy Action Group, Hawai'i Island Corrections Advisory Committee, Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, Hawaii Youth Services Network, Hawaii Women Lawyers, Honolulu County Committee on the Status of Women, Kokua Council, Na Keiki Law Center, Out of Prison Services, the Salvation Army, T.J. Mahoney & Associates, A Woman's Voice International, and six individuals.

Your Committees find that the correctional facilities that hold female offenders are primarily equipped to handle medium-security violent males. However, research has shown that the majority of female offenders are nonviolent and could more appropriately serve their sentences in community programs. Your Committees further find that incarcerating females in environments primarily designed for males, without appropriate programming to address their needs, has resulted in higher recidivism though parole violations and minor offenses.

Your Committees believe that this measure begins to address some of these problems by developing a plan for creating a gender responsive environment at the Women's Community Correctional Center and the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 265, H.D. 1, and recommend its adoption.