The Timpanogos Women’s Correctional Facility (pictured in the lower portion of the photo above) is located at the Utah State Prison site, but all of its buildings are separated from the male facilities in order to minimize management issues that would be inherent with adjacent housing.
Many of our correctional officers and other staff who work with female offenders have gone through nationally certified Gender Responsive training programs that teach them how to address issues specific to women.This is particularly true of staff working at Star 4, home to the ExCell program.
Timpanogos includes five buildings arranged in a star shape encircling an outdoor recreation yard. The buildings are referred to as Star 1 through Star 5. Female inmates are housed in Star 1 through Star 4, which also have recreation yards.
Star 5 does not have any housing units; it is where the gymnasium, library, classrooms and culinary are located. Timpanogos has capacity for up to 570 inmates.
Star 1 and Star 2 house general population inmates who have access to programming, education and other activities based on their privilege levels.
Star 3 is the maximum-security unit for female inmates and is used for women whose behavior requires them to be separated from others for safety and security reasons. Inmates are able to move to other housing units when their behavior improves. The unit has capacity for 138 women.
Star 4 houses the ExCell substance abuse treatment program, which is similar to the HOPE and Con-Quest programs for male inmates. ExCell is based on a residential, therapeutic community model designed to help women overcome substance abuse issues and resolve trauma (physical and emotional abuse) that often underlie criminal behaviors. An analysis of the program found that women who complete the ExCell program are nearly 30 percent less likely to return to prison than inmates who do not. The program typically takes 11 months to complete.