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Managing Editor CHICOPEE When the new Western Massachusetts Regional Correctional Center starts transferring female inmates from the four western counties the new jail will almost be at capacity. Hampden Country Sheriff Michael Ashe said the jail, which will begin housing inmates Oct. 1, could hold 228 women and there are currently 202 scheduled to be transferred into it. Ashe made his comments during a tour of the jail for the media about an hour before the dedication of the facility. He said he is currently lobbying state legislators for an additional $10 million to complete the original design of the jail. Ashe said the project started about six years ago and was funded at $26.2 million. The Romney Administration took the jail off of the list of active projects and by the time it was reinstated inflation had eaten away at the budget and removed a wing with 56 beds from the facility. The facility is the first women's jail to have been built in the Commonwealth in the past 125 years, Ashe said. He credited the cooperation between the four Western Massachusetts country sheriffs in making the regional approach possible. Ashe said the jail is not "a fortress in the woods. It's not a warehouse." Both he and Assistant Superintendent Patricia Murphy emphasized the challenges posed by the inmates. Thirty to forty percent of them have mental health issues and the average amount of school completed by the inmates is eighth grade. Eighty-five percent have substance abuse issues, as well. Murphy added that statistic is also accurate for male inmates. Murphy said the goal is "to make these women marketable." The jail has counselors and caseworkers assigned to each unit to assist the women in making the transition back to normal life. There is a library and vocational programs in culinary arts, graphics and computer skills, among others. Murphy said that women in the culinary arts program will go through "Serve Safe" certification that will help them get a job in the food service industry. The jail has a large health clinic. Murphy explained that besides the information gathered during the intake of an inmate, state law mandates each prisoner receive a medical examination within 14 days of her entry into the jail. The jail then must provide medical services. There is a mother and child program at the facility to help jailed mothers build or maintain relationships with their children, Murphy said. Eighty-five percent of the women are mothers. During his remarks made during the dedication ceremony, Ashe said, "There are those who see the construction of a new correctional facility as no cause for celebration. But it is not incarceration that we celebrate today, any more than at the dedication of a hospital we celebrate physical incapacitation. Rather we celebrate our communities' efforts to address crime, enhance public safety, and reclaim broken lives, just as with the opening of a hospital, we celebrate our communities' efforts to address illness and accidents and advance public health." | ||||||
