Solutions, initiatives, strategies to reduce the incarceration of Oklahoma women : a public agenda action plan : strategies to lower the incarceration rate of women in Oklahoma to under the national average by 2020.

              A PUBLIC AGENDA ACTION PLAN
Strategies to Lower the Incarceration Rate
of Women in Oklahoma
to Under the National Average by 2020
SOLUTIONS, INITIATIVES, STRATEGIES
TO REDUCE THE INCARCERATION
OF OKLAHOMA WOMEN
Major General Rita Aragon (Retired)
Member, Oklahoma Commission on
the Status of Women
Alice Blue
Community Service Council
Jan Bradstreet
GIFTS, Inc.
Mike Brose
Executive Director, Mental Health
Association of Tulsa
Brian Bush
Oklahoma Christian University
Felicia Collins-Correia
Executive Director, YWCA Tulsa
Pastor Melvin Cooper
CEO, Founder, Fitting Back In
Representative Lee Denney
Oklahoma House of Representatives
Suzanne Edmondson
Founder, Director, Friends of Eddie
Warrior Foundation
Michael Aziz Gipson
Chair, Council on American Islamic
Relations
Sheila Harbert
Director, Girl Scouts Beyond Bars, Girl
Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma
Catherine Haynes
Member, Oklahoma Commission on
the Status of Women
Joyce Jackson
Administrator, Executive
Communications, Oklahoma
Department of Corrections
Senator Constance Johnson
Oklahoma State Senate
Lisa Johnson
Field Marketing Executive, Girl
Scouts of Western Oklahoma
Dr. Rebecca Kennedy
Member, Oklahoma Commission on
the Status of Women, Chair,
Oklahoma SIS
Lou Kohlman
Member, Oklahoma Commission on
the Status of Women
Pastor David Lee
Community Development Service
Faith-Based Enhancement Initiative,
Oklahoma Dept. of Health
Sheryl Lovelady
Director, Women’s Leadership
Initiative, University of Oklahoma
Bernice Mitchell
Member, Oklahoma Commission on
the Status of Women
Janet Peery
Executive Director, YWCA of
Oklahoma City
Giovanni Perry
Chairperson, Governor’s Council on
Latin American and Hispanic Affairs
Kelly Pierron
President’s Reentry Initiative
Dr. Laura Pitman
Deputy Director, Division of Female
Offender Operations, Oklahoma
Department of Corrections
David Prater
District Attorney, Oklahoma County
Patricia Presley
Court Clerk, Oklahoma County
Deborah Price
Office of Faith Based and Community
Initiatives, State of Oklahoma
Lisa Pryor
Assistant Superintendent, Oklahoma
State Department of Education
Bob Ravitz
Public Defender, Oklahoma County
Amy Santee
George Kaiser Family Foundation
Connie Schlittler
Oklahoma Department of Human
Services
Lisa Smith
Director, Oklahoma Commission on
Children and Youth
Mimi Tarrasch
Women in Recovery
Linda Terrell
Executive Director, Oklahoma
Institute for Child Advocacy
Peggy Thompson
Member, Oklahoma Commission on
the Status of Women
Mary P. Walker
Chair, Oklahoma Commission on the
Status of Women
Dr. Richard A. Wansley
Oklahoma Academy
Dr. Jean Warner
Chair, Oklahoma Women’s Coalition
Terri White
Commissioner, Oklahoma
Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services
Brent Wolfe
Director, Tulsa County Juvenile
Bureau
Beverly LeFlore-Woodson
Urban League of Greater OKC
Adeline Yerkes
Member, Oklahoma Commission on
the Status of Women
Consulting Members
Debbie Boyer
Member, Division of Female Offender
Operations, Oklahoma Dept. of
Corrections
Houda Elyazgi
Account Executive, Saxum PR
Debbie Schramm
Senior Vice President, Saxum PR
BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE
ON THE INCARCERATION OF OKLAHOMA WOMEN
www.oklahomasis.com! Oklahoma SIS Public Agenda Action Plan! ! ! ! page i
The Oklahoma SIS: Solutions, Initiatives, Strategies project,
spearheaded by the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of
Women, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, and the
Oklahoma Women's Coalition
seeks the assistance of all Oklaho-mans
to reduce the rate of non-violent,
low-risk women offenders
while enhancing public safety and
expanding cost efficiencies.
We offer this plan of action for
your review, endorsement and collective action. Four
clearly-stated overarching strategies, followed by state,
community and individual strategic action goals with sug-gested
approaches across the life-long path of incarceration
-- Prevention - Intervention & Diversion - Recidivism &
Reentry -- provide many opportunities for individuals,
civic, community, faith-based, judicial, legislative and gov-ernmental
interests to step up and effect change.
STATE, COMMUNITY & INDIVIDUAL ACTION
In every strategic life span area, a few simply-stated strate-gies
set out actions to accomplish at both state and commu-nity
levels as well as actions individuals may choose to se-lect.
"The "suggested approaches" are activities any group
or individual may elect to undertake to help achieve one or
more strategies, but are indeed simply "suggested" deliber-ately
making room for a host of other approaches and ac-tivities.
BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE ON INCARCERATION OF
WOMEN!
The Oklahoma SIS project brought together a 42-member
panel of experts and leaders in the field of women's incar-ceration
in Oklahoma. Panelists reviewed and distilled
years of recommendations and research into a comprehen-sive
plan of action for addressing the highest incarceration
rate of women in the nation. As part of the year-long pro-ject,
a diverse group of some 200 state leaders, individuals,
governmental and non-governmental entities adopted the
plan at an issues summit April 30, 2010.
FOUR OVERARCHING STRATEGIES!
Over-Arching Strategies concisely identify four key actions
critical to achieving the overall goal: to reduce the incarcera-tion
rate of Oklahoma women to under the national average
by 2020 using evidence-based practice and policy.
1. Interrupt the pathways to incarceration.
2. Expand critical services to at-risk individuals, popu-lations
and communities.
3.Enhance public safety while
implementing/expanding lower
cost alternatives to incarceration
for nonviolent female offenders.
4.Remove barriers and provide
support for successful return from
incarceration to society.
STRATEGIC CHANGE ACROSS LIFE SPAN!
Comprehensively, the Reduce Incarceration of Women Ac-tion
Plan approaches the issues surrounding women's in-carceration
across the span of an individual's lifetime. This
approach asks, "To effectively reduce women's incarceration
numbers at the lowest risk to public safety and at the most
efficient cost to taxpayers, at what critical points in life can
the greatest numbers of lives be redirected away from paths
leading to imprisonment and restored to society?"
In response, the Oklahoma SIS Reduce Incarceration of
Women Action Plan divides the life span of incarceration
into three broad areas, identifying strategies for change in
each at the state, community and individual local levels.
Strategic life span change areas are: 1) Prevention; 2) Inter-vention
& Diversion; 3) Recidivism & Reentry.
Prevention: Strategies to reduce common pathways and
factors that can contribute to later incarceration.
Intervention and Diversion: Strategies to intervene and
address risk factors both before and after contact with law
enforcement and/or strategies to divert low-risk nonviolent
offenders from incarceration.
Recidivism and Reentry: Strategies that support rehabilita-tion
of offenders, reduce recidivism and enable offenders to
successfully reenter the community after imprisonment.
Strategic areas are listed in order of their ultimate potential
to have the greatest impact on reducing incarceration rate
numbers at more efficient costs than the $20,000-plus an-nual
cost of incarceration per woman using evidence-based
practices and policies.
OKLAHOMA Solutions Initiatives Strategies
! The "Reduce Incarceration of Women: A Public Agenda Action Plan" is a collaborative,
non-partisan statewide initiative of action strategies to reduce the incarceration rate of women
in Oklahoma to less than the national average by 2020 using evidence-based practices and poli-cies.
! Oklahoma has ranked first in the incarceration rate of women per capita, above all other
states in the nation, for much of the past two decades.
www.oklahomasis.com! Oklahoma SIS Public Agenda Action Plan! ! ! ! page 1
CALLING OKLAHOMANS
TO ACTION
PREVENTION
Overarching Strategy:
Interrupt the pathways to incarceration.
State
! Reduce adverse childhood experiences through
evidence-based programs that address physical, sexual
and emotional abuse; emotional or physical neglect;
untreated mental illness or addiction in the home;
incarceration of a family member; domestic violence;
and single parenting.
! Implement and enhance evidence-based, comprehensive
and well-coordinated services for women and children
(0-18 years) who have factors shown to put them at
high risk for later incarceration.
Suggested approaches include:
! Encourage coordination of services among faith-based
and community-based organizations.
! Encourage communication among government
entities.
! Educate key audiences on availability of services and
programs.
! Support creation of the Children of Incarcerated
Parents Advisory Council for the purpose of
gathering data, identifying interagency
collaborations and creating a state plan to address
the needs of families affected by incarceration.
! Support initiatives that:
!Provide funding for assessments of children
whose mothers are going to prison and at
regular intervals during incarceration.
!Provide funding for programs for children whose
mothers are incarcerated.
!Continue funding of programs that address
issues of parenting and child abuse
prevention.
!Examine issues related to guardianship and
custody to ensure caregivers have access to
needed services.
! Remove barriers that hinder examination of
family situations prior to sentencing,
including movement of Title 22, Chapter 1,
Section 20 (Imprisonment of a Single
Custodial Parent of Minor Child—Care and
Custody of the Child) from criminal
procedure to sentencing statutes.
! Require Oklahoma institutions of higher educa-tion
to provide training for teachers on
identification and referral of at-risk children.
! Increase affordable childcare programs for at-risk
women who are pursuing further education.
Community
(Including Businesses, Faith-Based Organizations and
Community-Based Organizations, County and Local
Governments, etc.)
! Enhance domestic violence services.
Suggested approaches include:
! Encourage vigorous investigation and prosecution,
even when the victim becomes reluctant to testify
or file charges.
! Expand programs to educate, protect and empower
victims.
! Increase programs that identify and provide services
to children in these
homes.
! Encourage collaborations that
expand evidence-based
school programs for
children and youth.
Suggested approaches
include:
!Prevent bullying.
!Teen pregnancy
prevention.
! Prevent dating/domestic
violence.
! Prevent suicide.
! Prevent substance abuse
and addiction.
! Reduce truancy and increase graduation rates
through counseling and mentoring.
! Expand existing mediation programs.
! Facilitate identification and referral of at-risk
children.
! Establish safe havens through after-school programs
! Expand early childhood education programs.
! Increase engagement of caregivers/family members.
! Increase self esteem and self worth for girls.
Individual
! Educate, advocate and volunteer.
Suggested approaches include:
!Volunteer to tutor at a school.
!Volunteer with a scouting organization.
! Volunteer with a faith-based organization’s youth
group.
! Join a civic club with an interest in youth.
! Join a group that is interested in mentoring young
girls and teens.
! Volunteer with an after school program.
! Volunteer with the local Literacy Council.
! Volunteer to be a Big Brother or Big Sister.
! Assist the local library with reading hour.
! Raise funds for child abuse prevention.
! Mentor an “at-risk” child.
! Volunteer with a safety-net organization that makes
referrals and assists with health/social services.
www.oklahomasis.com! Oklahoma SIS Public Agenda Action Plan! ! ! ! page 2
INTERVENTION &
DIVERSION
Overarching Strategies:
E xpand critical services to at-risk individuals,
populations and communities.
Enhance public safety while implementing/
expanding lower cost alternatives to incarceration for
nonviolent female offenders.
Note: A number of the Intervention and Diversion strategies are
incorporated in Oklahoma’s Smart on Crime initiative.
State
! Undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the Oklahoma
criminal justice system (arrest through reentry) to
identify opportunities to reduce spending, increase
public safety, and improve conditions in communities
and neighborhoods most affected by incarceration.
! Expand the availability of mental health, substance abuse
and domestic violence services throughout the state.
! Expand mental health and substance abuse treatment
availability for persons entering the criminal justice
system.
! Suggested approaches include:
! Train police responders in every community to
identify substance abuse and mental health
symptoms.
! Establish a system of psychiatric/addiction
responders throughout the state to respond to the
scene to help divert individuals.
! Support evidence-based alternatives to prison for
nonviolent female offenders.
Suggested approaches include:
! Support legislation that authorizes a pilot program
and provides support for alternative and reentry
programs for female offenders.
! Expand mental health court, drug court, juvenile
court, veterans’ court and community sentencing
programs.
! Implement standardized mental health and addiction
screening in county jails to facilitate appropriate
treatment and diversion.
! Remove barriers that prevent suitable offenders from
entering mental health court, drug court, juvenile
court, veterans’ court and community sentencing.
! Require program evaluations to include consistent
implementation, adherence to best practices,
outcomes and opportunities to modify target
population.
! Monitor use of alternatives to incarceration to ensure
they are not being used in lieu of local options.
! Evaluate whether citation in lieu of arrest can be
expanded.
! Support legislation and statute changes that will reduce
incarceration of low risk, nonviolent female offenders.
Suggested approaches include:
! Establish the default sentence sequence as concurrent
rather than consecutive.
! Repeal the prohibition against probation sentences
for nonviolent offenses.
! Enact presumptive probation sentences for drug
possession crimes.
! Eliminate mandatory minimum prison sentences for
drug possession and nonviolent felonies, except
for provisions of the Habitual Offender Act.
! Standardize the penalty for equal quantities of crack
and powder cocaine.
! Change marijuana possession of one ounce or less to
a misdemeanor subject to fines, community
service, mandatory treatment and jail.
! Institute and provide funding for mandatory
treatment for drug offenders.
! Repeal the statutory prohibition against suspended
sentences for certain offenses, allowing courts to
use community supervision programs as
alternative to prison.
! Enhance programs and services for juveniles within
the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) system to
reduce risk of incarceration.
Community (Including Businesses, Faith-Based Organiza-tions
and Community-Based Organizations, County and Local
Governments, etc.)
! Support education programs for judges, district attorneys,
prosecutors and law enforcement regarding
alternatives to incarceration and services.
! Expand evidence-based detoxification and treatment
programs police can utilize for offenders arrested on
possession of drugs/alcohol.
! Enhance and support initiatives that identify and assist
at-risk women.
Individual
! Educate, advocate and volunteer.
Suggested approaches include:
! Volunteer with the local mental health or substance
abuse advocacy/treatment/support group.
! Work with businesses to gain employment for
offenders.
! Educate those in your family, neighborhood,
faith-based organization, social circle or profes-sional
circle about intervention and redirection.
! Raise funds for organizations that serve “at-risk”
populations.
! Work with faith-based organizations in drug, mental
health or credit counseling programs.
! Mentor a young woman who is at risk of
incarceration.
! Volunteer with a nonprofit credit/financial
counseling service.
!
www.oklahomasis.com! Oklahoma SIS Public Agenda Action Plan! ! ! ! page 3
RECIDIVISM & REENTRY
Overarching Strategy:
Remove barriers and provide support for successful
return from incarceration to society.
Note: A number of the Reentry and Recidivism strategies are
incorporated in Oklahoma’s Smart on Crime initiative.
State
! Maximize coordination, communication and utilization
of services among government entities, businesses,
faith-based organizations and community-based
organizations.
Suggested approaches include:
! Develop, maintain and/or enhance a central, easily
accessible source of available services and re-sources.
! Increase awareness of availability and use of
evidence-based services and programs.
! Support legislation and statute revisions that remove
barriers and provide support for successful return
from incarceration to society.
Suggested approaches include:
! Increase the proportion of offenders released under
supervision.
! Deem paroles approved, with the exception of “85
percent” crimes, if no action is taken by Governor
in 30 days.
! Remove common reentry barriers:
! Reinstate civil rights for nonviolent offenders 5 to 7
years after the expiration of all sentences.
! Establish state tax incentives for landlords who
provide access to housing to ex- offenders.
! Establish state tax incentives for employers who hire
offenders.
! Support pilot programs for alternatives to
incarceration and reentry programs.
! Establish a statewide strategy for payment of fines,
fees, restitution and reinstatement of drivers
licenses post-release.
! Establish post-conviction reviews for eligible
offenders.
! Allow judges to modify sentences at reviews.
! Establish mechanisms to inform courts about
offenders who may benefit from release within
the first year of their sentences.
! Remove automatic exclusions from professional
licenses based on felony convictions.
! Maintain and expand evidence-based reentry programs
and services.
! Enhance continuity of care for offenders
with mental health and substance abuse
issues.
! Expand treatment capacity for offenders
being discharged (discharge specialists,
intensive care coordination teams,
forensic PACT teams).
! Expand treatment capacity for individuals
on probation/parole.
! Enhance substance abuse treatment programs
provided in prisons and after release.
! Enhance job readiness and employment:
! Increase job skills and placement services.
! Maintain/expand college-level coursework,
vocational training and General
Equivalency Diploma (GED) in the
prisons through higher education and
career tech programs.
! Offer incentives to faculty who teach these
programs in prisons.
! Review admission policies to remove
barriers for ex-offenders, including entry
restrictions, financial aid restrictions, etc.
! Expand awareness of federal tax credits for businesses
that employ ex-offenders.
! Encourage state agencies to employ offenders before
they are released.
! Explore opportunities to provide certificates of
employability for offenders who are qualified to
perform productively in the workplace.
! Explore opportunities for offenders to complete
community service requirements before they are
released.
! Enhance Life Skills.
! Support programs that improve the quality
of parent-child interactions during
visitation.
! Support increased opportunities for
incarcerated mothers to enhance
parenting skills.
! Provide family counseling for mothers and
children.
!Provide skill-building opportunities in
money management.
w! ww.oklahomasis.com! Oklahoma SIS Public Agenda Action Plan! ! ! ! page 4
RECIDIVISM & REENTRY
Continued
Community
(Including Businesses, Faith-Based Organizations and
Community-Based Organizations, County and Local
Governments, etc.)
! Increase awareness of and support for female offenders
reentering the community.
Suggested approaches include:
! Educate stakeholders (e.g., business owners/leaders,
faith-based and community organizations) about
female offenders and how they can get involved.
! Ensure mental health and health care providers are
prepared to serve returning offenders.
! Expand housing opportunities.
! Increase employment opportunities.
! Educate employers and employment agencies about
female offenders and incentives for hiring
ex-offenders.
! Encourage employers to remove blanket
“no felony” policies.
! Expand opportunities for ex-offenders in need of
education (i.e., literacy, adult basic education,
general equivalency diploma, college) and job
skills.
! Expand mentoring programs for ex-offenders.
! Increase evidence-based programs for children and their
incarcerated mothers that begin during incarceration
and bridge to the community post-incarceration.
Suggested approaches include:
! Increase networks of support for children and their
caregivers.
! Increase and support visitation programs and
transportation for children to enhance
relationships while mothers are incarcerated.
! Expand/support mentoring programs to assist with
completing college applications and financial aid
forms, testing, studying, etc.
! Encourage and support increased involvement from
faith-based organizations and support faith-based
transition programs.
Individual
! Educate, advocate and volunteer.
Suggested approaches include:
!Tutor a reentering woman who is working toward her
GED.
! Support nonprofits that provide safe housing for
women offenders returning to the community.
! Start a child care program in your faith-based
organization for children of formerly incarcerated
moms.
! Donate bus passes to organizations that serve
reentering women offenders.
! Volunteer/raise funds for faith-based groups
working in prison ministry.
! Volunteer/raise funds for nonprofit organizations
with a prison program.
! Volunteer with local nonprofits to assist women who
have been incarcerated with the necessities for
reentry.
! Encourage businesses to employ woman offenders
with appropriate skills/knowledge returning to
the community.
RESOURCES
For more information, studies and resource lists re-garding
the incarceration of women in Oklahoma, go
to the Oklahoma SIS Website: www.oklahomasis.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Printing of this document was made possible through
the generosity of Integris Health, Inc.
!!
No taxpayer expense was incurred.
w! ww.oklahomasis.com! Oklahoma SIS Public Agenda Action Plan! ! ! ! page 5
SUMMIT SPONSORS
Your help is needed.
For more information about ongoing efforts to reduce the incarceration rate of women
and how you can get involved, please visit www.oklahomasis.com.
Oklahoma SIS Public Agenda Action Plan! www.oklahomasis.com!
www.ok.gov/ocsw www.doc.state.ok.us www.oklahomawomenscoalition.org
The strategies that can effectively
lower Oklahoma’s high rates of
incarceration fall within this
spectrum.
THE WORK CONTINUES...
Prepared by staff of Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women, Oklahoma Department of Corrections and the
Oklahoma Women's Coalition. Oklahoma City, OK, August 2010.