CHESTERFIELD TWP., N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — After three years of careful consideration, the New Jersey Department of Corrections says a new women’s prison site has been selected in Burlington County.
The new prison will replace scandal-ridden Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women. It’s going to be built on a 33-acre section of land in Chesterfield, where two facilities currently exist: one youth facility no longer in use, and one jail currently in operation.
“It has been a significant group undertaking to develop what we think are the best specifications possible,” said Corrections Commissioner Victoria Kuhn.
“We knew that we needed to be centrally located.”
She says some work has begun already as they are working out final design plans “for a purpose-built, trauma-informed, gender-informed approach to a new female facility.”
The new facility will be centrally located, providing convenient family access to prioritize the needs of incarcerated women and to rehabilitate with a trauma-informed approach, she said, “knowing that such a high percentage of the women coming into the NJ DOC system have suffered such significant trauma — whether that’s domestic violence, rape and sexual assault.”
She says the women need more programs and space to socialize than men do and that every detail of the new prison will take the needs of women into account.
“So investing in what that facility looks like and feels like that provides the space for services is really important.”
The budget is about $300 million, and it will take two to three years to finish.