District Attorney launches residential rehabilitation program for nonviolent women offenders in Stillwater

The District Attorney for Payne and Logan counties is launching a first-of-its-kind program to help repeat non-violent women offenders turn their lives around. The three-year program begins with a one year residential treatment program where the women live together and receive intensive therapy on site.

How it works

The program is called About Face Women’s Offenders.

The inaugural class of 8 women were chosen from inmates at either Mabel Bassett or Eddie Warrior Correctional Centers based on their desire to break the cycle.

Their sentences were modified, allowing them to leave the facility and move into the program's group home. They must follow all the rules and complete the requirements of the program, or they return to prison.

“I don't expect for them to re-offend. And they were told that from day one. I expect you to succeed,” executive director Dee Miller said. “They wanted this opportunity to change everything about their past.”

Together with District Attorney Laura Thomas, Miller wanted this program to be one of a kind.

“The big hallmark of this program is they must obtain a trade certification,” Thomas said.

Each of the women will attend Oklahoma CareerTech and then be paired with two community mentors to help guide them.

The program is three years in total, and after completing the live-in year, the women will enter a heavily monitored transition period.

Once a participant completes the program and meets all its requirements, their prison sentence will be suspended.

Why this approach?

The program is designed to tackle the root cause of repeat offenses in women and equip them with the tools to be successful.

“This is what criminal justice reform is, and it costs money, and it's hard. And it takes a community,” Thomas said.

She said all eight of the women in About Faces' first class came from dysfunctional homes and upbringings, which led them to become repeat offenders.

The targeted therapy and group environment are meant to rehabilitate the women and teach them structure. Additionally, becoming certified in a trade through Oklahoma CareerTech ensures the women will have job opportunities to rebuild their lives.

“These are very broken individuals. And so, our goal is to rebuild them and give them what they never learned and never valued before,” Thomas said.