NCJ Number
91000
Date Published
1981
Length
39 pages
Annotation
After presenting a female offender profile, this statement describes the facilities and programs of Federal institutions housing female offenders as well as the work of the Federal Female Offender Task Force.
Abstract
There are currently 1,325 women serving sentences in Federal institutions. Although the number of women in the Federal prison system has doubled over the past 10 years, the inmate population is declining in both female and male institutions due to the expanded use of community treatment centers, the increased number of inmates released, and the decreasing number of Federal commitments. The typical female offender is 31 years old, black, single, without a high school diploma, and poor; lacks job skills; has a history of drug abuse; and is serving a sentence for an economic or drug-related offense. The average sentence being served is 6 years. Federal female inmates are incarcerated in the all female institutions at Alderson, W. Va., (current population 400) or Pleasanton, Calif., (current population 250); or the two cocorrectional institutions at Lexington, Ky., (current female population 400) or Fort Worth, Tex., (current female population 275). Despite problems derived from the geographic isolation of the Alderson institution, the institution offers registered apprenticeship training programs and a wide range of academic and industrial training programs. Because of the Pleasanton facility's location and access to the Bay Area, it is able to provide a wide range of community services to inmates. Education programs range from literacy training to college courses. Prison Industries operates an upholstery shop, a drapery shop, and a clothing repair factory there. The cocorrectional institutions provide a safe and humane environment for female inmates, and a greater variety of training programs are available than is the case in single sex institutions. The Female Offender Task Force has focused on the status of the female offender and identified strengths and weaknesses in current programing. Critical issues identified by the task force are medical and psychiatric care, education and vocational training, family visitation, community programs, and drug and alcohol abuse programs.