The outlook for the two reorganized state agencies dealing with law and order — and, conversely, with returning inmates to society — is hopeful, if only because it sharpens the emphasis on rehabilitation.
Fulfilling that hope will take careful follow-through by the newly renamed Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) to see that the push for better management of prisons and their inmates finally gets results. Plainly, DCR has a lot of work to do.
The reorganization, set in motion in 2022, divided the Department of Public Safety (DPS) in two: DCR, charged with the mission of “restorative justice,” and the Department of Law Enforcement. The split officially took effect at the start of this year.
Progress toward the rehabilitation goals seemed to stall late last year, making the current legislative session key in implementing the reforms.
One of the fault lines was exposed at the November meeting of the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission, an independent panel constituted to press for solutions to the many problems in the state’s prisons and jails. Tommy Johnson, DPS director, announced that neither he nor his staff would attend monthly commission meetings, clearly a reaction to strained relations with the panel.
Fortunately, that tension later eased — but the health-related resignation of commissioner Ted Sakai, a veteran of many decades with the corrections agency, raised concern about a loss of momentum toward solutions.
The commission performs a crucial task, informed by its regular inspection tours of state facilities. Deterioration in conditions at the Hilo jail, video-camera failures in the Kailua women’s prison, security problems at the Oahu Community Correctional Center and electrical failures at Halawa Correctional Facility are among the disturbing flaws cited.
Oahu’s jail and prisons in particular need replacing, but the drive to do so bogged down because the state also needs to reduce its inmate census. The debate over how big to build replacement facilities has not resolved.
Rehabilitation programs must be a primary focus going forward, both to bring down that census and to prepare inmates for their reentry into the community.
Some activity underway at the state Legislature suggests this aim is getting needed attention.
Johnson testified Jan. 24 at a joint committee hearing on Senate Bill 2005 proposing the construction of a mental health facility. He supported the intent and pointed to DCR’s request of $45 million for a consolidated health care unit at Halawa as a means to address mental and physical health needs. That bill advanced to the Ways and Means Committee.
There are other bills, yet to be heard, that deserve discussion as well, including House Bill 2228. It sets a Sept. 1 deadline for the department to prepare criteria for admitting inmates to a pilot program for inmates to perform work for the state.
There’s also SB 2707, which would mandate another pilot program to employ inmates with less than five years left on their sentence and pay them minimum wage, asserting that earning meaningful income reduces recidivism.
Clearly the type of work needs to be carefully identified and the screening program for candidates developed, but work programs of this kind are part of restorative justice as well.
Johnson told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that managing both the law enforcement and correctional duties was difficult and pledged that DCR could concentrate on “creating better, more efficient programs, better facilities, to have better outcomes.”
The best outcome would be that those coming out of prison — and most inmates will become everyone’s neighbors — are given the tools to succeed.
