Bill Text: HI SCR6 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Community Placement Programs; Non-Violent Female Offenders

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-04-16 - (H) Referred to PBM, FIN, referral sheet 66 [SCR6 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-SCR6-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	6
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of public safety to reinvest funds USED FOR incarceration to structured community placement programs for eligible non-violent female offenders.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, the problems associated with incarcerated persons reentering society as well as the high rate of recidivism, programs that effectively assist the transition of formerly incarcerated persons into the community are critically needed; and

 

     WHEREAS, once released from incarceration, the former inmate faces many difficulties such as finding housing, obtaining employment, and other obstacles resulting from prejudices against formerly incarcerated persons; and

 

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

 

     WHEREAS, the federal Bureau of Prisons formerly facilitated persons reentering the community through their system of Residential Reentry Centers for persons who are not yet ready to fully reintegrate into society; and

 

     WHEREAS, the federal Bureau of Prisons has found that community placement programs are effective for non-violent incarcerated persons who are reentering society from incarceration, have demonstrated their fitness for community placement, and have identified housing and employment; and

 

     WHEREAS, research indicates that a multitude of differing issues are associated with female incarceration, often involving unresolved sexual or physical trauma and substance abuse; and

 

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

 

     WHEREAS, the recent data from the Justice Reinvestment Initiative show that incarceration is not an effective method for rehabilitating substance abuse addictions; and

 

     WHEREAS, community substance abuse treatment programs are more effective than in-prison treatments, especially for non-violent female offenders to break the cycle of substance abuse, crime, and incarceration; and

 

     WHEREAS, many females 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 social costs to the public and the State's social service system; and

 

     WHEREAS, the majority of incarcerated female offenders are mothers of minor children, causing issues that stem from fragmented families and often become intergenerational problems; and

 

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

 

     WHEREAS, community placement that is monitored by a structured program with available social services like T.J. Mahoney's Ka Hale Hoala Hou No Na Wahine program, is an effective way to monitor female offenders in the community while transitioning them back into society; and

 

     WHEREAS, the cost of incarceration is $137 per day for each inmate, compared to a structured community placement program that costs $50 per day; and

 

     WHEREAS, eligible females who comply with the rules of the monitored community placement program and have access to appropriate gender-responsive services are gradually offered more independence; and

 

     WHEREAS, the savings realized by transferring funds used for incarceration ($50,005 per year) to a structured community placement program ($18,250 per year) allows the placement program to be revenue neutral at a savings of $31,775 per year for every ten eligible non-violent female offenders; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Public Safety is requested to reinvest funds used for incarceration to structured community placement programs for eligible non-violent female offenders; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Director of Public Safety, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Public Safety, Government Operations and Military Affairs, and the Chairperson of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Community Placement Programs; Non-violent female offenders