Reducing the Incarceration of Women: Community-Based Alternatives

• NCJ Number: 215830
• Author(s): Angela Wolf Ph.D.
• Date Published: August 2006
• Length: 7 pages
• Corporate Author: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Sale Source: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded October 5, 2006.

Annotation

This report presents data on the plight of women in prisons in California and outlines the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR’s) strategy to develop community-based correctional programming for female offenders.

Abstract

Several recommendations for the CDCR’s community corrections strategy are offered by the NCCD, including the advice to develop a gender-responsive model of community corrections, to keep community corrections facilities small, and to provide gender-responsive, trauma-sensitive reentry programming and health care. Due to Federal and State sentencing policies related to the “war on drugs” and “get tough on crime” initiatives, California’s prison population has exploded, particularly in the number of female prisoners. California’s over-reliance on incarceration has had detrimental effects on incarcerated women, their children, and their communities. Data on the conditions within women’s correctional facilities in California are offered, which present a dismal picture that includes scarce mental and physical health services. Research is also presented that highlights the importance of women’s ties to their families and their communities and underscores the importance of this type of support to any rehabilitation strategy. In order to begin to repair the correctional system, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) supports CDCR’s strategy of moving 4,500 nonviolent female offenders to secure community-based facilities to complete their sentences. The goal of these community-based facilities is to keep nonviolent women out of prison and in services-rich, family-friendly environments where they can still remain a part of the community. While the NCCD supports this strategy, the organization also notes that the entire correctional system in California requires significant reform measures that range from enhancing services to reconsidering sentencing policies and penal practices. Figures, references