Alabama to Open First State-Run Rehabilitation Facility Exclusively for Women
MONTGOMERY,Ala. – The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles (ABPP)โ is preparing to open a rehabilitation facility specifically โฃdesigned forโค women,addressing โa critical โฃgapโฃ in the state’s reentryโค services and acknowledging the unique challenges women faceโข post-incarceration.The facility,โค announced recently, will offer โฃservices โmirroring those available to men, with added programming โfocusedโ on family reunification and job training tailored to women’s preferences.
Theโข move โcomes as national data highlights disparities in โขrecidivism rates and the distinct needs of formerly incarceratedโ women. A 2018 Bureau of Justice Statistics study of โ24 states found that 44% of formerly incarceratedโ men โwere rearrested within one year of release,comparedโ to 34% ofโ women.โค After three years, those numbers shifted toโข 31% for men and 29% for women.
Though, experts emphasize that these numbers don’t tell the whole story. Stephanie C. Kennedy,policy โขdirector at the Council on Criminal Justice,an independent,nonpartisan thinkโ tank,argues โthat the availability of supportive services โฃis especially crucial for women. “They don’t โฃhave a safe place toโฃ landโ to get everything done, so they are going back to an abusive parent, they are going back โขto an abusive partner, and that complicates everything,” Kennedyโ said. “Women’s experience of trauma is much โคmore interpersonal, more likely โฃto include sexual violence, intimate partner violence,โฃ so when we are thinking about reentry, we โneed to beโ using a trauma-informed lens.”
Women leaving incarceration are โstatistically more likely to struggle with substanceโฃ abuse, economic instability, homelessness, limitedโฃ job history, and lower educational attainment than their male counterparts. Data presented by Kennedy underscores theโค severityโ of the situation: women are 5.5 times more likely to experience a fatal overdose within two years of release compared toโ womenโข in the โgeneral population, whileโข the risk for menโ is 3.3โข times โขhigher.
Adding โto these challenges, women are disproportionately likely to beโค primary caregivers. โฃ”When they are leavingโค confinement, they are having toโ do all โthe things that โwe ask โคeveryone โคtoโ do, find aโข job, get anโค address, but they โขare โalso needing to reunify, to work a โขcase planโค for child welfare, to navigate the transition backโข to caretaking โfrom a parent or a sibling, orโฃ a friend to getโฃ their children back,” Kennedy explained.
The ABPP facilityโฃ aims to address these specific needs. According โto โฃABPP officials, the new program will include servicesโค like familyโฃ reunification support and job training geared towards fields showing strong interest from โฃwomen, such as commercial driver’s license (CDL) training.
The opening of this facility โmarks a significant step towards a more โequitable and effective reentry system in Alabama, recognizing โฃthat a one-size-fits-allโข approach fails to adequately support the uniqueโ needs of women returning โคto their communities after incarceration.
Thisโ article โwas originally published โคby the Alabama reflector, anโ independent, nonprofitโ news association.
