Sweltering cells at local women's prison to get AC for the first time -- next year
Jul. 25—An $8.6 million renovation project aims to update Dayton's state-run female prison where volunteers say inmates suffer sickening heat.
The renovation project, expected to be completed next year, will address several items that have developed in the facility's 30-year life span, including the replacement of windows on the campus, an air-cooling system for housing units and security upgrades, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Dayton Correctional Institution has a capacity to house approximately 1,000 incarcerated women. The campus includes more than a dozen buildings with eight multiple-occupancy housing cell units, according to the state rehabilitation and correction department. The facility is overseen by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Volunteers who spend time at DCI, like minister Alice Diebel of faith-based organization JumpStart Ohio, say inmates are getting sick from the heat and feeling dizzy.
"I know people make mistakes and cause harm, but to punish and control rather than to heal, to nurture just feels to me like the wrong approach," said Diebel.
Her organization runs a leadership development program in the facility that takes up space in classrooms located in the building. Diebel is also a member of the Montgomery County Jail Coalition.
In Ohio, the Ohio State Penitentiary, Franklin Medical Center, and Toledo Correctional Institution are fully air-conditioned. Infirmaries and some additional specialized units throughout the state are also air-conditioned, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
JoEllen Smith, a spokesperson for ODRC, said Dayton Correctional Institution has air-conditioning in its medical, education and visitation spaces. The last time the facility's HVAC system was upgraded was in 2016, according to the state.
The housing units in the Dayton prison have wall-mounted, floor and ceiling exhaust fans.
During hot summer days, extra water and freeze-pops are made available for staff and the incarcerated population, Smith said. During these times, inmates are also permitted to keep cell doors open and to wear T-shirts instead of their uniform tops.
Ice machines are in the housing units, and during extreme heat, the prison has extra ice on the grounds, Smith said.
Diebel said she's seen ice run out in the facility before people can collect it in their cups. Corrections officers who work in the facility, as well as their police canines, often get priority over inmates.
The addition of air conditioning would help inmates in their housing units.
"There's just no ventilation for them," she said.
A study released this year by science journal Nature Sustainability found that incarcerated people are at a higher risk for heat-related health conditions as the nation experiences longer, more frequent and more intense heat waves.
Prisons in the southern half of the United States have experienced a rapid increase in heat exposure that could be potentially hazardous to health, according to the study.
"Incarcerated people have few options to reduce the impact of hazardous heat, and these marginalized communities are often disproportionately susceptible to the effect of heat exposure given pre-existing health conditions," the Nature Sustainability study states. "An estimated 43% of the state prison population has a previous mental health diagnosis, and people on psychotropic medications are at increased risk for heat illness."
