Correctional Partnerships Increase Performance and Accountability

Study links benefits to greater expansion

During this time of fiscal crisis, elected officials are paying attention. When contracted correctional facilities exist within a state, the budgets for the public correctional systems are reduced by millions of dollars, and savings are accrued through lower daily per inmate costs.

According to a report by the National Governors Association, “state revenues will likely not recover until 2014 or 2015,” with some predictions that shortfalls could reach $350 billion.

During fiscal year 2009, correctional budgets were cut almost $700 million, much of it by eliminating staff and programming for inmates. At least 22 state correctional agencies, according to a report from the Vera Insti¬tute, have already had budget cuts for FY2010.

Given the level of overcrowding within prison systems nationwide, some researchers project demand will outpace supply for at least the next five years.

Research also demonstrates when contracted correctional facilities exist within a state, the budgets for the public correctional systems are reduced by millions of dollars, and savings are accrued through contracts with lower daily inmate per diem costs. As a result of the fiscal crisis, elected officials are paying attention and states are increasingly examining as well as turning to private contractors for a variety of services in order to save precious resources. They also understand contract prisons deliver increased performance and enhanced accountability.

*Performance: Contractually, correctional companies must provide the level of perfor¬mance required in such areas as security, management, and programs or face being sanctioned and/or losing the trust and confidence of their client. Most jurisdictions have contract monitoring and performance measures built into the contract.

*Accountability: Market forces play a major role in correctional companies providing the best services and management of prison facilities. Should a contractor not perform, they put themselves in a position to lose business on an existing contract and probably adversely impact any future contracts as well.

Privately contracted facilities, as of December 2009, now hold 8.0 percent of all adult inmates in the United States, up from 7.4 percent in June 2008, or about 1 in every 13 adults in prison. As a result of a variety of factors, the MTC Institute projects that there will be in excess of 170,000 private adult correctional facility beds within the next four years, up from 125,975 beds in 2008.

Ultimately for all prisons, the determination of a successful facility includes the provision of a safe and secure environment where offender basic welfare needs are met within an institutional culture that promotes an appropriate quality of life, at a competitive cost.

To read the complete MTC study, visit the CCA Research Institute.