Aeren
10-10-2003, 11:58 PM
Thought you guys might find this interesting:
In Arizona, 77% of incarcerated women are non-violent offenders, 57% are first-time offenders and 40% are incarcerated for drug or alcohol-related crimes. Almost all are classified as low-risk, indicating that locking women up does nothing to enhance public safety. Imprisoning women creates immense social costs. 69.4% of Arizona’s women prisoners have children, and the costs associated with guardianship and foster care placement are sobering. Research has also shown that children of incarcerated parents are at high risk for becoming incarcerated themselves. By continuing to incarcerate women at such a high rate, Arizona is ensuring higher costs—financial and social—down the road.
There are many examples of highly effective community-based programming for non-violent women offenders. Programs combining drug rehabilitation, education, parenting assistance, job training, and other social services cost around $8,500. Since 77% of female prisoners are incarcerated for non-violent offenses, this means 3,000 of those slated for the new private prison are non-violent offenders. If these 3000 women were placed in community-based programs, the state would save $22,746,000. The total savings to the state by implementing these two alternatives would be $33,360,800 – almost double the amount slated to be cut from the UA budget.
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I took this from: http://www.aznomoreprisons.org/lockup.html
Hope this helps some of you. :cool:
--Aeren--
In Arizona, 77% of incarcerated women are non-violent offenders, 57% are first-time offenders and 40% are incarcerated for drug or alcohol-related crimes. Almost all are classified as low-risk, indicating that locking women up does nothing to enhance public safety. Imprisoning women creates immense social costs. 69.4% of Arizona’s women prisoners have children, and the costs associated with guardianship and foster care placement are sobering. Research has also shown that children of incarcerated parents are at high risk for becoming incarcerated themselves. By continuing to incarcerate women at such a high rate, Arizona is ensuring higher costs—financial and social—down the road.
There are many examples of highly effective community-based programming for non-violent women offenders. Programs combining drug rehabilitation, education, parenting assistance, job training, and other social services cost around $8,500. Since 77% of female prisoners are incarcerated for non-violent offenses, this means 3,000 of those slated for the new private prison are non-violent offenders. If these 3000 women were placed in community-based programs, the state would save $22,746,000. The total savings to the state by implementing these two alternatives would be $33,360,800 – almost double the amount slated to be cut from the UA budget.
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I took this from: http://www.aznomoreprisons.org/lockup.html
Hope this helps some of you. :cool:
--Aeren--