Oklahoma state senators took a day-long look Wednesday at Oklahoma’s female incarceration rate, which is the highest in the U.S.
Women’s Justice Project Director Stephanie Horten said the deck is stacked against female offenders, even if they take a suspended sentence.
"What really is happening is a woman is arrested and she’s put in jail for four weeks, and during that time, if she has a job, she’s likely lost her job," Horten said. "If she had housing, she’s probably been evicted. She likely has children; those rights may be in the process of being terminated.
"She probably has a mental health issue that’s not being treated and a substance abuse issue that’s ongoing."
Out of about two dozen speakers, several said once women enter the corrections system, they get trapped in a cycle of going into and out of prison.
Kelley Doyle with the Center for Employment Opportunities said jobs paying a living wage and hiring convicted felons are in male-dominated fields like construction and general labor.
"Traditionally, female-dominated industries, they’re caretakers of money and of people, and those are the first things to go when you have a felony conviction," Doyle said.
Doyle says many female former inmates end up in service jobs with low wages and few accommodations for childcare. She was among a few advocates for eliminating the checkbox on job application forms that indicate a person is a convicted felon.
Doyle said without the checkbox, employers will evaluate applicants on skills first, and most of them will still do a background check.
A Department of Corrections official told lawmakers trauma and mental health issues are common among women in Oklahoma prisons.
"Sixty-six percent of those surveyed reported some type of child physical or sexual abuse, 71 percent reported domestic violence as adults and 36 percent reported being raped as an adult," said DOC Chief Mental Health Officer Jana Morgan.
About one in 10 female prisoners have severe mental illnesses. Morgan told senators intensive counseling before release helps cut the recidivism rate by more than half.
In 2014, there were about 130 women incarcerated per 100,000 Oklahoma residents, compared to the national average of 67 per 100,000.
