HI HR32

Encourages the Department of Public Safety to continue and expand community-based work furlough programs for formerly incarcerated female inmates to facilitate their transition back into society.

Identifies Ka Hale Ho ala Hou No Na Wahine as the only existing community-based work furlough program in Hawaii, with an 82.4% success rate of participants not being reincarcerated within two years.

Cites that the majority of female offenders commit nonviolent crimes, many are mothers of minor children, and most have substance abuse addictions better treated in community-based programs than in-prison settings.

Notes that Native Hawaiian women represent over 44% of the incarcerated female population and have disproportionately high incarceration rates, with evidence that culturally-informed reentry programs reduce recidivism.

Emphasizes that community-based work furlough programs reduce incarceration costs (at $134 per day per inmate) while promoting safer communities and reducing recidivism.