The Associated Press
GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — The state women’s prison is overcrowded, and the population keeps growing.
The crowding has forced prison officials to convert an activity room to a 24-bed dormitory, while the 60 inmates in the regular dormitory section share three toilets and four showers.
The other side of the prison, which houses newer and higher-security prisoners, doesn’t have enough cells for all of them. Some sleep in bunk beds in a common area, ducking into a cell when they have to use the toilet.
A lack of air conditioning means cells and dorms heat up quickly, while mildew grows in heavily used showers.
Meanwhile, some inmates told the Concord Monitor that conditions are so bad they are dangerous.
“The dorms area has become a powder keg: We’re just waiting,” said Heather Strong, 35, of Laconia, who returned to prison on a parole violation for drug use.
Melissa Kelly, an inmate originally incarcerated on a drug charge, said: “I don’t think it’s safe for the inmates or the staff. What are they going to do if something happens in here?”
The Department of Corrections has proposed building a new prison, but not until the 2010-11 state budget. Meanwhile, the staff is coping, department spokesman Jeff Lyons said.
“We have not as of yet had any serious, life-threatening safety situations arise,” he said.
“There’s always the concern that a large group of offenders in a confined area can result in security concerns or safety issues,” Lyons said. “Our staff is addressing that and remaining vigilant.”
The prison’s designated capacity is 100, so a recent census of 133 was a third over capacity. Since January, there has been a net increase of 22 inmates.
Susan McLaughlin, who is serving a life sentence for being an accomplice to murder, has been at the prison for 18 years.
“This is the worst it has ever been,” she said. “How would you like to hold your bowels for an hour, lights on 24 hours a day?”
Prison populations are increasing nationwide, and the biggest increase is among female prisoners. Prison officials say the main reason is the steady stream of repeat offenders, many of whom are returned for parole violations.
Many officials blame a lack of mental health, drug and career counseling for prisoners after release. The shortage of programs is especially acute for female inmates.
A 2004 report by the state Commission on the Status of Women said women inmates have less access to job training and counseling programs than men. For example, while there is a four-week program for male parolees who relapse into drug use, there is no comparable program for women, said Joanne Fortier, acting warden of the women’s prison.
Crowding compounds the problem.
“The more crowded we get, the less room there is for programs,” said Theresa deLangis, executive director of the Commission on the Status of Women. “This is a huge problem in our state.”
Last year, the commission helped pass a law to study of services for female offenders and create a position for an administrator of female offender services. The job has not been filled, however.
The Corrections Department has hired a full-time counselor and a case manager in Goffstown and converted the Shea Farm Halfway House in Concord for use by women.
The department also plans to spend millions to improve mental health services for men and women inmates, but no contractor has been hired yet.
Strong, who served three years in prison for embezzlement and credit card fraud, was paroled in March 2006. She got a job as a restaurant manager, but began abusing prescription pain pills again in October and landed back in prison in May.
Since then, she has been waiting to get into a substance abuse program. The first program she applied to turned her down because she had also been diagnosed with a mood disorder, she said.
Strong said it doesn’t make sense for the state to spend money to incarcerate her — about $30,000 per inmate each year — rather than help her get into a substance abuse program on the outside, where she could work while she got help.
“I’m being housed waiting for bed space in a program — I could do that from home,” she said.
People on the outside probably think, “Oh well, let them rot,” she said. But she said nobody benefits from a system that is costly and ineffective.
“We need legislation for more funding for programs,” she said. “There just is not enough. ... That’s why there’s so many women sitting here just waiting to get out.”