Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women: A model facility

For the vast majority of society, perceptions of life in correctional institutions tend to be shaped by what is seen on television or in films. These images all contribute to a perceived societal reality of prison life, whether or not it is, in fact, reality.

While the realities of these stories

may or may not be entirely factual, one thing is certain: Consistently, one subject these tales rarely address is women. What is life like in a women's correctional center? Do acts of violence and attempted escapes occur in women's facilities and, if so, how frequently? What special needs exist for female inmates? And who runs women's correctional facilities and what are their motivations?

Located in Troy, Va., the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women serves a female-only inmate population. While many women's correctional centers once were used to house men, Fluvanna was designed specifically to meet the unique needs of incarcerated women.

Special Needs

Warden Patti Leigh Huffman is a veteran of the corrections field and has run Fluvanna since it opened in April 1998. She understands the unique needs of her residents, and in a recent interview, said that chief among those necessities are the complicated medical needs of women.

"We not only have the normal things like heart problems, high blood pressure, diabetes and things like that, but we also have very complicated reproductive systems," said Huffman. "Add that mix to a significant number who have, at some point, abused their bodies with drugs, alcohol and sex, and it makes them vulnerable to other diseases." To accommodate these medical needs, Fluvanna was designed with a 68,000-square-foot medical building that serves a variety of physical and mental health needs. The facility deals with general medical issues, acute (mental health) care and has a specialized sheltered care unit.

"One of the things I truly appreciate about the design of Fluvanna is the thought that went into the medical/mental health building," said Huffman, who, prior to coming to Fluvanna was senior warden at Bland Correctional Center, a men's facility located in Bland County, Va. "To my knowledge, there is not another women's facility in this country that has the type of medical/mental health building that we have."

All the medical facility's functions are not yet fully operational, but upon completion, it will provide services such as dental, X-rays, mammography, OB/GYN, hemodialysis and physical therapy. In addition to serving its own population of nearly 900 inmates, Fluvanna's medical facility also accommodates most female inmates from two other correctional institutions and local jails around the commonwealth. Although the Virginia Correctional Center for Women (VCCW) in Goochland provides nursing and other limited medical care to its inmates, Fluvanna treats VCCW inmates with more severe medical conditions.

Living Environment

Ground was broken at Fluvanna in December 1995. Prior to that, extensive thought was put into the facility's design and how it would accommodate the needs of its inmates. The Virginia Department of Corrections' (DOC's) vision is to be a model correctional agency and proven innovative leader in a manner consistent with sound correctional principals. Fluvanna is another positive step in this direction.

From the number of vocations it would be equipped to instruct (nine), to the amount of space reserved for a nursery and child visitation, to the locations of restrooms, the specific needs were thoroughly explored. Initially, the DOC wanted to use a medium-security dormitory (MSD) setting in which the inmates would live. This is a military-like barracks unit in which inmates co-exist in a large open space lined with beds.

However, the prison designers felt that other models would better suit a female inmate population. "We started with that MSD suggestion," said Elliot Law, AIA, project manager for the joint venture team (Moseley/HOK) that designed Fluvanna. "But through our research and tours of other facilities in several other states, we learned that women generally don't do very well in a dormitory environment. It's essentially a military barracks and men do fine in that setting. But we found that women need private areas to nurture themselves and we felt a responsibility to be sensitive to those needs."

Huffman agreed that Fluvanna is not the place for a dorm setting. "It lends itself to property issues and you've got lots of folks in one area," she said. "If something happens, how do you lock down 30 to 75 inmates? You've also got the very real possibility of `my bunk's here and your bunk's next and everything's fine. But if I get ticked off at you, nothing's to stop me from knocking you in the head with a lock in a sock."'

Ironically, most of Fluvanna's general population (GP) residents sleep with their cells unlocked unless they specifically request locked cells. All the GP cells in the facility, which can house up to 900 inmates, are what are referred to as dry cells, or cells with no running water. To use the bathroom, inmates simply leave their cells and walk to a restroom. Huffman noted that the rationale for this is twofold. "Women don't present the same dynamics with reference to escape that men do. And also, with guys, to use the toilet, basically you don't have to remove your clothing. Women do. We do everything sitting down, which means we are facing a roommate. This is a privacy issue."

The casual observer may assume that Fluvanna is a minimum-security facility, however, it is not. Rather, it is a medium- to maximum-security facility. It has security fencing connecting not only each building, but a perimeter fence surrounding the entire campus. If it were a men's facility of the same security level, though, it would have yet another fence around the perimeter.

The Psyche

While she cited examples of female inmates responding to a variety of situations, Huffman's descriptions of the coping methods used by women - some of whom are violent offenders - in relation to those methods associated with violent male offenders were startling.

Huffman related one story from VCCW which, had it occurred in a men's facility, she said it would have required the transfer of inmates to different locations. "We had a new woman brought in - 19 years old and in for murder. The catch was that she killed the son of another inmate who already was incarcerated at VCCW for malicious wounding. There was no option to send her elsewhere. So we got them together and said, `Whatever you two ladies have to say to each other, say it now, because once this meeting is over, we don't want you two talking to each other for the rest of your time here.' They let each other have it. And they went forth, pulled their time, and that was it."

IMAGE PHOTOGRAPH 16

Left: An aerial view of the Fluvanna Correctional Center.

Right: The Fluvanna Correctional Center in Troy, Va., was designed specifically to meet the unique needs of its inmate population.

Huffman said this type of conflict resolution is typical for female inmates and likened it to John Gray's book, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. "Women tend to be more verbal. They are better at articulating their feelings and expressing themselves."

She also noted that women tend to recreate family units while incarcerated, going so far as to call other inmates sister, daughter, mother and cousin. Males, however, tend to have more gang-oriented groups or stay in groups of two with a partner.

Managing Corrections

Along with DOC management and her staff - of which she said she is most proud - Huffman has attempted to create an environment in which inmates can learn and grow. Trades such as cosmetology, electrical repair, computeraided drafting and design, and business application software are taught at Fluvanna for life after incarceration. And Huffman's efforts have been recognized. Fluvanna recently became the first accredited state adult correctional institution in Virginia to be recognized by the American Correctional Association (ACA).

Within two years of opening its doors in early 1998, Fluvanna was accredited by ACA for compliance with national standards and was evaluated as "outstanding" the highest rating that can be achieved during an initial accreditation. An outstanding evaluation often is not received during an initial accreditation but, clearly, Fluvanna is on the right path with regard to incarceration and rehabilitation of female inmates.

Although she is not a mother, Huffman, who is a former 9th-grade teacher, said she has `several hundred children.' While she said she eventually "wants to get a real life," she remains a workaholic and committed to making a difference at Fluvanna. "What we have undertaken is a challenge to create a unique culture in which both staff and inmates can grow and where the opportunity is there for change, whether it's a change in behavior or a change in thinking."

AUTHOR_AFFILIATION

S. Cary Gill is a vice president of Moseley Harris and McClintock in Richmond, Va., and heads the company's corrections/detention design studio. He previously served as capital outlay director of the Virginia DOC and can be reached at (804) 794-7555; e-mail: scg@tmmg.com. Ron Angelone has served as director of the Virginia DOC since 1994. Prior to that, he was director of the Nevada Bureau of Prisons. Angelone also is chairman of the ACA Standards Committee and can be reached at (804) 674-3000; e-mail: directors office@ vadoc.state. va. us.