The women in pink jumpsuits walk down the hallway of Hope Hall, accompanied by Marion County Sheriff officers. In the 5th floor facility in the City-County Building, they are going to anger management classes, Narcotics Anonymous meetings, or parenting workshops. For many of them, this will be the last time they’ll see the inside of a detention block.
Hope Hall is an innovative unit for low-level, non-violent female offenders, providing them with an opportunity to make changes in their lives through workshops and classes that they hope will lead them away from continuing a life of crime. The emphasis is on rehabilitation and reform, rather than on punishment. About 100 women are in Hope Hall on average every day throughout the year, awaiting sentencing for various crimes.
Hope Hall was created as a place for female inmates with low-level offenses, with a higher degree of rehabilitative programming, including workshops and classes in everything from positive parenting to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, to literacy programs. The Sheriff’s Department has teamed up with many local organizations to provide the programs at Hope Hall. To live in Hope Hall, each inmate must participate in mandatory programming.
The pink jumpsuits the women wear in Hope Hall has lead to the nickname “Pink Ladies” and it is a point of pride for them. Marion County Sheriff John Layton is proud of the programs the women participate in, as well as the progress the women who have been in the program have made in the past year since the department created Hope Hall. “Of the women you see here,” he noted, “only two or three will come back, on average. Usually, about 75 percent come back. This is a very successful program.”
Sheriff Layton is also pleased that Hope Hall is saving taxpayer money, to the tune of $2.7 million — money they used to pay to Liberty Hall, a privately-owned facility on East Washington. He said that the department did not renew their contract at Liberty, last year, preferring to create Hope Hall at the former Intake facility in the City-County Building. “We’re very pleased with the outcome here.”
The dorm-style detention center has classrooms and meeting spaces, as well as sleeping and eating areas for the women. When not in a program, they can watch television, read, or play cards under the close supervision of officers. The officers in direct contact with the offenders are women as well, offering a better role models for behavior than they may have had before. Their visitations with children are held elsewhere in monitored conditions.
L.B., an inmate, said that she has taken advantage of the addiction education programs at Hope Hall and has realized that her life cannot continue the same way from this point forward. Arrested on theft charges, she said she stole to pay bills and feed her addiction. “I’m just tired of this. I’ve been doing this for 11 years, and I can’t do this anymore. I’m dealing with my addiction. I’m making changes all ready. It’s going to happen.”
