Senate OKs Kallman Bill To Study Women's Incarceration In RI

PROVIDENCE, RI — The Rhode Island Senate this week approved a resolution sponsored by Sen. Meghan E. Kallman (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, North Providence) aimed at taking a new look at criminal justice for women and reducing the number of female inmates in the state.

Now a 15-member special commission will study the merits and feasibility of various justice reinvestment proposals. Kallman said the idea is to reexamine women’s incarceration as a whole, to identify underlying issues that lead to incarceration, and devise solutions to reduce recidivism, save money, and help people get their lives back on track.

“If our goal is truly rehabilitation, we need to shift our resources away from a needlessly large and expensive prison to more effective community supports that offer opportunities to offenders to put their lives on a better trajectory,” Kallman said in a news release.

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At two public hearings on the bill, supporters of forming the special study commission said women enter prison with high rates of addiction, trauma, and physical abuse, and that many are mothers of children. Supporters said diversion programs and alternatives to incarceration can help women recover from their challenges and avoid further incarceration.

The news comes as the Department of Corrections proposes to close its women's prison in Cranston. The facility is located in a former maximum-security reintegration center for men. As of January, the prison housed around 80 women at an annual cost of around $120,000 each. In its fiscal 2021 budget proposal, the DOC estimated that closing the Gloria McDonald building would save an annual $4.2 million, Kallman said.

The DOC has proposed sending Rhode Island's female inmates to out-of-state facilities. Kallman has said the current women's prison facility is in fact expensive and ill-suited to the population, but believes there are better solutions than outsourcing incarceration.

“Imagine the kinds of services we could offer for $4.2 million,” Kallman stated on Tuesday. “It would be an investment in saving lives as well as making our communities safer for everyone.”

The resolution, co-sponsored by nine other senators, notes recommendations already developed by the Rhode Island Working Group for Juvenile and Criminal Justice and the Justice Reinvestment Working Group. Both entities have recommended expanding support for re-entry into society and making investments to reduce recidivism.

The commission will consist of three Rhode Island senators and include representatives from the Judicial Branch, the DOC, the Department of Behavioral Healthcare Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, the Rhode Island Public Defender, the Office of the Attorney General, and the Parole Board. A former women's prison warden will be named, as will representatives from OpenDoors, the Formerly Incarcerated Union of Rhode Island, the Center for Health and Justice Transformation, and the Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers.

"The purpose of said commission shall be to study the merits and feasibility of justice reinvestment proposals which provide a clear blueprint for community-driven public safety, recidivism reduction, lowering public safety spending, and long-term sustainability of investments into community resources that would reduce the number of women incarcerated in Rhode Island, including, but not limited to, analyzing the feasibility of the Department of Corrections' proposal to close the women's facility from the perspective of a commitment to justice reinvestment principles," the resolution states.

The commission must deliver an initial report on its findings within five months, and a following report after 12 months. The commission will expire on January 5, 2023.