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Inmates vs. outsourcing March 9, 2007

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David Day has a bounce in his step and a glint in his eye unexpected in someone who makes nearly 400 telemarketing calls a day for less than $200 a month. That’s because he has a coveted job where few exist: behind bars.

Day, 43, is one of 85 inmates who arrange business meetings from a call center at the Snake River Correctional Institution, a state penitentiary in this onion- and potato-producing town not far from the Idaho line. “I’m grateful for the opportunity. Many of us end up here because we didn’t have jobs and lacked communications skills,” he says on a recent morning, ponytail cascading down his state-issued denims.

If not for consulting firm Perry Johnson’s aversion to moving jobs offshore, Day, who was convicted of assault, and his cellmates wouldn’t be working.

About a dozen states — Oregon, Arizona, California and Iowa, among others — have call centers in state and federal prisons, underscoring a push to employ inmates in telemarketing jobs that might otherwise go to low-wage countries such as India and the Philippines. Arizona prisoners make business calls, as do inmates in Oklahoma. A call center for the DMV is run out of an all-female prison in Oregon. Other companies are keeping manufacturing jobs in the USA. More than 150 inmates in a Virginia federal prison build car parts for Delco Remy International. Previously, some of those jobs were overseas.

At least 2,000 inmates nationwide work in call centers, and that number is rising as companies seek cheap labor without incurring the wrath of politicians and unions. At the same time, prison populations are ballooning, offering U.S. companies another way to slash costs.

READ THE ENTIRE STORY HERE: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2004-07-06-call-center_x.htm?POE=click-refer#

Reconsidering Incarceration, a new publication from the Vera Institute of Justice, has just been released March 8, 2007

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Although crime is up in many American cities, lawmakers should think twice before raising penalties and extending prison sentences, advises a study released today by the Vera Institute of Justice. Reconsidering Incarceration
FBI reports of a 3.7 percent nationwide increase in violent crime in the first half of 2006–the largest annual increase in 15 years–may soon have lawmakers calling for tougher measures to protect public safety. However, after surveying the most recent research on the effectiveness of increasing incarceration to reduce crime, Don Stemen, director of research in Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections, argues in Reconsidering Incarceration: New Directions for Reducing Crime that putting more people in prison may not be the most effective solution.
“Thirty years ago, prevailing wisdom was that sending people to prison was the best and only response to rising crime,” says Stemen. “But crime is a complex phenomenon, influenced by many factors. Incarceration is just one potential influence, and research shows that increasing incarceration isn’t the best or only way to reduce crime.”
Instead, Stemen’s research review suggests that policymakers consider investing in areas such as policing or education, which show equal or better correlation with lower rates of crime.
“It’s always reassuring when empirical evidence supports what one’s common sense suggests,” says David Keene of the American Conservative Union, the nation’s oldest and largest conservative lobbying group. “This study does just that for policymakers and others interested in the question of whether anything worth doing is really worth overdoing,” he says.
“The time has come for America to engage in a serious discussion to determine the best way to deal with incarceration,” agrees Richard A. Viguerie, chairman of American Target Advertising and a leading conservative voice. “The old ways have failed us.”
Little empirical study had been done to confirm or refute the effectiveness of incarceration in reducing crime rates when America began its historic reliance on prisons in the 1970s. Today, conversely, policymakers are faced with a large, complex, and sometimes contradictory body of research. By making sense of this information, Reconsidering Incarceration offers a clear, up-to-date understanding of what works best.
Highlights of the report include:

  • Over the past 35 years a 10 percent higher incarceration rate was associated with a 2 to 4 percent lower crime rate, according to the most reliable research.
  • Ever greater rates of incarceration have been subject to diminishing returns in effectiveness. In some neighborhoods with already high rates of incarceration, additional increases have correlated with even more crime than before.
  • Government investment in things such as more police, reducing unemployment, or raising education levels may be more cost effective in reducing crime. One national study found, for example, that a 10 percent increase in wages corresponded with a 12 percent drop in property crime and a 25 percent drop in violent crime.

“This report could not have come at a better time,” says Vera Director Michael Jacobson, who ran New York City’s jails and probation system for Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. “With crime rates going up in many parts of the country, calls for harsher penalties and more prisons are inevitable. Governors, legislators, and the public need to know that more prison doesn’t equal more public safety. You can effectively provide for public safety without overinvesting in prisons.”
Between 1993 and 2005, New York City’s violent crime rate fell 64 percent. During that time, the number of people sent to prison from the city likewise dropped 47 percent, and its jail population fell 27 percent. Similarly, New York State, which leads the 10 most populous states in violent crime reduction, experienced a 58 percent decline in violent crime between 1993 and 2005. Its incarceration rate also fell during that period by 7.9 percent.
“Removing violent repeat offenders from society obviously makes sense,” concludes David Keene, “but the idea of jailing virtually everyone who breaks our laws and throwing them into institutions that are little more than warehouse lock-ups quickly reaches the point of diminishing returns.”
A copy of Reconsidering Incarceration: New Directions for Reducing Crime, may be downloaded from Vera’s web site at www.vera.org/reconsideringincarceration or ordered from the Vera Institute of Justice at (212) 334-1300.
The Vera Institute of Justice is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing safety and justice, promoting fair and efficient policy and practice, and working with leaders of government and civil society to improve the systems people rely upon for safety, security, and justice. Vera is a founding member of the Altus Global Alliance.
Contact: Robin Campbell at (212) 376-3172 or rcampbell@vera.org
Learn more about Vera at www.vera.org.

Council of State Governments Justice Center and NIC Release New Resource to Promote Corrections/Mental Health Collaboration

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The Council of State Governments Justice Center and National Institute of Corrections (NIC) announced the release of case studies on collaborative corrections/mental health transition planning and jail diversion initiatives in Kansas and Orange County, Florida. This resource is available for corrections administrators, mental health officials, and others interested in improving continuity of care and increasing access to community-based services for people with mental illnesses.

In 2004, Kansas and Orange County, Florida were identified as jurisdictions where lessons learned about collaboration between the corrections and mental health systems could be of value to other communities. “Leaders of state and local government will appreciate what the extraordinary collaboration between corrections administrators and mental health officials in Kansas and Orlando has yielded,” said NIC Director Morris Thigpen. “The challenges these leaders have faced are familiar to all counties and states whose jails and prisons are housing a growing number of people with mental illnesses.”

In Kansas, nearly 20 percent of the prison population had significant mental health needs; people with mental illnesses were 67 percent more likely than others to be reincarcerated within six months of their release. The Kansas case study describes how leaders of the Departments of Corrections and Social and Rehabilitation Services collaborated to jointly fund a specialized transition planning program, establish partnerships between the Department of Corrections and specific community mental health service providers, improve data sharing between agencies, and develop and manage specialized mental health parole caseloads.

In Orange County, a number of mental illness- and substance abuse-related deaths at the jail prompted sustained media coverage and urgent calls for reform. The Orange County case study describes how these incidents led to the formation of a Jail Oversight Commission, the construction of a central receiving center for individuals with mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders who would normally be taken to jail or local emergency rooms, specialized law enforcement response teams, a pre-trial services program, and a post-booking treatment diversion program funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services.

“The frank discussions in these documents about the significant obstacles that leaders in Kansas and Orange County continue to face provide valuable lessons for the field,” said Dr. James Reinhard, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services and Justice Center charter group member. “The case studies show the importance of developing meaningful collaborations with people who have a shared vision for successfully increasing public safety and improving outcomes for people with mental illnesses.”

For more information about the case studies or the work of Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project, contact Seth Prins.

The Council of State Governments Justice Center, coordinator of the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project, is a national nonprofit organization that serves policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels from all branches of government. It provides practical, nonpartisan advice and consensus-driven strategies, informed by available evidence, to increase public safety and strengthen communities. Please click here for more information on the Justice Center.

President’s FY 2008 Budget Released

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The President released his FY 2008 budget request on February 5, 2007. Aid to state and local governments is cut significantly from current-year spending levels in his request to Congress. Funding for U.S. Justice Department programs take the biggest hit, with the President’s budget proposing an overall cut of nearly 79 percent, according to the National Journal.

Justice funding is reconfigured in the budget request, consolidating many individual programs into three large competitive grant programs: the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership Initiative, the Byrne Public Safety Protection Program, and a new juvenile grant program called the Child Safety Juvenile Justice Program. In this consolidation, funding for individual programs was eliminated, including the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG), the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), and the Weed and Seed Program. The COPS program would be cut by 94 percent.

Overall, the budget includes $64.6 million for the President’s re-entry initiatives. The Department of Labor’s budget includes $39.6 million for prisoner re-entry by combining the Prisoner Re-Entry and the Responsible Reintegration of Youthful Offenders programs into a single program that would “provide mentoring and job training to promote the successful return of adult and juvenile ex-offenders into mainstream society.” The Housing and Urban Development budget also includes $25 million for Reintegration of Ex-Offenders to be used in collaboration with the Departments of Justice and Labor initiatives. In addition, the new Byrne Public Safety program identifies seven priorities for funding, including “improving and expanding prisoner re-entry initiatives.”

Below is a breakdown of the President’s proposal for criminal justice programs. Additional agency breakdowns and program budgets will be provided as they become available.

Justice Funding Chart (in millions)

Program FY06 actual FY07 est.< td> FY08 Increase/
Decrease
Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and
Crime Reduction Program		 $5 $4* $0 -$5
Offender State and Local Reentry
Deomstration Projects		 $5 $0 $0 –
Byrne Justice Assistance Grants $513 $375 $0 -$375
Byrne Discretionary Grants $212 $195 $0 -$195
DNA Backlogs $109 $234 $0 -$234
COPS $478.3 $428 $32 -$396
Drug Courts $8 $9 $0 -$9
Weed and Seed $49.5 $55 $0 -$55
RSAT $10 $8 $0 -$8
SCAAP $295 $661 $0 -$661
Prisoner Reentry Initiative (DOJ, DOL, HUD) $25 $30 $64.6 +$24.6
Prison Rape Prevention and Monitoring $25 $51 $0 +$51
Violent Crime Reduction Partnership Initiative – – $200 +$200
Byrne Public Safety and Protection Program – – $350 +$350

*While the President’s Budget estimates $4 million for the program for FY 2007, both House and Senate Appropriations bills for this fiscal year include $5 million of program funding for the project.

For more information on the President’s FY2008 budget release, please contact Jessica Nickel.

Death of Dennis Maloney

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With deep sadness we learned that our dear friend and colleague Dennis Maloney collapsed while driving last month and died. The assumed cause was heart failure.

Dennis was the dinner speaker at the first HGO Re-entry Conference. Former prison warden, former Director of Community Corrections (Adult and Juvenile) in Deschutes County, Dennis had become known not only in the USA but throughout the world as an innovator and promoter of restorative and community justice. His influence reached to places around the world, particularly Washington, D.C. His most recent achievement was setting up three model sites throughout the USA (including Multnomah and Deschutes County, Oregon) where a select group of incarcerated individuals would be trained as AMERICORP Volunteers and, upon release from prison, be placed in volunteer positions in the community with a monthly stipend, college tuition benefits, health coverage and child-care if needed.

Denny’s death will leave a huge gaps in national and international efforts to develop restorative justice, in our communities but, particularly, in our hearts. Tom O’Connor, one of Dennis’ close colleagues, described him as “a warm and compassionate person with love of life”.

Please keep Denny’s wife, Nancy, and their five daughters in your thoughts and prayers. Memorial services will be announced.

Tim

Tim Cayton
Assistant Administrator Religious Services
Oregon Department of Corrections
2575 Center Street NE
Salem, Oregon 97310-0470
503-945-9087 (o) 503-931-1835 (c)