Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s announcement earlier this month that she wants to close a prison raises important practical and public policy questions.
She has directed Connecticut’s Department of Correction (DOC) to study the implications of closing one of our prisons. Just some of the issues that need to be considered include overall state spending on corrections, a fluctuating inmate population, changes in public policy, the public’s safety, and the health and safety of correctional staff.
The governor has asked Acting DOC Commissioner Brian Murphy to provide her with a study that outlines the feasibility of closing one of Connecticut’s 18 facilities and makes its recommendation to her by November 27th.
In recent years, Connecticut has had one of the highest incarceration rates in the Northeast, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation — higher than our neighboring states of New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.
And like 48 other states, we are facing budget problems — the legislature’s non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis is projecting a $386 million deficit for fiscal year 2010. In the last year, our inmate population has declined, so it is a good time for us to take a broad and thoughtful review of our policies to determine if there are ways to find efficiencies within the DOC.
In fiscal year 2009, the total cost of incarceration was $710.1 million with an average per inmate cost of $34,000. Connecticut’s budget calls for $694.1 million in DOC spending for in fiscal year 2010 and $674.1 million in fiscal year 2011. This represents a $63.9 million cut over two years. Through budget language, the state legislature intends to achieve savings with a change to its furlough policy to allow for earlier release and fund a part-time parole board to permit more hearings.
According to the state Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA), Connecticut could achieve almost $20 million in savings through the closure of a smaller, low-level security 600-bed facility. Yet, to close a facility when Connecticut’s inmate population continues to fluctuate, with no significant policy changes, would be short-sighted. On Nov. 17, the inmate population stood at 18,529. Seven months earlier, on April 1, that count was 19,069. This fluctuation, coupled with the fact that Connecticut’s prison system is designed to house 17,000 inmates, is enough to take heed.
If the state were to close a facility, the rest of Connecticut’s prisons would have to absorb the overflow. Packing inmates into a facility that is not designed to hold that number leads to higher incidents of assault. The legislature’s Correctional Staff Health and Safety Task Force, which provided recommendations to the General Assembly in January 2009 reported that inmate assaults upon correctional staff had increased in 2008 to a level higher than the previous three years.
An expanded public policy initiative to decrease the inmate population is worthy of consideration. In April, the legislature’s Appropriations Committee directed DOC to submit recommendations to its committee as well to the Judiciary Committee that outlined administrative and policy changes to reduce pressure on the prison system. Many lawmakers and policy experts believe that recent positive results from some re-entry programs and the creation of a full-time parole board should now be expanded upon to include improved treatment, alternative sentencing and parole for non-violent released inmates. Thousands of inmates cycle in and out of prison annually. Slight changes in policy in regard to pretrial incarceration and early release, for example, could yield substantial savings.
Just shutting down a facility to save money is not the only part of a possible answer. Even nonviolent criminals need close supervision so that they do not cause more trouble when they are released back into society. Some of the money saved from facilities could be diverted to making sure our parole system is not further overburdened. That’s a smart investment to help lower the rates of inmates being sent back to prison and to keep our communities safe.
Tough financial times present the legislature and the DOC with an opportunity. We should look for ways to improve Connecticut’s correctional system that save taxpayers’ money without sacrificing public safety or endangering the lives of correctional staff. I am hopeful that if the governor, the DOC, and the legislature work together, we can find safe and sensible solutions to the challenges our corrections system faces in this turbulent economy.
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State Representative Karen Jarmoc (D-Enfield) is a member of the legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee. She chaired the legislative Task Force on Correctional Staff Health and Safety.
