It was a warm spring day in May, and the sun was pouring in through the windows of a cozy living room in Boise. The walls were fresh white, contrasted by a hunter-green carpeting that lined the floor. I sank into a plush beige couch adorned with floral-print throw pillows. A plate of tacos and tortilla chips, chosen as the dinner option to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, rested on my lap. A large group of women filtered into the room with their own plates, rearranging sofa chairs and other furniture into a circle. We began to converse over our meal, sharing stories, laughs, hopes, concerns, and goals for ourselves and our families.

But soon, the conversation took on a more serious tone. We weren’t just in any living room; we were in the living room of a transitional living facility for women coming out of incarceration. Many of the women were in recovery after battling substance use disorder for years and had recently been in either jail or prison. Some had lost custody of their children along the way, and some were working with the child welfare system to regain it.

The women shared stories about their difficulty finding jobs with a decent wage, making monthly payments to probation while also paying off huge bills to the courts, working cases to try to get their kids back where what Idaho Department of Health and Welfare representatives wanted to see contradicted with what their probation officer wanted, their struggles with recovery and sobriety through the years, difficulty getting access to care and medications, and how they were trying to stay optimistic but felt that they continued to encounter one hurdle after the next.

Unfortunately, the women in this room are not alone. Since 2019, Idaho has had the highest rate of incarceration for women in the nation.[i] While there were just 25 women in prison in Idaho in 1980,[ii] by 2022, that number had risen to 1,296 women—an increase of more than 5,000 percent during a period where Idaho’s population had only doubled.[iii]  Idaho’s incarceration rate for women is so high that the state would need to reduce the number of women in prison by 63 percent—or nearly 800 fewer women in prison at any given time—just to be at the national average.[iv] These numbers don’t account for the hundreds of women in local jails on any given day or the thousands of women on probation or parole.

Pathways to Incarceration

While each woman and her story are unique, studies show that the pathway to the justice system for women often involves experiences with trauma, abuse, and physical or sexual violence. Among women in jail, 86 percent reported that they experienced sexual assault and 77 percent experienced domestic violence in their past.[v] In one study of women in prison in Idaho, 64 percent reported experiencing sexual abuse before the age of 14.[vi] This victimization is often a predictor for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”), and substance use that often leads to incarceration for many women, particularly in rural counties where there are limited resources to help women cope with these experiences.[vii] One study of women in jail found that 43 percent had a mental illness,[viii] 82 percent had a substance use disorder,[ix] and 53 percent met the criteria for PTSD.[x]

Understanding the Data

Idaho has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the country and, according to data from Idaho Office of Drug Policy, there is no evidence that women in Idaho use drugs more often than women in other states. So, what is causing Idaho to be the leading incarcerator of women in the nation?

Last year, Idaho Justice Project set out to answer this question. We analyzed data from the Idaho Department of Correction about the women who were in prison on Dec. 31, 2021, and reviewed data gathered by researchers at the University of Idaho working with women in Idaho jails and prisons. We found that the answer lies in how Idaho is handling substance use disorder and mental health challenges for women.

First, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Idaho arrests more people per capita for drug crimes than eighty percent of the other states. Idaho State Police data shows that more and more women are entering the system each year following an arrest for a drug crime.[xi] In 2005, a total of 2,063 women were arrested for a drug crime, representing 25 percent of drug arrests.[xii] By 2023, data shows that 4,226 women were arrested for drug crimes that year, representing 32.5 percent of drug arrests.[xiii] If you think of the justice system as a funnel starting with arrest and ending with incarceration, right from the outset, more women are entering the justice system in Idaho for drug arrests compared to women in other states.

Second, the majority of women—62 percent in prison in Idaho on December 31, 2021—were incarcerated with their most serious crime categorized as a drug offense.[xiv] Only 16 percent of those women were in prison for a violent crime. Nationally, in 2021, only 24.6 percent of the women in prison were incarcerated for a drug offense, making Idaho a severe outlier.[xv] Further, women in Idaho serve almost twice as long on average (22 months) for a possession charge compared to the national average sentence for a possession charge (13 months).[xvi]

The interventions that women are receiving in the justice system today are not working. Over 60 percent of the women in prison on Dec. 31, 2021, were there following some failure on community supervision, meaning they had been on probation or parole and were returned to incarceration. The pathway to recovery is rarely straight, and many women find themselves in the revolving door of the justice system for years. This incarceration only adds to the trauma and life disruptions that these often already vulnerable women must endure.

This has serious ramifications not just for Idaho women, but for their families as well. Recent data from the University of Idaho shows that over 80 percent of women in Idaho jails and prisons are mothers.[xvii] In roughly 67 percent of those cases, the children were living with their mother immediately prior to her arrest.[xviii] A child whose parent is incarcerated is three times more likely to end up incarcerated in their life compared to peers without a parent in prison,[xix] meaning that incarceration can impact a family for generations.

Opportunities for a New Path Forward

In a report released earlier this year, Idaho Justice Project called on lawmakers and leaders running the criminal justice system to focus on improving outcomes for women in the justice system and their children—and to take action to end Idaho’s status as the lead incarcerator of women in the nation. Idaho can either keep locking up women at a cost of over $27,000 per year, or it can invest in recovery solutions, job and education programs, and mental health care to help justice-involved women and their children succeed. In the countless conversations I’ve been privileged to have, like the ones referenced earlier in this article, this is what so many women are hopeful for—a system that gives them a hand up and helps them recover and empowers them—rather than one that judges them and holds them back for a lifetime.

There are a number of policy solutions that have been implemented in other states that could safely reduce the number of women in prison while positively impacting public safety. In fact, as we discuss in the report, many of the states that, like Idaho, enjoy the lowest crime rates in the nation, actually also have some of the lowest incarceration rates for women. Idaho, too, can make changes to improve outcomes for women and their families while prioritizing public safety. 

First, Idaho providers have been unable to keep up with the demand for recovery and treatment services in the community. Idaho ranks number 45 of 50 for mental health care in the nation.[xx] And it remains difficult for low-income women on Medicaid to get the in-patient recovery services they need—especially if they have children. Allocating more resources to recovery in the community could help prevent crime in the first place. Second, Idaho should create more programs focused on deflecting and diverting women out of the justice system entirely where possible. Kootenai and Canyon Counties recently launched pilot programs focused on diverting people with substance use disorder out of the system, which is a promising start, but more programming is needed across the state. States such as Hawaii and Oklahoma have implemented diversion programs focused specifically on women to address the unique needs that drive women to the system with promising results.

Third, Idaho should increase resources and expand eligibility criteria for drug courts and mental health courts to serve more people. Fourth, counties should expand policies to offer Medication-Assisted Treatment (or Medication for Opioid Use Disorder) to individuals in jail and partner with community health providers so that a person can continue to access a prescription for these medications after release. Fifth and finally, Idaho should implement gender-responsive programming and treatment for those already in the system and prioritize reentry programs that consider the unique needs of women upon release.

Idaho is facing a decision point. The overincarceration of women isn’t making us safer. But it is destabilizing families and using millions of dollars in resources that could be better spent on community-based treatment for trauma, mental health, and substance use disorders to prevent crime in the first place and allow women to thrive. As Idaho’s public defense system struggles to keep up with the demand, there seems no better time than now to try something new. For the thousands of women in the justice system, this need for change is urgent.

Erica L. Marshall is the President of the Board of Directors of the Idaho Justice Project where she uses her background as a policy attorney to work to improve outcomes for justice-impacted individuals and to end Idaho’s status as the lead incarcerator of women in the US.

[i] E. Ann Carson, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 307149, Prisoners in 2022—Statistical Tables, Table 7, Nov. 2023 (Oct. 2024); E. Ann Carson, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 255115, Prisoners in 2019, Table 2 (Oct. 2020).

[ii] Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 805520, Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions on December 31, 1980, p. 15 (Mar. 1982).

[iii] E. Ann Carson, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 307149, Prisoners in 2022—Statistical Tables, Table 2, Nov. 2023 (Oct. 2024).

[iv] Calculated using data from E. Ann Carson, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 307149, Prisoners in 2022—Statistical Tables, Table 7, Nov. 2023 (Oct. 2024).

[v] Elizabeth Swavola, Kristine Riley, Ram Subramanian, Vera Institute of Justice, Overlooked: Women and Jails in an Era of Reform, p. 11 (Aug. 2016); Shannon Lynch, Dana DeHart, Joanne Belknapp, Bonnie Green, Bureau of Justice Assistance, NCJ 240558, Women’s Pathways to Jail: The Roles and Intersections of Serious Mental Illness and Trauma, p. 14 (Sept. 2012) (hereinafter “Lynch et al.”).

[vi] K. A. Johnson and S.M. Lynch, Predictors of Maladaptive Coping in Incarcerated Women who are Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse, 28(1) J. of Family Violence, 43-52 (2013).

[vii] Shannon Lynch, April Fritch, Nicole M. Heath, Looking Beneath the Surface: The Nature of Incarcerated Women’s Experiences of Interpersonal Violence, Treatment Needs, and Mental Health, 7 Feminist Criminology 4, p. 10 (2012).

[viii] Lynch et al., p. 14.

[ix] Lynch et al., p. 14.

[x] See Idaho State University, New national study by Idaho State University, colleagues, confirms women in jail have high rates of serious mental illness (Oct. 24, 2012). https://www.isu.edu/news/2012-fall/new-national-study-by-idaho-state-university-colleagues-confirms-women-in-jail-have-high-rates-of-serious-mental-illness.html.

[xi] See Idaho State Police, Crime in Idaho Data Dashboard (last visited Dec. 5, 2024).

[xii] See id.

[xiii] See id.

[xiv] The Idaho Department of Corrections provided anonymized data for each woman in state prison on Dec. 31, 2021. A data sheet detailing the analysis and methodology undertaken for this report is available online at idahojusticeproject.org. See Sean Falconer, Idaho Department of Corrections Population Snapshot December 31, 2021 Data Analysis (October 2023) (hereinafter “Data Sheet”).

[xv] E. Ann Carson, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 307149, Prisoners in 2022—Statistical Tables, Table 16, p. 29, Nov. 2023 (Oct. 2024).

[xvi] Danielle Kaeble, Time Served in State Prison, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2018, p. 2 (Mar. 2021), available at https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/tssp18.pdf.

[xvii] This statistic is based on data collected and analyzed by Dr. Shannon Lynch, Idaho State University. A data sheet detailing the analysis and methodology is available online at idahojusticeproject.org. See Dr. Shannon Lynch, Idaho State University, Incarcerated Mothers in Idaho Jails and Prisons (Dec. 2024) (hereinafter “Shannon Lynch Data Sheet”).

[xviii] See Shannon Lynch Data Sheet.

[xix] James M. Conway, Edward T. Jones , Inst. for Municipal and Regional Policy, A Review of Research on the Likelihood of Children with Incarcerated Parents Becoming Justice-Involved, Central Connecticut State University, Dept. Psychological Science, p. 5 (Mar. 2015); see also Eric Martin, National Institute of Justice, Hidden Consequences: The Impact of Incarceration on Dependent Children (Mar. 1 2017).

[xx] Maddy Reinert, Danielle Fritze, & Theresa Nguyen, “The State of Mental Health in America 2024.” Mental Health America, Alexandria VA (July 2024).