Maryland will build a reentry facility for incarcerated women

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services must identify, build or renovate, and operate a reentry facility for eligible women. Eligible women are incarcerated women within 36 months of their expected release who have prerelease or minimum-security status. The facility must balance safety and security with privacy and dignity. It must include housing, accessible rooms, private bathrooms, family visiting areas, classrooms, a career center, medical space, recreation areas, and public transportation access. The site must have at least 3 acres, be outside a 1-mile radius of an existing correctional facility, and be reasonably close to the communities where the women will return. The Department must identify a location and design a site plan by October 1, 2027, begin construction or renovation by July 1, 2028, finish by March 1, 2031, and begin operating the facility by September 1, 2031. Each deadline may be extended by up to 6 months.

The Commissioner must make evidence-based, trauma-informed, and gender-responsive reentry services available to eligible women. The services cover eligible women with prerelease status, including women who have not yet moved into the new facility. Services must support education, job training, family relationships, health care, mental health, substance-use treatment, housing, transportation, and other reentry needs. Staff must screen women for public benefits and help them complete applications before release. Women assigned to the facility may not be transported to another facility to receive these services. The Department may contract with another organization to provide the services. The Department must develop a plan to provide these services on-site at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women by September 1, 2026. Services must begin before final construction and occupation of the new facility.

State agencies must use specified procurement and reporting steps, while the Correctional Ombudsman must review the Department’s progress. The duties apply to the Departments of General Services, Public Safety and Correctional Services, and Labor, plus the Office of the Correctional Ombudsman. General Services must review existing proposals and, if needed, seek new proposals for planning, design, and construction. The departments must report on services, facility progress, and compliance to specified legislative committees. The Department must provide the Ombudsman with requested information, data, and facility access. The Ombudsman’s review and report begins June 1, 2026, and continues annually beginning June 1, 2027. The other reports and procurement steps use the deadlines stated in the law.