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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...