HI SCR117

Encourages the Department of Public Safety to continue and expand community-based work furlough programs for female inmates transitioning back into society.

Cites that as of November 2014, 665 women were in state custody at a cost of $134 per day per inmate, with the majority committing nonviolent crimes.

Notes that most incarcerated females are mothers of minor children, and family fragmentation increases likelihood their children will also face incarceration.

References Ka Hale Ho ala Hou No Na Wahine, an Oahu-based women's work furlough program with an 82.4 percent success rate of participants remaining free from prison two years after release.

Identifies Native Hawaiian women as disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system, comprising more than 44 percent of the incarcerated female population.