Requires the department of corrections and community supervision to place female inmates at correctional institutions and facilities closest to their home

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1: The legislation intent; the legislation should provide the least restricted environment for women in prisoners so they can remain in close proximity to their families and children during their stay in state prison in order to reduce strains on family and children and, when, applicable, increase family contact for women prisoners who suffer from mental illness.

Section 2: Section 158 of the correctional law, as added by chapter 788 of the law of 1968 is amended to read as follows; notwithstanding the provisions of section 158, the commissioner shall designate as a place of confinement of a female prisoner the correctional institution which is located in closest proximity to the female prisoner's home or the home of their children.

Section 3: The commissioner of the department of corrections and community supervision is authorized and directed to implement and finalize a process to relocate female prisoners currently in the custody to Correctional institutions/facilities which are located in the closest proximity to female prisoner's home or home of her children.

Section 4: The commissioner of the department of corrections and community supervision shall collect and maintain data on each prisoner's marital status, number of children and status of child while parent with DOGS.

Justification

Currently there are over 2,200 women in New York State correctional facilities, the vast majority have children and over 40% suffer from mental illness.

New York must begin, this year, the process of incarcerating women prisoner's in facilities closest to their community of origin because almost 73% of New York's incarcerated women are parents. Currently the majority are being housed in prisons that are almost an 8 hour drive from their children and families. The current process of

housing these women is anti-family, anti-children, overwhelmingly impacts minority women and hinders recovery from mental illness which is prevalent in prisons.

Here are the facts according to the Correctional Association of New York:

* Over 83% of women sent to New York's prisons in 2008 were convicted of non-violent offenses;

* More than 77% of women under state custody for a drug offense are women of color;

* Almost 68% of the state's female inmates are women of color: more than 45% are African American and almost 20% are Latina;

* About 55% of women under state custody are from New York City and its suburbs. The majority are housed in prisons up to 8 hour drives from their homes and families;

* Nearly 41% are incarcerated at Albion Correctional Facility, about eight hours away from Manhattan.

* An estimated eight in 10 women in have experienced severe abuse as children and an estimated nine in 10 have endured physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes.

* As of January 2007, more than 42% of women in New York's prisons had been diagnosed with a serious mental illness.

* Almost 80,000 children have a parent in New York's prisons, including nearly 5,240 children with an incarcerated mother.

* Nearly 54% of women prisoners do not have a high school diploma.

* More than 35% of women under state custody read at an 8th grade level or below.

* New York State spends more than 52.7 billion annually on corrections. More than 31,000 people work for the state prison system.

Prior legislative history

New Bill.

Fiscal implications for state and local government

None. In fact this legislation will help reduce social service and mental hygiene costs for New York based on the fact that housing women prisoners close to their homes and families help in the recovery of mental illness, help maintain strong family bond with their children, and reduce the time many children are relocated to foster homes because incarcerated women prisoner's have a recidivism rate of less than 30%. Currently

it costs New York State over $37,000 per year to place a child in foster care and close to $44,000 to house inmates. Creating incentives for good behavior for early release for family reunification and increasing recovery rates from mental illness by housing inmates close to supporting families is a huge cost savings that this legislation will create. The data collection required for each inmate is a matter of adding a few questions to list of information already required by DOCS.

EFFECTIVE DATE:; This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law, provided, however, that effective immediately, the addition and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.