The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Account: Operations
Lines: 8900-0001

The Operations account funds administrative and staff salaries and benefits, facility operations and maintenance, utilities, medical treatment, educational programming, and contract services such as psychological counseling for certain prisoners, social services, and other pre-release and re-entry programming. These funds also are used to administer the parole board and sex offender registry board.
The budget has increased at a fairly steady rate – between 2.8% and 3.8% from FY01-FY04 – with a slow-down the last three fiscal years. The FY07 request of $451,497,512 represents a 4.5% increase from the FY06 budget. The FY07 request represents a 4.5% increase over FY06. In FY06 Governor Romney recommended $435,882,293 for this line item, but it was reduced by $4,915,968 by the end of the budget process.

The 4.5% increase Governor Romney has requested most likely reflects, in large part, rising medical and fuel costs. Inmate Health Services were the largest single line item in the FY02 Operations budget, accounting for more than 16% of the Operations total. Though more recent figures have not been made available, developments suggest that healthcare will continue to consume a significant portion of the Operations budget. The combination of inmates with long sentences getting older and older offenders entering prison has resulted in increasing medical costs. As of January 1, 2005 (the most recent statistics available), the average age of the prison population was 37.6 years and the median age 36.0 years, with a range from 17 to 89. On January 1, 2000, in contrast, the mean age was 35.6 years and the median 34.0, with a range of 16 to 84. Additionally, the percentage of those aged 40 and older at commitment for present offense has increased from 15% in 1995 to 24% in 2004, and older inmates are more likely to receive longer sentences due to the likelihood of having committed more offenses in their lifetimes. 1

In addition to being older, offenders are increasingly entering prison with mental health problems, substance abuse problems, or both. “The total managed care contract for fiscal year 2005 [was] in excess of $56 million, which account[ed] for approximately 15% of DOC’s total budget, [making the DOC] one of the state’s largest institutional providers of mental health, health care, psychiatric, substance abuse, and long-term care services.” 2

Problems such as these are also affected by staffing patterns and the unavailability of treatment facilities and equipment. For example, “at Lemuel Shattuck, the principal hospital utilized by the DOC, there is no protective custody and an insufficient number of secure beds.” 3 Inmates with health care problems requiring treatment on a daily basis are also unable “to be classified to lower security facilities” due to the lack of appropriate staff, treatment facilities, and equipment. 4 The Advisory Council recommended the hiring of a consultant to evaluate staffing patterns, the training of correction officers in mental health and substance abuse issues, the modernization of medical equipment, and the relocation of health services.

In November 2005, the DOC requested an additional $12.8 million for Operations expenses to accommodate increasing fuel and medical costs and a 4% increase in the inmate population. Without this increase in funding, they said, more than 300 correction employees could be laid off January 1, 2006. Currently there are approximately 5,400 full-time and contractual employees supported by the almost $431 million Operations budget. Union officials and at least one lawmaker have blamed poor management, rather than rising costs or a growing inmate population, for the budget shortfall. Senator Barrios (D-Cambridge) pointed to this request for additional funds as “a Band-Aid solution” that “ultimately . . . documents the failure in criminal justice leadership.” 5

The architectural design of many of the antiquated prisons plays a role in making the 1:2 officer-to-inmate ratio in Massachusetts the third highest in the country.6 Officers cannot be spared: in November 2005, Steve Kenneway, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union, claimed there were 650 vacancies for his bargaining unit (nearly 80% of state correction officers). Laying off officers would only increase the amount of overtime used, since a minimum number of officers is needed to maintain a secure facility and to oversee inmate programs. Some grant programs, including inmate re-entry programs, have been modified because there were not enough officers to supervise participants As a result of this situation, Governor Romney recommended a $20,531,187 increase from the FY06 final allocation, which is unlikely to find support in the legislature, if last year’s results are any indication.

There are many recommendations of the Advisory Council, such as training correction officers to recognize and deal with inmates’ mental health issues, that would fall under the Operations line item. However, considering that money is allotted to the Operations line item as a lump sum and that there is a general lack of transparency in DOC operations, it is difficult to say whether a boost in funding would go towards supporting these Advisory Council recommendations.

Accounts: Prison Industries & Other
Lines: 8900-0010, 8900-0011, 8900-0015

Since FY03, this account has been broken down into the Prison Industries and Prison Industry Retained Revenue accounts. The Prison Industries account provides for a modicum of prison training programs and farming services, covering certain salaries, equipment, and materials. Funds in the Prison Industries Retained Revenue account come exclusively from the sale of products made by the prisoners. Spending from the revenue pool is limited to $2,600,000, and is restricted to additional equipment, materials, maintenance of facilities, and prisoner employee compensation. These additional items are provided only as such revenue is generated.

After a 27.4% decrease from FY01-04 for the Prison Industries program and a 22.8% decrease from FY01-03 for the Prison Industry Retained Revenue, the account amounts have remained steady. The Governor’s proposal would allot the same amounts as last year to each: $2,783,521 and $2,600,000, respectively.

Increasing the Prison Industries programs line item would be beneficial to re-entry, since it would give more inmates the opportunity to participate in training programs, something the DOC Advisory Council advocated. This would require changes in law, though. More than three-quarters of inmates are restricted by law from participating in programs such as the Prison Industries programs. Since revenue is earned from the Prison Industries programs, presumably in a somewhat parallel manner, a reduction in the Prison Industry budget could not be completely justified. Of course, if the Operations budget were reduced, without other reforms being made, and officers were laid off, fewer would be available to supervise inmates participating in the Prison Industry programs. The emphasis on re-entry that the Advisory Council recommends requires that programs like these be available.

ACCOUNTS: REIMBURSEMENT FOR FEDERAL INMATES & PRISON INDUSTRY CHARGEBACK
LINES: 8900-0045, 8900-0021

The Reimbursement for Federal Inmates account holds funds that the DOC is allowed to spend up to $3,000,000 for the care of federal inmates. This amount is a portion of the total amount billed to the federal government for federal inmates. Included is language requiring the first $900,000 received from the federal government be retained by the state for the General Fund.

ACCOUNT: FEDERAL GRANTS
LINE: 8900-0027, 8900-0029, 8903-6202, 8903-9709

In FY05-06, the DOC received several Federal Grants under Section 2D to fund specific programs. In the proposed FY07 budget, these funds would be designated for “the purposes of a federally funded grant entitled, Incarcerated Youth Workplace and Community Transition.” At the time of publication, how these grant monies are used to supplement existing programs is unknown, but the $110,000 allocated by the Governor’s proposal represents a sharp decline from the last several years’ budgets for this account.

ACCOUNTS: INMATE PROGRAM FUND
LINE: 8900-9000

The Advisory Council recommended the budget better reflect the DOC’s priorities, of which re-entry should be the primary focus. However, Governor Romney recommended the Inmate Program Fund be reduced by 45%. In the final FY 06 budget, $550,000 was allocated to this account; the Governor's proposed FY 07 budget asks only for $300,0000. As stated above, due to some inmate programs (e.g., Educational Services, 8900-0009) being included in the Operations line item with no breakdown, it is impossible to tell whether the part of the increase in Operations is meant to counteract the significant reduction in the Inmate Program Fund.
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1 Robert J. Tenaglia, Jr. (November 2005). January 1, 2005 Inmate Statistics, Report #440. p. iii;

2 Lisa Lorant Sampson. (May 2000). January 1, 2000 Inmate Statistics, Report # 413. p. iii

3 DOC Advisory Council Final Report (October 25, 2005), p. 10. Available: http://www.mass.gov/Eeops/docs/doc/doc_final_report.pdf

4 Ibid, 13.

5 Ibid, 14.

5 Amy Lambiaso, STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE, 11/29/05

6 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Corrections Reform. (June 30, 2004). p. 23, footnote. Available: http://www.mass.gov/Eeops/docs/eops/GovCommission_Corrections_Reform.pdf