SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 42

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Lidio G. Rainaldi

FOR THE CORRECTIONS OVERSIGHT AND JUSTICE COMMITTEE

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT, THE CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES DEPARTMENT AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO ASSESS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH TREATMENT SERVICES AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT SERVICES FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS WHO ARE INCARCERATED.

     WHEREAS, recidivism rates for female inmates are substantially higher than recidivism rates for male inmates, indicating that treatment services for women in the prison system and in the community are inadequate; and

     WHEREAS, women and girls use mental health services thirty-three percent more often than men; and

     WHEREAS, gender-specific treatment services have a beneficial, therapeutic effect on women and help reduce recidivism rates for female inmates; and

     WHEREAS, there is not a mental health unit for women in the correctional system; and

      WHEREAS, women who are incarcerated at the women's correctional facility in Grants receive minimal behavioral health treatment services and substance abuse treatment services; and

     WHEREAS, girls who are incarcerated at the youth diagnostic and development center in Albuquerque do not have access to a behavioral health treatment facility or a substance abuse treatment facility; and

     WHEREAS, a report completed pursuant to House Joint Memorial 26 of the first session of the forty-sixth legislature recommended housing girls in a separate lodge at the Sequoyah treatment facility; and

     WHEREAS, the lack of behavioral health treatment services and substance abuse treatment services for women and girls who are incarcerated is one of the most obvious examples of the lack of gender equity in the provision of services to females;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the corrections department, the children, youth and families department and the department of health be requested to assess behavioral treatment services and substance abuse treatment services for women and girls who are incarcerated; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the corrections department, the children, youth and families department and the department of health be requested to implement the recommendations set forth in the report completed pursuant to House Joint Memorial 26 of the first session of the forty-sixth legislature; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the corrections department, the children, youth and families department and the department of health be requested to report their findings, including recommendations for legislation, to the interim corrections oversight and justice committee no later than November 1, 2004; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of corrections, the secretary of children, youth and families and the secretary of health.

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