The $63 million expansion of the women's prison includes new housing, a visitors' center

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has completed a $63 million expansion project at the Kailua Community Correctional Center for Women.

Designed to be a hybrid prison and women’s jail housed at the Oahu Community Correctional Center, the new facility will house about 200 female inmates and more than 120 male offenders starting next month.

The transfers will take place in stages of 15 to 30 people, with the centre expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.

DCR officials gave the media a tour of the WCCC expansion — starting with the prison’s new reception center, which will house pretrial inmates and parole violators from the overcrowded OCCC.

It will have increased security, more examination rooms and a padded cell for offenders who may suffer from mental health problems.

“They start banging their heads because they want to hurt themselves. It’s a really good addition to our facility,” said Kelly Meredith, WCCC’s chief security officer.

The new visitor area is designed for different levels of access: tablets at the entrance, touchless booths, private rooms for family and legal visits, and a large community space with a lanai and keiki section.

“They can play games together, a lot of different things that they can interact with like they would at home,” said WCCC Director Noni Guillonta.

The state plans to extend visiting hours into the evenings.

The new housing unit increases the prison’s capacity by 180 beds and is divided into two areas: a conventional cell block where inmates are confined to a room 22 hours a day and a new dormitory, an open space with 64 beds without doors for inmates who have demonstrated good behavior. They are under direct supervision 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“People who are in restricted housing, who are in these cells, based on their behavior, we can provide them with more incentives to get them out of cell time,” Guillonta said.

Prison officials say the so-called “phased” program gives them some flexibility in how they treat inmates.

“We’ll now have more room for more programs, more initiatives here, and we’ll be able to provide more reintegration and support services, so we can get better results in reducing recidivism,” said DCR Director Tommy Johnson, who says the current recidivism rate is 58 percent.

He believes the figure is artificially high because it takes into account arrests rather than actual convictions, and he is working to revise the definition.

After at least 7 years of construction, the WCCC expansion includes a new administration building with fitness rooms and locker rooms, as well as a renovated Hookipa chalet for pre-release inmates.

The expansion of the kitchens and laundry rooms is expected to begin next year.

The state has hired 100 new corrections officers for the facility, which is currently about 80 percent staffed. Current DCR staff will be reassigned to fill the remaining vacancies.

A blessing/dedication ceremony is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 25.