Legislation and Policies

Special Report

Protecting Their Rights A Systemic Review of Human Rights in Correctional Services for Federally Sentenced Women

Chapter 6

Human Rights and the Duty to Assist Federally Sentenced Women with Rehabilitation and Reintegration

Programming is an integral part of the rehabilitation and reintegration process, and one of the main correctional services provided by the Correctional Service of Canada.¹²⁷ The Corrections and Conditional Release Act imposes a duty on the Correctional Service to provide programming that is responsive to the needs of women and Aboriginal offenders, as well as to the needs of other offenders with special requirements.¹²⁸ Program strategies and program implementation must be consistent with these objectives and respect the special needs of offenders who are vulnerable to discrimination on one or more grounds of discrimination.

6.1. Meeting the Rehabilitation Needs of Federally Sentenced Women

In 1994, the Correctional Program Strategy for Women Offenders¹²⁹ was developed to provide consistency in programming across the regional facilities. The strategy promised to deliver a broad range of programs to federally sentenced women in four core areas: abuse/trauma issues, education and employment skills, substance abuse, and parenting. These programs were considered essential to reintegration.

The strategy is currently being revised. Consideration is being given to changing the core program areas to categories of reintegration programming: correctional programs, mental health programs, education programs, employability programs and social programs. The program categorization would be the same for all offenders, and Correctional Service officials have explained that it is based on the premise that the criminogenic factors or the reasons why the women and men offender populations commit crimes, are the same.

6.1.1. A Systemic Flaw in Identifying Program Needs

Program referral and case management are guided by the inmate’s correctional plan, which is based on the results of the dynamic risk assessment. As discussed in Chapter 4, the dynamic risk assessment uses the same instrument for federally sentenced women and men to identify their needs for reintegration programming. Both the gender-neutral nature of Correctional Service’s proposed program categories and its use of the same instrument to identify programming needs reflects the premise that the criminogenic factors of men and women are the same. However, as noted earlier, there is considerable research suggesting that they are not.¹³⁰

A correctional system predicated on male norms, needs and behaviours, and a gender-neutral view of criminogenic factors cannot adequately serve federally sentenced women. Specifically, program categories that fail to address the unique reasons why women commit crimes will penalize women inmates by impairing both their chances of being released at the earliest possible date and their chances of successful reintegration.¹³¹ If its programming is to be truly gender-responsive, the Correctional Service must ensure that the basis of programming — the identification of dynamic risks or criminogenic factors — is valid for women offenders. And it must develop truly gender-responsive programming based on program categories that actually address women’s rehabilitation needs.

6.1.2. Poor Access to Programming

Federally sentenced women repeatedly told us that many programs are not offered at all institutions and that there are long waiting lists for some programs. Women have had to waive their right to a National Parole Board conditional release hearing because a lack of access to programming means they were unable to fulfill the requirements of their correctional plan. In her report earlier this year, the Auditor General noted that the Correctional Service had difficulty delivering programs prescribed for individual offenders, particularly those serving sentences of less than three years.¹³² In its submission to the Commission, the Office of the Correctional Investigator said it had received 18 complaints from women on this issue over the past two years, and that the issue has been raised by 8 out of 10 prison inmate committees.¹³³

Access to programming for federally sentenced women needs to be improved. A recent move to individualized programming with ongoing registration should help. It will permit individual women to access programming without waiting for a new session of programming to begin. But the Correctional Service must continue to look for creative ways to offer needed programming to the small population of federally sentenced women, in particular by making use of community resources.

6.1.3. The Promise of an Aboriginal Program Strategy for Federally Sentenced Women

Both of the concerns canvassed above — systemic flaws in how programming needs are identified and poor access to programming — have unique implications for Aboriginal federally sentenced women.

In the 1994 Correctional Program Strategy, the Correctional Service promised to create a separate, but parallel program strategy for Aboriginal women. This promise has not yet been met. The Correctional Service has created programs with content specifically for Aboriginal women offenders in some of the same core areas identified for all inmates. Women inmates who have been able to access these programs (e.g., Spirit of a Warrior) spoke very highly of them.

Interviews indicated that Aboriginal women inmates who were not located at the Healing Lodge had very limited access to Aboriginal programming. Correctional Service officials said that if access to Aboriginal programming was a problem for an inmate in one of the regional facilities, she might have to consider transferring to the Healing Lodge. But more than a decade ago, Creating Choices argued that women should not have to choose between programming and living close to their children and families.¹³⁴ Being forced to choose between access to programming and the need to maintain family ties is not equality for federally sentenced Aboriginal women.

More fundamental, however, is the question of whether the programming needs of Aboriginal offenders, including Aboriginal women, are being met. Representatives of some stakeholder groups assert that “rehabilitation” is not an Aboriginal concept.¹³⁵ They point out that the goal of Aboriginal correctional philosophy is the healing of the individual and community. While this may be true for some Aboriginal offenders, there are also others who wish to have access to reintegration programming that addresses their criminogenic factors. It is important that the criminogenic factors of Aboriginal offenders are addressed in both the structure of programming and its content.

6.1.4. Progress in Substance Abuse Programming

Relapse into substance abuse by federally sentenced women is one of the key factors in the suspension of conditional releases.¹³⁶ For women who are substance dependent, inadequate treatment and a lack of ongoing support in the community are barriers to their effective rehabilitation and reintegration. The fact that a higher proportion of substance abusers than non-abusers are classified as maximum security, and a significant number of maximum security women are released directly into the community, suggests that there is a need to target intervention to these women in order to assist their reintegration.¹³⁷

The Correctional Service has recently developed and is now piloting the Woman Offender Substance Abuse Program in all the regional facilities. The program is a new approach to treating women’s addictions and may serve as a model for other gender-responsive programming in the future. The program has been very favourably reviewed in the recent report of the Auditor General.

Developed and tested with women inmates in the general population, its applicability and effectiveness with subpopulations such as women with cognitive limitations or mental health concerns are unclear and untested. A second pilot project involving a special-needs test group will be necessary to ensure that the program accommodates the needs of these women, for whom the program may work best if it is delivered one on one or in a small group setting. This would likely require the allocation of further resources. In general, the new program is far more resource intensive than its predecessor, and it will require ongoing and permanent funding to achieve success.

There is also uncertainty about whether the program can be modified for Aboriginal female offenders, or if a separate substance abuse program should be developed for this group. Given the Correctional Service’s four-year-old research findings Society extremely high proportion of Aboriginal women are substance abusers, and its seeming awareness of the need for substance abuse programming tailored for Aboriginal women, it is puzzling that the programming needs of this inmate population have not been a higher priority.¹³⁸ Given the disproportionate number of Aboriginal women inmates who are substance abusers, tailoring a program to meet their needs makes sense.

Harm reduction and the absence of punishments are central features of the new substance abuse program. Women who continue to use drugs or alcohol and those who suffer relapse will be able to participate in the program. If Aboriginal inmates are to benefit from this change in therapeutic approach, it will be necessary for the Correctional Service to relax its zero-tolerance policy. Some of the women interviewed at the Healing Lodge told the Commission they feared being “shipped out” for slippages, even though they were likely to need enhanced rather than diminished emotional support during relapses.

The non-punitive nature of the new substance abuse program and its recognition and acceptance of relapses as part of the recovery process are at odds with the Correctional Service policy on random urinalysis testing.¹³⁹ That policy currently provides that an inmate with a positive random test shall be subject to the disciplinary process.¹⁴⁰ There is a mixed message here about how the Correctional Service deals with substance abuse and it is unclear what impact this may have on inmates struggling with conquering drug dependence.

6.1.5. The Need for Improved Employment and Employability Programming

Meaningful employment opportunities are of pressing concern for federally sentenced women, many of whom demonstrate low rates of education and employability on incarceration, yet are the sole supporters of one or more children. In terms of vocational programming, some opportunities are available through CORCAN, a special operating agency responsible for prison industries, but most of its offerings go to men. In part, this is because the building plans for the regional facilities for women neglected to allocate space for prison industries.

The Correctional Service has recognized that it must improve employment and employability programming for all inmates and its efforts in this regard have intensified in 2003. It has made provision for inmates to take three-month training programs leading to certification in certain high-demand areas such as forklift operation and food safety inspection. This type of programming should prove to be of benefit to federally sentenced women, many of whom are serving shorter sentences than men. But these opportunities must be made available to women. So far, very few women inmates are aware of the program’s existence, and fewer have begun taking advantage of certification opportunities.

It is also possible for inmates to get on-the-job experience through community-based work releases. Federally sentenced women who have participated in this program spoke highly of their experiences. Such opportunities are rare and much sought-after by women. Given the generally lower risk profile of women inmates, it makes sense for the Correctional Service to bring a focus to developing jobs for women in the community. However, the Service’s policy on the availability of work releases must be consistent with this focus.¹⁴¹ In particular, it is important that work releases be of a duration long enough to enable women to meaningfully pursue employment and to make it reasonable for employers to want to obtain their services. The current policy of 60 days should not be shortened.

On a final note, while the Correctional Service is attempting to shift the focus of its employment and employability programming from the operational needs of CORCAN to the employment needs of offenders, there is no clear indication that the needs of women or other offenders are being adequately considered. A requirement for inmates’ correctional plans to include employability programming or employment will only assist offenders in achieving the earliest possible release date if meaningful and appropriate employment opportunities are available. The different employment histories of federally sentenced women and men, along with the special employment needs of inmates with disabilities and others, suggest that this is another area of correctional services in which one size will not fit all.

6.1.6. Meeting the Need for Violent Offender Programming for Federally Sentenced Women

Progress has been made on this front with the recent introduction of women-specific programming for sex-offenders. However, women inmates with a history of violent offending told us that there was a lack of programming in this area, and that their only option was to take anger management programming repeatedly.

Relative to men, women face unequal access to violent offender programming. Men with a history of violent offending take an intensive reintegration program that consists of more than 120 two-hour sessions, including at least three individual sessions and two testing sessions.

Further resources need to be devoted to developing women-specific programming for aspects of violent offending other than sex-offending. Rehabilitating behaviour that is linked to violent offending is part of rehabilitation, and women have a right to receive the full benefit of these correctional services.

6.2. Ensuring the Reintegration of Federally Sentenced Women

In 1990, the Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women recommended that the Correctional Service develop a community strategy for women. It took more than 12 years for the Correctional Service to implement that recommendation, finalizing its Community Strategy for Women on Conditional Release in October 2002. The strategy is still not fully implemented. Yet it is well-known that federally sentenced offenders on conditional release face challenges that can be more pronounced for women than men. Women parolees must cope with child care, find decent affordable housing that will accommodate their children, make a living, find appropriate health care and deal with their addictions. Women with physical disabilities currently have almost no options for accessible housing.

All women, but particularly Aboriginal women, racialized women and women with special needs, will benefit from pre-release planning that addresses the systemic barriers they face to community reintegration. Research carried out in the United States indicates that discharge planning is important in preventing re-offending, and women have a particular need for ongoing relationships in the community that are established before they leave prison.¹⁴² Discharge planning that includes assigning a parole officer before a woman leaves the institution, specialized training for parole officers working with women, referrals to community resources for counselling to deal with trauma and abuse issues, and assistance with child care are all important discharge issues for women.

6.2.1. Appropriate and Adequate Community Housing

Community release facilities, or as they are more commonly known, halfway houses, can provide specialized support and programming for their residents, and also permit a more comfortable, gradual transition from the institution to community programs or work. Although the Correctional Service maintains that there are sufficient spaces for women in halfway houses,¹⁴³ much of this accommodation is not appropriate; currently many female offenders are released to shelters for the homeless, co-ed facilities and halfway houses located in neighbourhoods where they were formerly drug users or sex trade workers.

These types of accommodation do not respond to the needs of federally sentenced women, and the situation is particularly bleak for women with higher needs, who require a more structured living environment or accessible facilities. Very few halfway houses permit children, and there appears to be a shortage of women-only halfway houses, an option that many federally sentenced women told us they would prefer. The presence of men can be a distraction at this critical juncture in a woman’s release plan and inappropriate relationships tend to develop. Given the negative experiences of many female offenders with men, the Commission has serious reservations about the placement of small numbers of women in halfway houses that are occupied predominantly by men.

This issue of appropriate and adequate housing for federally sentenced women in the community has been a longstanding concern.¹⁴⁴ The range of women’s needs could likely be better met through contracted accommodations, preferably those that allow them to live in an independent or semi-independent manner, with their young children if need be. Supervised satellite apartments should be made available for women who are at low risk for re-offending but need some initial support while they establish themselves.

Many prisoners’ advocacy groups suggest that private home placements have the greatest potential to help women reintegrate into society, and should be more widely used. Correctional Service has recognized the need to work on providing access to alternative types of accommodation, and has been allocated funding for three years (2001–2004) to develop accommodation in the community for offender groups with distinct needs. There are four target groups: women, Aboriginal people, elderly persons and persons with physical disabilities.

The situation of Aboriginal women on community release must also be met. Some women told us they had been prevented from smudging at one halfway house, even out-of-doors. However there are currently some promising initiatives being pursued for post-release housing for Aboriginal women. One such initiative — MorningStar — will offer a private home placement for up to three Aboriginal women, with the option to spend some time on a nearby reserve.

Currently, funding for community housing for women is precarious and short term. During our visits to some community release facilities, we were told that satellite apartments in Kingston had been closed and that funding for Dismas House in Truro was so uncertain that they could not make any long-term staffing commitments. Permanent funding for residential community housing is needed.

For women who are at greater risk and need, the more secure setting of a community release facility run by the Correctional Service of Canada could offer 24-hour supervision. But women currently have less access to these facilities than men do. A community release facility can help women who have served long sentences make the transition to a more independent life. Currently some women remain incarcerated until their statutory release date instead of being released earlier on parole because there is no community release facility available and they are not considered appropriate candidates for other housing options.

Insofar as it encourages and facilitates the safe reintegration of offenders, effective community corrections help protect society. It therefore make sense for the Correctional Service of Canada to be at least as active in soliciting community support and assistance as it is in supervising parolee behaviour. Community support, understanding and acceptance is needed to safely reintegrate women into their communities.

6.2.2. Community Programs and Services

We agree with the Auditor General that there is a need for more community programming for women, particularly in the most critical part of the transition period — the first three to six months after release. Another critical issue for women is lack of money. Some women told us that the lack of funds or employment while living in a halfway house leads them back to working on the street. For many women, the proper assistance and support during this period may be their best chance to gain some control over their lives and avoid returning to the conditions that led to their incarceration.

One of the strengths of the new substance abuse program for women offenders is that it will provide maintenance programming in the community, and this linkage is critical given that many women return to prison because of technical violations to the terms of their parole — usually involving drug or alcohol use — rather than because they commit offences. The Commission hopes that the Correctional Service of Canada will provide permanent funding to the maintenance phase of the program and that this phase will serve as a model for other types of community-based programming.

6.2.3. Community Release Options for Federally Sentenced Women

Despite the over-representation of Aboriginal women offenders in the federal correctional system, little use is made of section 84 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Section 84 provides for the release and reintegration of an offender into an Aboriginal community.¹⁴⁵ From April 2001 to September 7, 2003, there were 13 agreements entered into under section 84 for the release of women to Aboriginal communities. In her report earlier this year, the Auditor General also noted that this option is not discussed at any length with Aboriginal women during the intake process, and is given insufficient consideration in developing correctional plans.¹⁴⁶

Strength in Sisterhood indicated its support for the return of Aboriginal women to their communities in the most supportive and least restrictive manner possible. Aboriginal women who have the support of their families or communities should have the opportunity to be paroled to their family home or the private home of a community sponsor, rather than a halfway house. There is a need to provide education and information about this option both to women and Aboriginal communities. It is also important that efforts to build awareness and capacity to use section 84 recognize that more federally sentenced Aboriginal women than men may have lost their ties to reserve communities and wish to be reintegrated into urban Aboriginal communities.

Previous Page

Table of Contents

Next Page