YPSILANTI, Mich. – Michigan’s only women’s prison is under renewed scrutiny after years of complaints about mold, medical care and other problems.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, state lawmakers will hold an oversight hearing to examine conditions at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Washtenaw County.
The hearing at 9 a.m. is expected to include testimony from advocates and families who have sounded the alarm for years about the alleged conditions inside the prison, including reports of black mold, shortage of wheelchairs and illegal filming of strip searches.
Family members say the hearing is long overdue.
Jennifer Wallace, who was 54 when she died in November, was incarcerated at Huron Valley beginning in 2019.
Her mother, Susan Wallace, visited nearly every week and says her daughter did not receive proper medical care during her final months.
“She was my oldest and my best friend. We were close,” Susan Wallace said.
Susan Wallace said her daughter’s condition worsened while she was at the prison because of neglect and maltreatment. Jennifer dealt with heart problems and dental issues.
She also described difficulty obtaining information about her daughter’s condition from prison officials.
“She couldn’t hold her head up. She’s in a wheelchair. She looked terrible. She had gray skin,” Susan Wallace said.
Jennifer Wallace developed sepsis and died at a hospital in November. Her mother blames the prison for her death.
“I believe her death was caused by them. Yes, I do,” she said. “I want them to change this whole operation. They treat women terribly.”
For years, advocates and investigators have been sounding the alarm about the prison’s conditions.
A recently released report from Disability Rights Michigan found a troubling wheelchair shortage: 126 wheelchair prescriptions but only 56 available, a gap that advocates say has led to inmates missing prescribed medications and meals.
Last year, a lawsuit alleged inmates were filmed without their permission during strip searches.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell sent a letter to the governor last week urging action, and state lawmakers have scheduled the oversight hearing as a first formal step.
State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, has pushed for more oversight of the prison’s operations.
“The goal of the hearing is to be the first step in a much longer process around policy recommendations to provide greater oversight and to address some of these issues themselves,” she said.
Pohutsky said the state has a duty to ensure people in custody receive basic care.
“We do have a duty to make sure that these people are not suffering and are not dealing with some of the things that we are hearing that’s going on in the prisons,” Pohutsky said.
The Michigan Department of Corrections was contacted for comment about the alleged conditions but did not respond.