Appropriates funds to the department of public safety for the expansion of work furlough programs and facilities and the planning of minimum-security housing at Kalaeloa. (SB2926 HD1)

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The existing work furlough programs and facilities throughout the state are inadequate to meet the needs of inmates who are eligible for work furlough. Work furlough programs provide much-needed housing and employment assistance, vocational educational programs, mentoring, counseling, family reunification services, and substance abuse treatment programs for inmates who are preparing for their return to the community. These programs contribute greatly to reducing recidivism by giving them skills, preparing them for reintegration, and instilling in participants a sense of pride and responsibility.

Furthermore, inmates who receive program and employment opportunities while they are classified at the minimum- or community-custody level are more likely to successfully return to society and participate as productive, law-abiding citizens.

Minimum-custody inmates have demonstrated they can function with minimal supervision in a correctional setting or in the community under direct supervision. Community-custody inmates are eligible to participate in community release programs, such as work furlough, extended furlough, or residential transitional living centers.

However, due to budget constraints, Hawaii has only two minimum-security prisons, Waiawa correctional facility on Oahu and Kulani correctional facility on the island of Hawaii. Waiawa was designed for two hundred ninety-four inmates and Kulani often exceeds its operational capacity of one hundred sixty beds. The legislature finds that a total of five hundred fifty-four beds for inmates who are ready to be reintegrated into the community are woefully lacking.

According to the department of public safety's 2004 annual report, thirty-nine per cent of male inmates and forty-seven per cent of female inmates are classified with a status of minimum- or community-custody. Based on the department's January 16, 2006, population figures, this means that there are currently two thousand four hundred fifty-nine inmates who qualify for reintegration programs through educational opportunities, substance abuse treatment, vocational training, employment opportunities, and workline projects in the community.

The purpose of this Act is to:

SECTION 2. The department of public safety is authorized to plan to build minimum-security housing of the type that can be erected in a fairly short amount of time, such as housing structures used by the military, on a portion of the Kalaeloa parcel under the jurisdiction of the Hawaii community development authority.

The department of public safety and the Hawaii community development authority shall explore the feasibility of planning, designing, and constructing a suitable minimum-security facility at the Kalaeloa site using pre-fabricated and quick-build design housing programs.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 for the planning of minimum-security housing for inmates at the Kalaeloa site and for the expansion of work furlough programs and facilities.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of public safety for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2006.