Research studies indicate that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) appears to have accepted the importance of gender-responsive strategies and has made some headway towards improving services. In the last year, CDCR has stopped allowing male correctional guards to pat down female inmates, halted the shackling of prisoners during labor and childbirth, improved nutrition for pregnant women, and increased access to female hygiene products. In addition, a 20-cell wing is being constructed at the California Institution for Women that will allow new mothers to be housed with their newborns for up to 18 months and then moved into special community housing upon parole. CDCR is also considering changing visitation practices to enhance bonding between incarcerated mothers and their children. These changes underscore the importance of taking gender into account in regards to correctional decisionmaking. In these times of rising female incarceration and potential change at the CDCR, it is particularly important to provide treatment that is responsive to the gendered pathways to criminality as well as unique health needs of women. In the United States, the State of California leads the Nation in the number of women it incarcerates. The provision of health care is problematic in a prison setting. This chapter of What Works with Women Offenders discusses the health problems that confront imprisoned women and the strategies that have been adopted to address their often serious health needs. It identifies the high incidence of health problems among female prisoners in comparison both with non-incarcerated women and imprisoned men and how imprisonment can further impact various ways upon female prisoners’ well-being and health. References