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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 135
BY REPRESENTATIVE SMITH
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to establish
partnerships with universities in the state of Louisiana in order to provide access to
individual therapy and drug treatment for inmates at the Louisiana Correctional
Institute for Women.
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Women's and Policy Research Commission (commission)
is the state commission charged with monitoring the status of Louisiana women for the
purposes of evaluating their economic, educational, and health issues, analyzing trends that
impact women's health and prosperity, and providing policy recommendations to address the
challenges women in our state face; and
WHEREAS, Act No. 668 of the 2003 Regular Session of the Legislature requires the
Louisiana Women's Policy and Research Commission to submit detailed annual reports to
the governor on each subject which it is monitoring; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Women's Policy and Research Commission's 2013 Report
to the governor (report) focused on four main areas including women's health; gender-based
violence; women, education and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math; and women
and economic concerns; and
WHEREAS, the report also included a special trends section focusing on incarcerated
women in the state as female incarceration impacts health, safety, and the well-being of
many women and communities throughout Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the special trends section of the report reveals that Louisiana's rate of
incarceration in 2012 was eight hundred and ninety-three per one hundred thousand people,
a rate which is twenty percent higher than any other state; and
WHEREAS, members of the commission visited the Louisiana Correctional Institute
for Women (LCIW), the only female correctional facility operating at the state level, and
made it the focus of their research on Louisiana incarcerated women's issues; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 135
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WHEREAS, the report reveals that of the average one thousand and eighty women
incarcerated at LCIW in Fiscal Year 2013, forty-four percent were listed as being on
psychiatric medication, seventy-seven percent were categorized as suffering from severe
mental illnesses, and seventy-eight percent were categorized as having an addiction disorder;
and
WHEREAS, the report states that the high number of people with mental health and
substance abuse disorders in the justice system is expensive, and that individuals with these
behavior health issues have high recidivism rates; and
WHEREAS, the Steve Hoyle Intensive Substance Abuse Treatment Program, the
state's drug treatment program, located at the Bossier Parish Prison, only reserves twenty-
five positions for incarcerated women; and
WHEREAS, the LCIW offers support groups and makes quality healthcare available
to many inmates who may never have had adequate access to health care prior to their
incarceration; however, LCIW does not have the resources to offer individual drug treatment
to inmates; and
WHEREAS, a number of universities in the state of Louisiana offer degrees in social
work, psychiatry, and psychology and are in a unique position to offer their guidance or
assistance to those incarcerated at LCIW.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request that the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections explore and
establish partnerships with universities within the state to provide additional access to
individual therapy and drug treatment for inmates at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for
Women.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the president
of each university in the state of Louisiana.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE