SB2574.DOC

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2574
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO community placement programs for female offenders transitioning from incarceration to the community.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that, given the problems associated with incarcerated offenders re-entering society, as well as the high rate of recidivism, programs that effectively assist the transition of former inmates from incarceration to the community are critical. Once released from incarceration, a former inmate faces such issues as housing restrictions, workplace restrictions, and many informal restrictions that are a result of prejudice against former offenders. The legislature further finds that the costs of incarceration can be dramatically reduced through the implementation of programs to assist these individuals' integration into the community.

Research indicates that a multitude of differing issues are associated with female versus male offenders. Women have different pathways to incarceration, which often involve unresolved sexual or physical trauma and substance abuse. In a majority of cases, female offenders are nonviolent and do not pose a threat to the community. For female offenders who are incarcerated due to drug addiction, incarceration is not an effective method for dealing with the addiction. To break the cycle of substance abuse, crime, and incarceration, the root problem must instead be addressed. Many female offenders will return to incarceration if their drug and alcohol dependencies are not treated and their recovery is not supported during their transition from incarceration to the community. Currently, there is a lack of adequate programs or access to programs that can assist female offenders in successfully transitioning back into the community. The great majority of women inmates will be released into the community with a lack of skills and tools needed for a successful transition back into the community.

The risk of female offenders becoming repeat offenders due to substance abuse presents economic and social costs to the public and to the State's social service system. The majority of incarcerated female offenders are mothers of minor children under the age of eighteen and problems stemming from breaking up the family often become intergenerational.

Transitional programs that help female offenders to successfully reintegrate into the community have had great success. Unfortunately, Hawaii lacks adequate programs such as those provided by TJ Mahoney & Associates, which offers a transitional program for female offenders re-entering the community. Community-based reintegration programs provide structure, monitoring, and accountability for female offenders returning to the community. They offer the tools and a setting for practicing pro-social, responsible living, while instilling values and beliefs that allow women to overcome obstacles while remaining clean and sober. The need to provide adequate services and to reach more female offenders is crucial.

Community placement is the final phase of transitional programming, in which women move from the highly structured living environment of a residential program such as the TJ Mahoney & Associates Ka Hale Ho'ala Hou No Na Wahine program, to living independently in the community while continuing to be supported and monitored by program staff. Community placement helps female offenders adjust to greater independence as they transition from more to less structure, resulting in a more integrated, seamless re-socialization and re-entry process.

The purpose of this Act is to support community placement services, a key component of the successful re-entry process for female offenders.

SECTION 2. (a) The department of public safety shall establish a community placement program for women, such as the TJ Mahoney & Associates program Ka Hale Ho‘ala Hou Na Wahine, to provide support services and assistance to female offenders transitioning from incarceration to the community.

(b) The program established under subsection (a) shall be funded without additional appropriations to the department of public safety's budget authorized for fiscal year 2012-2013. It is the legislature's intent that the department of public safety realize cost savings to its 2012-2013 fiscal year budget by transitioning qualified female offenders from incarceration to community placement programs.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2012.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________