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6 months later: What’s changed at Julia Tutwiler?

The work by the Moss Group is “absolutely on track”

By C1 Staff

WETUMPKA, Ala. — The group hired by the Alabama Department of Corrections to help improve the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women is now one-third of the way through its contract.

Al.com reports that the work by the Moss Group is “absolutely on track,” according to Wendy Williams, the deputy commissioner of women’s services for the ADOC.

Privacy features were installed by October 1, the deadline the ADOC set. All bathrooms have shower doors, toilet partitions and privacy curtains.

More than 300 cameras now monitor the prison 24/7, and more women are becoming correctional officers due to new recruiting techniques.

Williams herself now oversees women’s services and the female offender population after a new position was created.

Staff and supervisors are still learning how to interact with female offenders; policies are under review; hygiene items offered to women are being reviewed, such as soap and combs; and a plan to make long-lasting changes is being developed with the goal of keeping improvements in place far into the future.

Next up are investigations into prisoner complaints will see some changes after ADOC officials review the process; the changes include compliance measures in line with PREA. A $500,000 federal grant will be used to fund, among other projects, the creation of an assistant state PREA coordinator position, and PREA coordinators will be trained on managing vulnerable populations, including LGBTI offenders.

Lastly, policies and procedures at Alabama’s men’s facilities will also be reviewed.

“A lot of the work that the Moss Group has done at Tutwiler is going to … help us systematically with the way we do things as an agency,” Williams said.

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