HOPE

The Judiciary brought to our attention a July/August 2009 article in the Washington Monthly praising Judge Steven Alm's project HOPE. It's worth a read here. HOPE has attracted national attention because it presents a real solution to mass incarceration. It works on a premise that every parent and pet owner understands; that behavior can be changed by punishment that is quick, if not immediate, and predictable.

An excerpt:

"For $3,000 per year, a HOPE-style mix of probation, drug testing, sanctions, and treatment only as needed, plus GPS monitoring, could deliver something like 80 percent of the crime-prevention benefits of a prison cell that costs ten times as much. With such a system in place, judges would have a real alternative to incarceration. And so would the governors who are thinking about letting prisoners out to save money. Today, two-thirds of those who leave prison will be back within three years; the exit from a prison is a revolving door. For felony probationers, the incarceration rate within three years is about 50 percent. If the "outpatient prison" could do for recidivism among parolees what HOPE did for new crimes by probationers, five years from now we could have many fewer people in prison than we do today, and half as much crime."

PSD briefs lawmakers on offender reentry plan

Officials from the Department of Public Safety (PSD) yesterday emphasized the need for more collaboration with non-criminal justice government agencies and community-based agencies in order to successfully and efficiently leverage limited resources to expand programs and services offered by the offender reentry and reintegration plan.

House and Senate public safety committees held an informational briefing with PSD to discuss the State's Comprehensive Reentry Plan.The plan was developed in response to a law (Act 8, SB 932) passed during the 2007 Legislative session that required the PSD to incorporate strategies to aid offenders returning to their communities.

Approximately 6,000 offenders are imprisoned in Hawaii jails and facilities on the mainland. Of this amount, 5,700 will eventually be released on parole or probation.

Hawaii has one of the highest rates of recidivism compared to other states, but they have been gradually decreasing. Recidivism rates for parolees dropped from 72.9% in 2003 to 65.7% in 2006 and for offenders on probation, from 53.7% to 48.2%.

Although there has been a decrease in recidivism, several lawmakers were puzzled as to why Hawaii rates were higher than other states. Sen. Robert Bunda asked PSD officials, "What are they [other states] doing that we aren't?"

Tommy Johnson, Deputy Director for Corrections, reminded Sen. Bunda and other lawmakers that the rates reflect all arrests and not only convictions. The reason for the arrest could be as minor as breaking a probation rule to as large as committing a major crime.

By the end of the briefing, a solid answer to Sen. Bunda's question failed to materialize. However, Johnson did say that the only way a reentry program can succeed and lower recidivism rates is if we are able to understand why offenders re-offend. However, the diverse offender barriers particular to each individual incarcerated is one of the challenges the reentry program faces.

The reentry plan heeds three specific strategies and goals: immediately access the needs and risks of an offender; develop individualized transitions through appropriate services and programs; and constant monitoring, management and re-assessments of an offender's progress.

You can view the Dept. of Public Safety's slideshow presentations below:

"You guys are looking at miracles"

On Saturday morning, the State Capitol was quiet, except for a small conference room where dozens of former prison inmates and ex-offenders gathered for a chance to tell their story. The Senate Committee on Public Safety and the House Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs held a joint information briefing entitled, "Life on the Outside", intended to draw from the personal experience of those who have been in prison and what it was like to re-enter society.

When I entered the conference room, the briefing had already been in session for over 2 hours. A news cameraman who had gotten his shots and was about to leave commented, "That was some of the most amazing testimony I've heard here." Indeed, one by one, Rep. Cindy Evans, and Senators Will Espero, Clarence Nishihara and Norman Sakamoto, listened to stories, sometimes heart-wrenching, of what it's really like, what is needed, where we succeed, where we fail, and what should be done.

And, as a man named Eddie pointed out, "You guys are looking at miracles. The fact that I am sitting here talking to you, and that these people are in this room telling their stories, is a miracle. All the people that didn't make it aren't here."

Snippets:

Franklin said, "A hardened criminal is easier to change than a dope addict. The addict will always do what he needs to do in order to feed his habit. You can change a hardened criminal."

James said, "We are dealing with a disease - drug addiction. We need more support for treatment rather than locking people up. Treatment is money well spent. We need an alternative to warehousing people."

John said, "When I was in Halawa, they diagnosed me as depressed. Yeah, I just got sent to prison, of course I'm depressed. When I got out, I wasn't depressed. Regardless of the time of the sentence, they are all going to come out at some point, and they all need treatment.

Peter said, "There is a lack of common sense and accountability in the system. I'm trying to help a man who was released from prison without his medication. He's bi-polar. How is he going to survive without his medication? That is stupid and cruel. People in the business community are willing to help, from the inside out. Help the system, not just the people."

John said, "You need to give them something to do. An idle mind is the devil's workshop."

Sam said, "I was in and out since I was 11 years old. One day a guard made a comment that I would be back in 6 months. That hurt my soul, and it made me determined to change. I now help with a mentorship program. We need to show inmates that they have potential . They have pressures - they need to find a job, they need to support their children - but how are they going to find a job with a criminal record? Some guys don't want to do religion. Some guys don't want to do AA. You have to educate yourself from the inside out. It takes time, like learning to walk again.

Marvin said, "For most of the youth, their parents were incarcerated, or on drugs, or alcoholics. The kids want to be like their parents. Or, they think, if my father doesn't care, why should I? When I was in prison, I realized that I needed to change, and that I wanted to be a re-builder, not a destroyer. We need to uplift our community.

Charles said, "I'm a volunteer at OCCC. I also run a ministry. But one of the rules is that if I'm going to be a volunteer, I can't have any contact with the inmates once they get out of prison. That's crazy. How can we help these people to re-integrate?

Lorraine said, "Sometimes, what people need is an 'enlightened witness'. You can't take away the trauma, but you can help them to help themselves and manage their overwhelm."

Gary said, "Once a con, always a con. That's how society sees prisoners. Gang involvement in Hawaii is up 20% and it's coming from inside the prisons.

Edward said, "I was living lawless. The most important thing for me when I came out was to live with a sense of order. That's more important than money."

Jackson said, "The mainland prisons don't care about the Hawaii people. Why are you giving them money? It's only about the money for them."

Ben said, "I have radio show on KAIM called Gospel Connection. We are working with WCCC to provide solar powered radios for the women inmates. They can check out the transistors from the chaplain just like a library book. There are two stations; one is for bible teaching and the other is Christian music."

Tommy said, "There are 250,000 people on probation statewide. Seven out of ten will end up being re-sentenced."

What to do about OCCC?

Oahu Community Correctional Center - 2199 Kamehameha Highway

The Oahu Community Correctional Center is the state's largest jail, situated on 16 acres in urban Honolulu. It is currently designed as a 950-bed facility housing pre-trial detainees. Today, the Public Safety and Military Affairs committee heard testimony on HB2685, which directs the Department of Public Safety and the Office of Planning to design a new minimum security facility on the site of OCCC.

Chair Cindy Evans said that OCCC is currently operating at 25% over its design capacity. Overcrowding is a major issue. And, while the facility was originally intended to be a community-based operation, Rep. Evans believes it has outgrown that role. According to the Department's website, in addition to its jail functions, the center provides re-integration programs for male sentenced felons.

The committee voted to pass the bill with amendments. Rather than on the same site as OCCC, Rep. Evans would like the department to work with the Department of Accounting and General Services to identify potential land in urban Honolulu for a vertical detention center. With the addition of the vertical facility, she wants OCCC to get back to its orginal intent as a community-based center. The bill now goes to Finance.

Bill aims to help inmates rejoin community

For some inmates, prison is the only home they know. Freedom may be the sweet nectar they all envy, but rejoining the community is most likely the bitter fruit some fear.

Like Nancy Neki, a former inmate who spent nine years making a correctional facility her home, transitioning back into society frightened her. Neki bounced around from foster home to foster home and had no family or relatives. She could neither read nor write and would probably have returned to the prison cell she once called home if it weren't for the classes that helped her transition back into the community.

"It helped me learn about how to deal with life," Neki said. She said that the program helped build a nonexistent self-esteem and forced her to reexamine her thoughts and values.

The Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs heard HB3426 this morning, a measure, introduced by Rep. Karen Awana, D-24 (Nanakuli, Maile), that would appropriate funds to establish a cognitive restructuring program for Native Hawaiians. The program would combine strategies that help inmates get back in touch with their cultural values, and formal cognitive restructuring and transitional practices. In order to reintegrate offenders and reduce recidivism, the program aims to restructure thought processes and teach cognitive skills that would help with basic decision-making and problem-solving.

The bill passed with amendments that will change its language by reflecting a pilot program. Read Testimonies.

Policy shift in housing prisoners

Both House and Senate Public Safety chairs agreed today that they are looking to make a major policy shift by bringing Hawaii prisoners back home from mainland prisons, starting with the women. As of this date, the Department of Public Safety has no proposal or plan to make this happen, but the department has determined the potential costs involved. For example, in Kentucky, the cost per prisoner per day is $58.43, compared to Hawaii at $93.46 per day. There are currently 175 Hawaii women incarcerated in the Kentucky women's prison, but based on a number of 120 prisoners, it costs the state about 2.5 million per year to keep the women in Kentucky compared to 3.5 million per year to move them back to Hawaii. Add other expenses, and it could cost between $1 and 2 million more per year to house the women in Hawaii. While it may be cheaper to send prisoners to the mainland, the legislators believe that policy has its pros and cons.

Here are some notes from the briefing:

Arizona - Saguaro and Red Rock: Legislators agreed that both are impressive, new facilities, although they are a great distance from the community. Saguaro opened last May and Red Rock opened in July. They are so new that they are not fully operational, and it may be another 18 months before they are. Rep. Evans was struck by the simplicity of the buildings, basic concrete tilt-up design, inexpensive but effective. The Red Rock facility has a majority of prisoners from Alaska. The Alaska contract calls for their prisoners to get meat at meals three or four times a week, and the lucky Hawaii prisoners get to take advantage of that benefit.

Letters from prisoners: Senator Espero brought to the hearing a number of letters from prisoners complaining about the conditions. He followed up with the department on a few of them because "while they may seem small, they are important to the prisoners." We learned that the state is charged 25 cents per minute for phone calls made by Hawaii prisoners in Arizona. That seems expensive considering that phone calls by Hawaii-based prisoners are only 3 cents per minute. The department will check on it. The phone calls on the mainland are taped, and stored for 30 days. Hawaii does not tape phone calls, but performs random monitoring, meaning that sometimes a guard is listening while the prisoner makes a call.

There was a complaint that prisoners don't get computer time. The department clarified that prisoners do get to use the computer, but they are not allowed to access the Internet.

There was a complaint that prisoners don't have access to the Law Library. Actually, all prisoners are allowed access to the Law Library for a minimum of 3 hours per week. However, that's dependent on whether the library is open during the prisoner's time to use the service, and certain prisoners have priority, such as those who have docketed cases.

VideoConferencing. The Department of Public Safety is planning to establish 4-10 videoconferencing sites across the state so that local families may stay in touch with family members at mainland prisons. The department is actively looking for sites and has been talking to a number of churches.

Changes to SB932 or Act 8. Both the department and the legislature want to revisit SB932 to make some improvements. The department has not hired any new staff to fill the positions authorized by Act 8, nor has the governor released the appropriated funds.

Top Legislative Issues for 2008. The department listed: 1)Re-integration of programs; 2)Enhanced law enforcement; and 3)Repair and maintenance of facilities.

We can do that here, too!

Rep. Cindy Evans returned from visiting Kentucky women prisons with a grand message for audience members today at an informational briefing regarding Hawaii prison policies: The female inmates from Hawaii feel better about themselves there than they do here.

The women prefer the Kentucky prisons to Hawaii facilities, said Rep. Evans. In Kentucky, they are able to complete the drug rehab program in a much more efficient and consistent time period. In Hawaii, many inmates couldn't even finish what should be a three-week treatment because of the many starts and stops. Some had to wait as long as a year to complete their treatment. Here in Hawaii, the women were asked to bare their souls only to be dropped like cigarette butts with no one helping to pick up the pieces. They felt worse about themselves after completing – or not completing – the program in Hawaii.

In Kentucky, the women prisoners felt better about themselves because of little things. For example, they were allowed to have tweezers to pluck their eyebrows, wear makeup, wear jewelry if it cost less than $50, and color their hair. However, Evans also noticed that the female prisoners do not receive enough warm clothing for the mainland winter, and that this must be difficult for locals who are not used to the cold weather. At 65 degrees in Ewa Beach, MY teeth begin to chatter! If an inmate or her family can't afford thermal underwear or warmer jackets, they must concede to forfeit outside privileges and/or endure the cold weather.

Even with acclimation difficulties, why, you ask, are our representatives pushing to bring them home when they are blatantly receiving better rehab aid?

Because as Rep. Evans mentioned several times throughout the hearing, "We can do that here, too."

Rep. Cindy Evans reports on Women Prisons

WHAT: The House and Senate Public Safety committees will hold an informational briefing tomorrow to report on various site visits and issues pertaining to our prison system. Rep. Cindy Evans, chair of the House committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs will report on her visit to Kentucky women prisons. Other items on the agenda include:

Overview of the committee's neighbor island visits
Overview of the Arizona site visit
Proposal to return women prisoners back to Hawaii
Review on SB932 (Act 8) - A comprehensive offender re-entry system
Prison proposal for Maui

Clayton Frank, Director of Public Safety, and Tommy Johnson, Deputy Director of Public Safety, have been invited to participate.

WHEN: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 9:00 a.m.

WHERE: State Capitol, Room 325

Prisons Committee Goes On the Road

Photo: Maui Community Correctional Center in Wailuku.

The joint legislative oversight committee on prisons will hold community meetings and site visits on all the islands this summer starting July 7th on Maui. The meeting will be held at the Family Living Center, 99 Mahalani Street, in Wailuku, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Rep. Cindy Evans, chairperson of the House Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs, reports that the committee will conduct an overview of prison conditions, including prison capacity, staffing shortages, complaints, mental health issues, re-entry and rehabilitation. They will also cover expansion plans for the prison site at Puunene.

On a related matter, the governor's list of potential vetoes includes SB932, the legislature's omnibus bill on a re-entry system for adult offenders, including programs and services that will help inmates to successfully reintegrate into the community. The bill received 25 yes votes in the Senate; 49 yes votes, 1 no, and 1 excused, in the House, making an override likely should there be an override session.