As state prison officials explore the possibility of bringing Hawai'i women inmates on the Mainland back to O'ahu, a deeper issue cannot be ignored: the growing prison population.

After an unsuccessful push from Gov. Linda Lingle last year to build a new prison in Hawai'i, the state opted instead to move more inmates into private Mainland prisons.

But shipping inmates out of state isolates them from their families and community. Studies show that inmates released into communities where they have support are more successful at reintegration, lowering chances of recidivism.

Such is the argument for bringing women inmates back home. But this case also raises another issue. Many of the women inmates were classified as community custody, as Advertiser writer Kevin Dayton reported. This means they were eligible for alternative sentences other than prison.

Those in community custody and minimum custody are eligible for work furlough, residential transitional living centers, or supervised release outside the prison system.

This is a crucial point because with "three strikes" and increased minimum sentences adding to our prison population, incarceration cannot be the only answer. Other approaches — rehabilitation for drug offenders, re-entry programs for released inmates — must be explored aggressively.

The Community Safety Act, which recently became law, rightly puts rehabilitation and re-entry at the center of the corrections system. "We need to focus on more community-based approaches, especially with all the low-level, nonviolent offenders," said Senate Public Safety Committee Chairman Will Espero.

Next week, Public Safety Interim Director Clayton Frank is expected to be confirmed as the new director. Espero says he plans ask Frank what he's done to push the new law.

Frank says the issue is a priority for the state: "We're looking forward to working together on this," he said.

That's good to hear because the state can't build its way out of the rising prison population problem, nor can it simply continue to ship the problem out of state.

It's going to take a comprehensive approach, such as the Community Safety Act, to offer solutions, not a revolving door, for our prison system and the inmates in it.