NCJ Number
82801
Date Published
1982
Length
87 pages
Annotation
This report focuses on the activities of the Georgia Department of Offender Rehabilitation, Office of Women's Services; historical development of programs, description of the existing system, goals, problems, and population data are emphasized.
Abstract
The Office of Women's Services developed its current system with four major goals in mind: to incarcerate only those women for whom there is no realistic alternative, to develop each woman's human potential by providing relevant programming, to encourage an awareness within the agency of the differential needs of women, and to increase the public's awareness of and sense of responsibility for the female offender. Profile data on the female offender describe her as a person with few years of formal education, undeveloped work skills, and a single head of a household with one or more children. The current statewide system for women attempts to address the needs of these individuals. System components include traditional street probation, outclient services, two diversion centers, one overcrowded institution, and three post-institutional community centers. The implementation strategy outlined in the 1979 version of this publication grouped program development into six major recommendation areas: increasing bedspace capability, providing administrative structures capable of supporting program development, utilizing existing resources to expand services, exploring additional community living options, implementing specialized community supervision alternatives, and enhancing the existing community corrections model. Concerning the current status of the female offender, 605 women were admitted to prison; 3,552 were admitted to probation status; and the average length of sentence imposed was 3.34 years during fiscal year 1981. Eight tables are included. (Author summary modified)