Group rallies for work-release facility

By keeping a new work-release center closed, Delaware prison officials are making it harder for female inmates to stay out of prison once released, a coalition of lawyers, women's rights groups and prison guards said Sunday.

More than 60 people gathered about 2 p.m. at the entrance of the $10 million New Castle County Women's Work Release Center to pressure state officials to hire enough corrections officers to open the building, completed nine months ago.

"It doesn't do anybody any good if they don't open these doors," Superior Court Judge Susan Del Pesco told the crowd. Taped to a door a few feet behind Del Pesco was a note that read, "Temporary [sic] away from treatment center. Will be back soon. Contact Duty Officer."

Organizers said they expect to submit a petition urging Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to open the center.

Prison officials would like to open the work-release center, but can't because of a severe shortage of guards, said Department of Correction spokeswoman Beth Welch. Delaware needs to hire 300 guards, called corrections officers by the state, Welch said.

The work-release center re-quires at least 27 employees to be opened, Welch said. Until new workers are hired, the center can't be staffed without reducing staffing levels elsewhere, which would be dangerous, Welch said.

Prisoners are often sent to minimum-security work-release centers to help them get ready to re-enter society after a lengthy prison term. The centers allow prisoners to leave to go to work during the day, or attend programs in a less restrictive environment. Judges sometimes sentence nonviolent offenders directly to work-release centers instead of prisons.

In Delaware, female and male prisoners in work release attend anti-drug classes and other programs together, a practice criticized by Del Pesco and other criminal justice experts Sunday.

Coed prison programs -- especially drug treatment therapies -- often rely on a confrontational approach that focuses on the needs of male inmates, said Lydia Cox, an attorney with the Public Defender's Office.

"Women can't take that approach," Cox said.

Female inmates need to be supervised in a different manner than male prisoners, said Paul Smith, president of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware. Smith said the best way to attract enough corrections officers to end the shortage is to increase pay and improve working conditions.

Demonstrators a diverse group

Welch said that women often complain that they are uncomfortable being in programs with male prisoners, but that doesn't mean the programs don't help women stay out of prison.

"I'm not aware of any statistics or reports that show whether this affects recidivism," Welch said.

Del Pesco said that some female prisoners have asked her to keep them in the restrictive environment of Delaware's only female prison because they didn't want to go to a state work-release centers.

Organizers tried to set a nonconfrontational tone and did not call their event a protest rally. They said they were sympathetic to the state's financial plight.

The event was sponsored by a diverse group of 18 religious and social organizations, including the Delaware League of Women Voters, the Delaware State Bar Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.