Key Takeaway
Introduction
While females continue to make up a significantly lower share of the nation’s incarcerated population, the growth rate in the female jail and prison incarceration rate surpassed the male rate of growth in the past three decades. This has in recent years shed light on the unique circumstances facing female offenders.
Figure 1 illustrates the national female prison incarceration rate by 100,000 female residents between 1978 and 2016. As seen, the rate increased from 10 to 69 females between 1978 and 2008, an increase of nearly 600 percent. After reaching its peak in 2008 the population started to decline. This decline has been attributed to the nation-wide implementation of criminal justice reform.2
Figure 1. National female prison incarceration rate per 100,000
female residents: 1978-2016.3
Though the recent decline is encouraging, the current female incarceration rate remains substantially higher than in previous decades and further, the rate remained constant between 2015 and 2016. In the following sections we explore the cost of female incarceration, female specific needs, and current Utah initiatives intended to better serve females in our communities.
The Cost of Female Incarceration
The individual and societal cost of female incarceration are extensive. For the individual, these cost may include, loss of current employment, financial costs in terms of fines and fees, and barriers to future employment and housing opportunities after being released from jail or prison (see e.g., Swavola et al., 2016). The societal cost of female incarceration far exceeds the cost of prison incarceration, which annually measures well above $30,000 in the state of Utah. As may be expected, females are more likely than males to have custody of their dependents prior to being arrested. Indeed, the societal costs of female offending are highlighted by the fact that dependents of incarcerated mothers are significantly more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system when becoming adults.4 Due to this, a female’s contact with the criminal justice system is strongly correlated with deepening levels of poverty for her current family and for future generations.
~ Female incarceration is linked to generational poverty ~
Studies comparing the cost of treatment to the cost of incarceration are in agreement that when possible, supervising and treating females in the community is a short and long-run cost-effective approach.5 It may be noted that in the state of Utah, the average cost of substance use treatment was $4,000 in fiscal year 2017, which is significantly lower than the cost of incarceration mentioned previously.6
Understanding Females Needs
The needs and circumstances of females entering the criminal justice system are multifaceted. Specifically, studies have shown that in comparison to males, females are more likely to have experienced sexual abuse, suffer from substance use and mental health disorders, have physical health concerns, and experience homelessness the year prior to being arrested.7 Recent studies have further shown that the nationwide opioid epidemic has disproportionately affected females. Between 1999 and 2015, the increase in the rate of opioid related overdoses were more than double that of males.8
Utah’s Risk and Needs Screening Process
To better understand the prevalence of Utah specific needs, criminal justice reform efforts provided funding for a statewide risk and needs screening process located in each of the state’s county jails.9 The screening process, which entails three different screenings allows for an examination around female specific risk and substance use and mental health needs. It should be mentioned that the mental health screening is female specific, developed and validated among females in a correctional setting. As seen in Figure 2, these screenings indicate that: 36 percent screened positive for a dual disorder; 48 percent were in need of a mental health referral; and 56 percent were in need of a substance use referral.10
Figure 2. Percent in need of a further assessment by type.11
Consistent with national literature, these Utah specific female needs are higher than the needs for males. Additionally, more females than males screen as being high risk to reoffend. When examining these needs by region, the highest overall needs are found in Salt Lake County.12 Specifically, the percent of females in need of a substance use and mental health referral in Salt Lake County measured at 66 and 51 respectively. While such a finding is important, it should be noted that access to treatment services, in particular in rural communities, is often limited and comes with significant barriers for females in need of such services.13
Meeting Females Needs
Breaking Down Barriers to Treatment
Barriers to enter and to remain in treatment continues to be an important issue for female offenders. These barriers often include lack of insurance and costs of services, stigmatization around engaging in treatment, and limited options for child care for females with dependents. Furthermore, the system has struggled to provide females with evidence-based approaches that targets female offenders’ multifaceted needs. Specifically, research on effective interventions for females emphasizes the need to provide trauma-informed approaches that are sensitive to females’ unique experiences and circumstances. Reducing these barriers is critical in order to increase the number of females engaging in appropriate and effective treatment options.
~ Effective interventions for females include trauma-informed approaches that are sensitive to females’ unique experiences and circumstances ~
Current & Promising Practices in Utah
The Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) have a broad spectrum of promising practices and initiatives for females on probation and parole. Examples of these efforts include:
- Female Offense Success Initiative (FOSI)
- Female only Community Correctional Centers
- Female Specific Services offered at two Community
Correctional and Treatment Resource Centers, & an - Annual Women’s Summit
FOSI agents receive training in trauma-informed supervision and treatment approaches. The program is currently available along regions in the Wasatch front and is designed to increase females’ connection to the community while under supervision by Adult Probation and Parole (AP&P). UDC’s female only Treatment Resource Centers focuses on providing females with treatment provided by trauma-informed therapists. Specifically, the treatment curriculum in these centers includes an emphasis on areas such as substance use, relationships, moral reconation therapy, trauma for women, seeking safety, and parenting. Additionally, UDC and the Utah Department of Substance use and Mental Health hold a yearly summit that provides a forum to discuss gaps in the availability of female specific services.14
A promising practice intended to improve outcomes for females on supervision is Weber Human Services’ Women’s Improvement Network (WIN) program. The objective of WIN is to reduce substance use and re-offending by offering participants a broad spectrum of programming. While early, initial evaluation results indicated that females that went through WIN were significantly less likely to be re-arrested within 6-months after program completion in comparison to a matched control group. It should be noted that Weber Human Services has in recent years undergone an extensive re-organization process designed to improve policy implementation. This process has centered around understanding and improving fidelity around implementation.15
~ Utah’s current promising practices follow the research principles on gender-specific treatment and programming ~
Moving Forward
This brief highlighted the particular circumstances surrounding females in our criminal justice system and their multifaceted needs in the area of treatment. It further underscored Utah’s high need for substance use and mental health treatment among females entering our criminal justice system. While the societal cost of female offending is extensive, these costs can be reduced through evidence-based programming and treatment options tailored to female specific needs. Specifically, emphasizing trauma-informed treatment services, while expanding the availability of services is critical to meet the needs of this unique population. Utah should continue to invest in gender-specific treatment as an alternative to incarceration in order to reduce the aggregate cost associated with female offending.
References
Back, S. E., Payne, R. L., Wahlquist, A. H., Carter, R. E., Stroud, Z., Haynes, L., & Ling, W. (2011). Comparative profiles of men and women with opioid dependence: results from a national multisite effectiveness trial. The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse, 37(5), 313-323.
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (Female prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, December 31, 1978-2015). Generated using the Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool. Available here.
Carson E., A. (2018). Prisoners in 2016. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Available here.
Greenfield SF, Back SE, Lawson K, Brady KT. (2010). Substance abuse in women. The Psychiatric clinics of North America 33.2.339-355.
Harner, H. M., & Riley, S. (2013). The impact of incarceration on women’s mental health: Responses from women in a maximum-security prison. Qualitative health research, 23(1), 26-42.
National Institute of Drug Abuse (2014). Principles of drug abuse treatment for criminal justice populations - A research-based guide. Available here.
PEW Center on the States (2018). More than two-thirds of states cut crime and imprisonment from 2008-16. Available here.
Swavola, E., Riley, K., & Subramanian, R. (2016). Overlooked: Women and jails in an era of reform. New York: Vera Institute of Justice.
Office of National Drug Control Policy. Women and treatment. Available here.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2017). Final report: Opioid use, misuse, and overdose in women. Available here.
This brief was written by Sofia Nystrom & Robbi Poulson↩
Reform efforts may vary across states, though, focusing on reserving prison beds for violent offenders and increasing community-based programming for those in need are two important emphasis.↩
Data obtained from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Corrections Data Tool, and Carson E., A. (2018).↩
See Glaze & Maruschak (2008) for a discussion around these findings↩
See the National Institute of Drug Abuse (2014) for discussion around these costs as they appear on the national level.↩
The average cost of treatment was obtained from the Utah Department of Substance Use and Mental Health and denotes fiscal year 2017 estimates.↩
See e.g., Harner & Riley (2013)↩
See the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2017) for an in-depth discussion around these opioid related overdoses.↩
The screening process consists of three separate screenings, namely the Level of Service Inventory:Short Version, Texas Christian University Drug Screening, and the Correctional Mental Health Screener (female version and male version) and is offered for Class B misdemeanor bookings and above.↩
These screenings were performed during December 18th, 2015 through June 30th, 2018.↩
Data obtained from the Utah Risk and Needs Database, housed at CCJJ, Governor’s Office.↩
It should be noted that percentages for rural regions may be affected by their smaller number of screenings.↩
This analysis aggregated the need of rural counties to allow for a sufficient number of screenings.↩
For additional information about UDC’s practices and initiatives, please visit this link.↩
For additional information about WIN, please visit this link.↩