HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

35

TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO CONTINUE AND EXPAND ITS STRUCTURED COMMUNITY PLACEMENT PROGRAMS.

 

 


     WHEREAS, programs that effectively assist the transition of formerly incarcerated persons into the community are critically needed to address the problems associated with reentry and the high rate of recidivism; and

 

     WHEREAS, the costs of incarceration can be dramatically reduced through the implementation of programs and services that assist formerly incarcerated persons transition back into society; and

 

     WHEREAS, a multitude of various issues are associated with female incarceration, often involving unresolved sexual or physical trauma as well as substance abuse; and

 

     WHEREAS, in a majority of cases in the State, female offenders commit non-violent crimes and do not pose a threat to the community; and

 

     WHEREAS, recent data from the Justice Reinvestment Initiative show that incarceration is not an effective method for rehabilitating substance abuse addictions, and community-based substance treatment programs are more effective than in-prison treatments; and

 

     WHEREAS, these programs are crucial for non-violent female offenders to break the cycle of substance abuse, crime, and incarcerations because many female offenders return to incarceration if their drug or alcohol dependencies are not treated and their recovery is not supported during their transition; and

 

     WHEREAS, the risk of females becoming repeat offenders due to substance abuse presents economic and societal costs to the public and the State's social service system; and

 

     WHEREAS, the majority of incarcerated female offenders are mothers of minor children, and issues that stem from fragmented families often become intergeneration problems, which is evidenced by the fact that the women's community correctional center has had mothers and daughters serving sentences together; and

 

     WHEREAS, structured community placement helps formerly incarcerated females adjust to greater independence as they transition and reunite with their children and families and creates a more integrated and seamless resocialization and reentry process; and

 

     WHEREAS, T.J. Mahoney and Associates' Ka Hale Hoala Hou No Na Wahine program has successfully transitioned formerly incarcerated female offenders through structured community placement; and

 

     WHEREAS, as of November 19, 2012, there were seven hundred six women under the care and custody of the Department of Public Safety; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Public Safety has reported the cost of incarceration at $127 per day for each female inmate, compared to a reported structured community placement program cost of $50 per day per female inmate; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Public Safety could save $28,105 annually for each female transferred from incarceration to a structured community placement program; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that this body encourages the expansion of structured community placement programs for use in transitioning formerly incarcerated female inmates back into society; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety is encouraged to continue its structured community placement programs in support of transitioning formerly incarcerated female offenders back into society to more effectively assist these women in reintegrating into society, and to benefit from associated cost savings; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Public Safety.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Public Safety; Structured Community Placement Programs