Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - July 9, 2004
Job training mostly for men in Hawaii prisons
 by Clynton NamuoPacific Business

Hawaii's female inmates are being deprived of job-training programs that men have enjoyed for years, prison advocates and some legislators say, and that may be leading to more women returning to prison.

While most women in prison spend their time pulling weeds and gardening, men are taught the latest digital-printing technologies, furniture building and sewing. The men receive training from the state Department of Public Safety's Correctional Industries Division, a self-sustaining program that operates only within prisons for men.

Advocates for the women say the lack of job training is unfair and contributes to a growing number of women being returned to prison for violating parole.

At a time when jobs are plentiful in Hawaii, advocates say training would help women find work immediately after their release. Training also could provide a ready source of workers for businesses trying to fill jobs.

"When I look at the numbers of parole violators, women are much higher than men," said Kat Brady, coordinator for the Community Alliance on Prisons, an advocacy group for prisoners. "I think that's because their particular needs are not being addressed because most of the programs in prisons are ... for male violent offenders."

The number of female parole violators rose 30 percent between Jan. 1, 2001, and Jan. 19, 2004, according to the state Department of Public Safety. The number of male parole violators rose 18. 3 percent during the same period.

While there are eight times as many men in Hawaii prisons as women, the number of women going to prison is rising faster. The number of female inmates in state facilities grew by 32.8 percent to 535, while the male population rose 9.8 percent to 3,522 from Jan. 1, 2001, to Jan. 19, 2004.

Brady said the job training afforded to male inmates must be extended to women and that her organization is lobbying for legislation that would mandate parity in corrections.

Lawmakers agree

Some legislators agree with Brady. "There has always been a difference in the programs and that was something we've always looked to, to ask for gender equity," said state Senate Majority Leader Colleen Hanabusa, D-Nanakuli-Makaha. "People don't want to face [it], they just say tomorrow."

Hanabusa said she has heard numerous reasons for the disparity, such as there being more men in prison or that men are easier to train, but that none of them justifies the lack of programs for women.

"We have to say that there's going to be equity in the prison system and [determine] what's available," said Hanabusa, who is chairwoman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs. "It has to be a situation where there's no choice ... . [If not], we're going to continue to make excuses."

Released female inmates could have an easier time finding work during these booming economic times with Hawaii's jobless rate hitting a near-record low of 3 percent during May and qualified workers running in short supply. "Traditionally, unfortunately, the opportunities for vocational training for female offenders isn't great," says John Kellam, warden of the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua.

Correctional Industries is a self-sufficient state program, run like a business, that sells goods made by inmates, including printed forms, mattresses for prisons, uniforms for the Department of Public Safety and desks for the Department of Education, among other products, according to Tommy Herring, special assistant to the director of public safety and a former administrator of Correctional Industries. Correctional Industries does not operate at the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua.

Female offenders have only horticulture and landscaping programs sponsored by the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle available to them. That work includes pulling vines and weeds in the community and caring for a greenhouse, something Brady calls "ridiculous."

"This is what we have to offer them, but it's not a long-term skill," said Kelly Wilhoit, a community-service supervisor at the women's prison. Wilhoit said a lack of job training and real-world experience, such as is available to men through Correctional Industries, leaves women unprepared to leave prison. "When they go out to the outside, all that responsibility lands on them and it shocks them and they're overwhelmed," she said.

Educational opportunities

Even though Correctional Industries work is not available to women, they are offered numerous educational programs, as are the men. Inmates are offered many classes, including computer training, literacy, adult education and high-school equivalency classes, among others, according to Miles Murakami, administrator of the Corrections Program Services Division.

But it is the opportunities available exclusively to the men that trouble the female prisoners.

Novena Chun, 38, has spent the last two-and-a-half years at the Women's Community Correctional Center. She says she doesn't know how she is going to take care of her eight children once she leaves. She is serving time for committing criminal property damage.

"I'm afraid I won't get a job that pays enough and, with a record, it will be even harder to get employment," she said while pulling weeds recently on a prison work line near Lanikai Point. "I'm going out with nothing. I have nothing. I have nowhere to go."

Correctional Industries used to run a sewing program at the women's prison that made high-end fashions sold at Liberty House, according to Kellam. That program was shut down years ago because it was losing money, according to Herring. Meanwhile, industrial sewing is still available for the men. Since Correctional Industries, which is based at the Halawa Correctional Facility, must pay for itself, programs that do not produce must be cut, Herring said.

Male inmates have seen unsuccessful programs cut as well, Herring said, referring to a computer-building program at Halawa that was cut two years ago because it wasn't making any money.

Because there are fewer female prisoners, job programs at the women's prison aren't always viable, Herring said, pushing aside questions of sexism.

"I don't think it has anything to do with specifically the men or the women," he said. "We're always thinking of things that can put men or women to work." Correctional Industries plans on opening a commissary at each prison throughout the state by the end of the year, with some already open, Herring said.

Correctional Industries also plans to set up a warehouse distribution center at the women's prison to supply the rest of the commissaries, Herring said, providing work opportunities for female inmates.

But Sgt. Elena Chancheck, safety training officer at the women's prison, said women prisoners have always received the short end of the stick and not just when it comes to job training. "We're always overlooked, all the time," she said. "We get the hand-me-downs, as far as everything. It's rare that we get brand-new vehicles."

State Rep. Ken Ito, D-Kaneohe, said female inmates are not receiving what they need. "We've got to provide equal opportunities for women," said Ito, who is chairman of the House Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs. "We're going to try to work on that."

Others insist that programs for male and female inmates are relatively equal. "As far as programs for men and women, they're not necessarily the same kind of programs, but basically they're given the same kind of opportunities," said Ed Shimoda, Institutions Division administrator, who oversees all the prison wardens. "It kind of equals out in the long run."

Even with the disparity, many women are happy for the opportunities current programs offer.

Janaire Fonoti, who has spent the last year in the women's prison for a drug-related offense, said she enjoys landscaping and her work in the community. "I think this is enough," she said, "more than enough."

Reach Clynton Namuo at 955-8042 or cnamuo@bizjournals.com.