In the women's unit at the Hampden County Correctional Center, medium-security, female offenders sit in small groups, discussing issues ranging from domestic violence to why it is important for women to work.  The sessions, which are part of the Women's V.O.I.C.E.S. program, help these offenders understand the problems they face and work through some of their issues.  The program's goal is to empower them to change their lives.

"It is a phase-oriented model of services for women based on the problem areas and issues that are common to most women offenders," said Kate DeCou, Assistant Superintendent of the Women's Unit at Hampden County Correctional Center. 

The four-phase Women's V.O.I.C.E.S program addresses many of the issues that female offenders typically struggle with, including addiction, parenting, dysfunctional relationships and domestic violence.  The medium-security, female inmates are introduced to these issues, gradually, however.   

"The women have so many needs and they come [into the facility] in a state of being very worn down by living very difficult lives, lives with a lot of abuse [and] very heavy addiction," said DeCou.  "We wanted to start [them into the program] incrementally [and] to just begin naming what some of their issues are."

According to DeCou, many of the offenders do not even recognize that they have certain issues when they then enter the facility.  For example, some women may not realize they are in abusive relationships until program staff help them to understand what abuse is.

Exploring Issues

These kinds of connections are made during the first phase of the program, Discovery, which typically begins within three weeks of an offender's arrival to the facility.

"The first phase is really an introduction to the many issues that the women have," DeCou said.  "And [it] also points them to the various resources and programs that are available in the facility."

After the women come to terms with the problems in their lives during the weeklong Discovery phase, they move into the second phase of the program, Transitions.  At this point, they delve deeper into the general issues that affect female offenders, like addiction, employment and interpersonal relationships.

"We offer more information on all of these various topics," DeCou said. 

But, it is not until the third phase of the program that inmates really begin to explore individual issues in smaller, 10-12 person group sessions. 
"We [keep the groups small] intentionally because we find that the woman talk freely, openly and quickly in groups," DeCou said.

The women choose which eight-week sessions they wish to participate in based on the areas where they feel they need the most support.  As many times as they would like during their incarceration, the inmates can attend one or more groups focusing on anger management, relationships, motherhood, trauma or pre-employment training.  Currently, there are between 25 and 40 women on the waiting list for each session, DeCou said.

"After they graduate from all the different classes and when they go through various phases, we actually give them empowerment projects that they can work on, such as reaching out to other women [suffering] from the same problems," DeCou said. 

She pointed out that encouraging the women to support each other is an important mission of the program.

Leaning on Each Other

"The program is relational.  We believe very strongly in group work and we actually teach the women a little bit, too, to use their natural tendency to support each other that they come in with," DeCou said.  "We invite the women to [support each other] because what we basically do is try to connect them with all women on a growth journey."

The women are encouraged to support each other even after they are released from incarceration and taking part in the fourth phase of the program: Reintegration.

Support for the female offenders does not end when they are released from the facility; it is carried through into the community by a caseworker who connects the women to the programs and services they need after incarceration. 

"She picks up with where we leave off because she's well aware of the programs we do," said DeCou.  "Our thrust here is [a] continuum [of services]."

Through the aftercare component of the program, women are connected with counseling services and other services they might need to get back on their feet and succeed in the community.  For one woman, the support she received from other ex-offenders in the community made all the difference.

"One woman wanted to go back to college and she had two young children," DeCou said.  "[Her] entire [ex-offender recovery] group took turns giving her free child care so she could go to college and she just got a really good job in the community."

While the support the women receive from each other, both in the facility and after release, is one of the keys to the success of the program, so, too, is the support the women get from the program staff, who are all on board with the philosophy of the program.

Staff Support

"[Our] staffing knows the [program] content that the women need and care very much about the women," said DeCou, noting that the program is fairly unique in that sense.

"It's particularly challenging [to run a program like this] in corrections because corrections has been designed to be neutral and not let inmates get close to staff," DeCou said.  "With women, you're working on a model that's almost the exact opposite [and involves] bonding and caring."

Program staff are trained in regard to the appropriate boundaries to set with inmates and how to care for them on a professional level, DeCou said.  But, employees who are in touch with the inmates' issues and who respect them are key to maintaining an environment that fosters rehabilitation, she said.

One of the responsibilities of the people who work with this population, is to achieve a balance between offender programming and management, DeCou said.  For example, inmates are encouraged to rely on what they are learning in their group sessions to resolve conflicts that they have with other inmates in the unit.

"We work with the women [and help them to] talk out their problems before they erupt into a big event," DeCou said.  "We [have] mediations [with the offenders].  If an officer sees that a couple of inmates are building up tensions, he'll ask for a mediation with staff."

Allowing offenders to practice the anger management and conflict resolution skills that they are developing in their recovery groups is a simple, but unique management technique for corrections facilities, according to DeCou.

"It's really very common sense, but it's rarely done in corrections," she said, noting that about 10 mediations a week occur between inmates in the Women's V.O.I.C.E.S. program.  Because of that, she said the offenders have very few disciplinary incidents.

According to DeCou, the mediations work so well, because offenders can see the value in what they are learning in their group sessions.

"They can see for themselves that it works," said DeCou. 

DeCou's only wish is that she could expand the program, by adding more group sessions to benefit the inmates even further.

"We could do three times as many programs if we had more staff," she said.

But, as it exists now, the program tries to hit upon most of the issues that female offenders typically experience.

"We understand that [they] have had very hard lives and have been very injured and need to work on those issues," she said.

Resources:

To learn more about the Women's V.O.I.C.E.S. program, contact DeCou at (413) 547-8000 ext. 2770