NCJ Number
146879
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 17 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: 1,5-20
Date Published
1992
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article reports the results of a survey on the types of programs and services being provided to meet the needs of female prisoners nationwide. Eighty-five State and Federal facilities responded to the survey. Illinois' experience with coed correctional facilities is also briefly discussed.
Abstract
A small percentage of prisoners incarcerated in the United States are women. At a time when resources are limited, funds to provide programs to a small part of the prison population may be hard to find. The first part of this article focuses on the experience of the State of Illinois which is committed to providing female offenders with needed programs. The second part is a report on the results of a nationwide survey on the programs and services being provided for female inmates. One of the ways that Illinois has dealt with the problem of scarce funds is to create several coed correctional institutions where female inmates have access to academic vocational and other programs that formerly were available only to male prisoners. The Illinois Youth Center at Warrenville, primarily a facility for female juvenile offenders, now houses boys as well. According to the deputy director, because many of the problems young girls deal with are associated with men, a coed facility gives them a unique opportunity to work through their problems. A study was conducted at the youth center by the Illinois Psychiatric Institute. The demographic data gathered in this study highlights the unique problems facing the young women and provides support for the combined treatment and justice model being used at the center. In the previously mentioned survey, 85 State and Federal correctional institutions for female offenders provided data about programs in the areas of health care, education and work programs, visitation and other services including religious and legal services. Health care, in particular, is an area in which women have special needs and these needs are not being ignored by the responding facilities. 3 tables