Fallin praises efforts to trim female incarceration
Gov. Mary Fallin took center stage Tuesday at a conference on female incarceration, speaking about Oklahoma’s dismal prison rate and her efforts to keep mothers from going behind bars.
Fallin gave the keynote address at the Justice Action Network’s Women Unshackled forum in Washington, D.C.
She told the crowd of advocates, lawmakers and former inmates that prisons play a critical role in locking up people who are dangerous and violent.
“But there’s a large growing body of research that shows that prison isn’t the answer and the best option for everyone,” Fallin said. “It’s not for every offender that we see who comes through our criminal justice system. For many of our nonviolent, low-level offenders, there are alternatives that work better.”
She mentioned Oklahoma’s drug and mental health courts that divert people away from prison and into treatment.
By reducing prison stays, she said, some states also have reduced the crime rate.
More than four out of every five women sent to prison in Oklahoma are sent for nonviolent offenses and 42 percent are there for drug-related
convictions, she said.
Fallin praised the efforts of Women in Recovery, a Tulsa project of the George Kaiser Family Foundation and Family and Children’s Services that provides intensive outpatient support for nonviolent offenders.
Oklahoma recently partnered with Women in Recovery through the Pay for Success plan, in which the state pays for every woman who successfully completes the program and stays out of Corrections Department custody.
The nonprofit is eligible to receive up to four payments of $5,646 per client if they stay out of trouble for 4.5 years after starting the program.
“We know in the state of Oklahoma, it costs around $30,000 a year to incarcerate a woman, but when you put them through (a program), it is a lot less because they come out in a shorter period of time and it’s less expensive,” Fallin told the audience.
Because the initiative is so new, there have not yet been any payments.
By keeping women out of prison and with their families, Fallin said, she hopes it will break the
cycle of inter-generational incarceration. Studies show children with a parent in prison are five times more likely to end up behind bars.
“We believe it actually improves public safety because you’re helping someone get back on their feet,” Fallin said of diversion programs.