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IN AND AROUND THE CAPITOL
Female inmates
Show dissects Legislature By Rosemarie Bernardo
need more help,
advocates say
Star-BulletinFemale inmates need programs, not studies, says Kat Brady, coordinator of the Community Alliance on Prisons.
House-Senate conferees last week stripped Senate Bill 2074 of language to provide programs for female prisoners on a par with male inmates. The measure was left with a task force to look at ways of increasing programs for female prisoners.
"It's good to have a task force, but what we need are programs. We don't need to talk about it, we need to do it," said Brady yesterday.
"The intent of the original bill is to have gender equity for female offenders," said Lorraine Robinson, director of T.J. Mahoney & Associates Matlock Hale, a work furlough program serving females re-entering the community from the criminal justice system.
The bill makes the director of public safety chairman of the task force. The task force has until next legislative session to develop a plan and address the needs of female offenders.
In the bill, it states, "the rate of incarcerated females has increased dramatically, but the range and quality of programming offered to female adult and juvenile offenders has not."
"There's nothing in the bill that establishes any changes for the females," said Robinson. "It's a step forward. But we were hoping for a bigger step forward," she said.
Advocates are looking for such programs as job training.
In Hawaii, the rate of female offenders has increased significantly in the past 18 years. In 1982, there were 43 female inmates, according to the Department of Public Safety, but currently, there are 470 female inmates.
The fate of bills in the state Legislature will be discussed by news reporters tomorrow on Hawaii Public Television's "Newsmakers" show. Show dissects Legislature
Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter Richard Borreca and KHNL 8 reporter Darren Pai, who covered the session that ends tonight, will appear on the 7 p.m. KHET program with host Dan Boylan.
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