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Study Reveals Formerly Incarcerated Women Face Many Barriers
Women who are released from prison face many barriers when trying to live a successful life free of crime. The Time for Change Foundation released a study on October 6 detailing these barriers. Some of the areas where public policy needs to be reformed in order to keep these women from repeating offenses are health care, education, housing and employment.
San Bernardino, CA (PRWEB) October 8, 2006 -- Women who have been imprisoned need tangible support in their efforts to rebuild their lives, according to a study, Invisible Bars: Barriers to Women’s Health & Well-Being During and After Incarceration, released Friday, October 6, by the Time For Change Foundation.
Time for Change benefits such women by providing re-entry services, including housing, while they attempt to establish healthy lifestyles free from addiction and other mental health disorders.
“Our correctional system must focus on rehabilitation," said San Bernardino County Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales. "If these women could return to our communities in good mental and physical condition, with job skills and the motivated support to become productive citizens, then they would have a fighting chance to break the cycle of recidivism," she said.
“It is imperative that health care and support services are available to these women immediately following release in order to promote public safety, reinforce what rehabilitative services they may have started in prison, and allow them to become capable of caring for themselves and their families,” added Gonzales, who is hosting the press conference.
The State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports 11,000 men and 937 women from San Bernardino County are currently serving time in prison. As of May 2005, there were 29,136 people on parole in this region, according to the same department’s statistics.
Time For Change surveyed 61 incarcerated women at the California Institute for Women in Corona and 152 former inmates of several California prisons who now live in San Bernardino County, mostly in the City of San Bernardino. The recommendations are the results of the community surveyed regarding their current health status.
The survey identifies several basic needs these women have:
| | - Education – Access to higher education is a critical need for these women. Three of four women surveyed have never attended college or a trade school, which they need to aspire to higher socio-economic conditions for them and their children. The federal government’s lifetime ban from financial aid for any person convicted of a drug felony makes it almost impossible for these women to afford higher education.
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| | - Medical/Dental – Almost 40 percent of the women surveyed said they had been to a hospital emergency room for treatment of a medical problem. Others reported going to a clinic, doctor’s office or some other place, but 16.4 percent said they had no place to go when they are sick.
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More than 60 percent of the women reported they did not have health insurance of any kind. Most of those who were insured were on Medi-Cal, although 22 percent reported using a Medically Indigent Adult program or other type of health insurance.
“Alternatives to the emergency room visits are vital to improve the health conditions of these women in our community,” Carter said. “The mental and physical health conditions of these women can only be addressed if we develop a coordinated health care delivery system available immediately upon release.”
| | - Employment – The survey found many women feel that if they could change the fact that they are convicted felons, their chances of employment would greatly increase. They believe having to check “yes” on the question regarding past felony convictions found on most job applications denies them an opportunity to work, simply because of their past criminal record.
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Time for Change is working with a national organizing effort, All of Us or None, to have this question removed from applications where background checks will be performed on the prospective employees.
“If the agency is already required to do background checks, there is no breech of security, no possibility of anyone considered dangerous getting passed through. On the flip side, persons who have earned certificates of rehabilitation, governor pardons, etc will have opportunity to interview for some of these good jobs. It’s a win-win situation,” said Carter.
| | - Housing - More than 40 percent of the survey respondents said they were currently homeless, and 75 percent had been homeless at one time in their lives. While many of the women lived in sober living homes or a homeless shelter, 14 percent said they had no place to go, and were living on the streets. In addition, only 14 percent of the women surveyed lived on their own – the rest either with family or friends, not necessarily people who could support them in their sobriety and desire to remain crime-free.
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The 1996 Welfare Reform Act (TANF) prohibits any person with a drug felony from living in subsidized housing (low-income, Section 8, etc.). In addition, most property owners require a background check, which further diminishes the chances that these women can acquire a safe home of their own.
“Ex-offenders are failing to successfully reintegrate back into society because their punishment continues beyond the prison gates,” said 62nd District Assembly member Gloria Negrete-McLeod.
“We have been fortunate to have a person like the Senator Elect Gloria Negrete-McLeod who is willing to listen to the people she represents. As chair of the Business Professions Committee we were able to hold a hearing and demonstrate that former prisoners were being denied basic licenses such as cosmetology and barbering and as a result of that hearing, new policies were implemented,” said Carter.
Under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration, the California Department of Corrections has been re-named, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The Gender Responsive Strategy Commission (GRSC) was formed to develop a Female Reform Model. Wendy Still, associate director of Female Institutions and Programs, chairs this commission. For the past two years, Carter has worked on this commission with prison officials, criminologists and rehabilitation specialists to bring about true rehabilitation in the department with the goals of ensuring public safety and reducing the high rates of recidivism.
“That’s when it became real obvious to me that we were asking the prison to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter for the homeless, and take care of our sick. Somehow it has become a “catchall” for societal dysfunctions,” said Carter.
General information regarding the CDCR’s current female population, according to the GRSC:
a. Approximately 70% of the 11,267 female offenders in California prison are serving sentences for property, drug or other non-serious, non-violent offenses.
b. Nearly three-quarter (72%) of incarcerated women in California are classified as Level I/II custody.
c. A significant number of women offenders have experienced physical, sexual and emotional abuse at some time in their lives and many are trauma survivors.
d. In fiscal year 2004/05, 11,993 female offenders were paroled and, of these, 9794 or (82%) were committed for non-serious, non-violent offenses and 9,240 or (77%) were incarcerated for less than 18 months.
Additional results from the survey include:
| | - Mental Health – Many of these women suffered physical, emotional or sexual abuse long before they were ever imprisoned. More than 60 percent of the women surveyed reported they have been physically or sexually abused, and most of these women said they have never obtained any kind of counseling or therapeutic treatment.
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“Most women in the prison system were previously exposed to molestation, abuse, domestic violence or some other traumatic event,” Carter said. “They all have emotional wounds, and they all need time and a place to heal.”
“As a commissioner for both the Gender Responsive Strategy Commission, and the Commission on the Status of Women for San Bernardino County, Fifth District, I know my purpose is that of responsibility to the women I serve in my facilities, in my county and across the state,” said Carter.
Based on the survey, Time for Change is making several recommendations. It presented these at the press conference, and will also present them to state officials in Sacramento.
Its recommendations include:
| | - Develop county/city resource centers designed to assist formerly incarcerated women with job training and other life support services.
- CDCR should modify eligibility criteria for drug treatment programs within prison and provide access to residential programs upon release.
- Provide rehabilitative services to inmates based on their needs, not the needs of the institution.
- Coordinate health care systems both in and outside the prison system.
- For women still in prison, remove barriers such as $5 co-pays for medical services.
- For women outside prison, provide alternatives to emergency room visits.
- For women outside prison, provide routine medical exams for disease prevention, such as Pap smears.
- Increase the “gate money” to accurately reflect re-entry costs for adequate food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.
- Cleary define the protocol for who will receive financial support from the Parole Office and make it consistent in all parole offices.
- Eliminate the question about prior felony convictions on job applications with agencies already required to do a background checks.
- Provide job training and vocational opportunities for people convicted of felonies, and provide access prior to and immediately upon release of a prisoner.
- Modify Section 8 policies to allow women with drug felonies to participate if they have successfully completed a treatment program.
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Locally, Carter hopes that San Bernardino County and City will participate in a Re-Entry Commission and use this data to address the needs of formerly incarcerated women, many of whom have become disenfranchised and remain a marginalized segment of our community.
There are great examples already taking place across the state to assist communities in preparing for the return of these women. One example is the “Maximizing Opportunities for Mothers to Succeed – MOMS program located in Alameda County.
The Sheriff Department and the Housing Authority collaborated and developed a program, which allows mothers to live in subsidized housing with their children while participating in the one-year program. Upon successful completion the mother is able to provide for her family, access subsidized housing regardless of her past felony drug conviction, and remain drug and alcohol free in a supportive environment
“Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz had a yellow brick road in her journey to find her way home. Let’s light the path so these women can find their way home within a healthy, productive and supportive community. We need a plan to address the re-entry of the many women coming back from prison,” said Carter.
This report is available on Time for Change’s website www.timeforchange.us. For more information, contact Kim Carter at 909-886-2994.
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