Taking a wise path to criminal justice

In San Mateo County, there is the political will to create new opportunities for the men and women who find themselves behind bars. Sheriff Greg Munks is interested in creating new programs that would provide job training, mental health and drug counseling as well as assistance with family counseling for all inmates regardless of gender. In addition, supervisors Rose Jacobs Gibson and Adrienne Tissier are interested in finding new ways to see if the county is indeed doing the best it can in rehabilitating women in its jail facility.

The need for both is clear. Day in and day out, both facilities are overcrowded. In the men’s jail, some inmates are forced to sleep in close quarters and the women’s jail is designed after an outdated "dormstyle” model that leaves inmates in a "survival of the fittest” atmosphere. In addition, there is little space for female inmates to seek job training or drug counseling or to visit with their children. That’s key since children of incarcerated women are more likely to commit crimes themselves. Currently, there is little room for counseling and little room for progress.

Munks inherited the jail overcrowding issue when he was elected last year and there was little opportunity before now to do anything about it since money was tight. Then California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a plan in which state prisoners would be sent to local jails in exchange for a pot of money up to $5 billion to be allocated for construction of new facilities. At first, the idea was alarming since the county’s jail facilities were already stretched. However, it became clear that the proposal meant state inmates entering their last year of incarceration would be transferred to their home counties for rehab and transition back into the community. That’s when the light bulb went off in Munk’s head. By creating a new facility for rehabilitation, counseling and education for the county’s non-dangerous jail inmates, the county could also incorporate the same programs for those coming back from state prison. Those awaiting trial could remain in the Maguire facility near the courthouse, while those sentenced to time in the county jail rather than state prison could take part in new services at the new facility.

The main obstacle seems to be obtaining the money for the facility’s construction and its ongoing operations. Indeed, creating new programs is an expansion of the county’s incarceration system, but that expansion could ultimately cut down on recidivism and lower crime while creating new opportunities for those who have made the wrong decisions.

It is a worthy goal and the county is just now taking the first steps along that path. In concert, supervisors Jacobs Gibson and Tissier are planning a Women’s Criminal Justice Summit next week that seeks to collect the best ideas of those in the community and experts from other areas. The idea behind the summit, the supervisors say, is to make sure any new facility is created with the best practices available and to see if there can be any changes made to the current system and facilities. This is a wise path with an eye toward gathering the best ideas on how our county’s inmates can find a way to a better life while keeping our streets safer. It is, however, a long path with many challenges, societal, financial or otherwise.

The summit takes place 7:30 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 22 at the Oracle Corporate Conference Center in Redwood Shores. It might be worth your while to participate if such a path is one you would also like to follow.