INCARCERATION OF STATE WOMEN NOT SLOWING

Community sentencing programs aren't really putting a dent in the steady
stream of Oklahoma women going to prison, members of a task force were told
Wednesday. Women are more likely to benefit from community-based
sentencing, such as probation, drug treatment counseling or work release
programs, but these types of programs are not cutting down on the number of
women going to prison, according to statistics compiled by the Corrections
Department.

Per capita, Oklahoma puts more women in prison than any other state. The
task force, chaired by Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin, is trying to determine why
Oklahoma imprisons 130 women per 100,000 residents. The national average is
about 58 women per 100,000 residents.

"Community sentencing has not really changed the number of women going into
prison," said Justin Jones, deputy director community sentencing with the
Corrections Department.

"The number of women going into prison since this program started has
either maintained or increased."

Of those enrolled, about 36.8 percent of women have served their time
without violating rules or getting their sentence revoked. For men that
number is 34.5 percent.

For females, 43 percent of those who had their sentences revoked, were sent
to jail for not showing up to mandatory meetings or visits, while 33
percent of men had their sentence revoked for absconding.

While preliminary figures show success, it may be too early to tell how
effective the $6 million program is for the 527 women and 2,265 men enrolled.

Community sentencing started in 1998, but didn't get full funding until
2000 and not all counties are participating in the program either, Jones
said. Only 61 of Oklahoma's 77 counties have community sentencing programs.

"We are in the infancy of this program. We haven't had enough time and
enough offenders to do a valid study on recidivism," Jones said. "But if
you believe the research, it says treatment in the community for female
offenders reduces recidivism."

In 2000, when the program was fully funded about 13.8 percent of the prison
population was female. In 2002, that percentage increased to about 14.8
percent, according to Corrections Department numbers.

While the number of women going to prison hasn't changed much, community
sentencing is diverting prison sentences for some women, especially
first-time offenders.