Improving Correctional Facilities Diversion Programs - Assignment Example

Improving Corrections Facilities Budget constraint is one of the top most challenges facing the correctional facilities in the US and has become a major concern for federal, state, and local governments. Because of stiffer crime administration policies and enduring financial constraints, the state prisons are in a crisis. However, the governments have had to incarcerate more criminals, yet they have from time-to-time become reluctant to allocate sufficient funds for the prisons to house them. Though these challenges are widespread, this study focuses budget constraints in two correction facilities in Tennessee: the Tennessee Women Prison and the Lois DeBerry Special Needs Facilities. Some of the significant budget constraints that Correction officials have to observe include in the areas of staff remuneration, infrastructural development, and operational costs. The facilities above have extensive range of services for prisoners such as recovery academies, anger and career management for women prison and Lois DeBerry providing comprehensive special needs care, and they demand huge staff. However, due few resources available, officials in these facilities have had to deal with staff turnover leading to constraining service delivery. As established by Tennessee advisory committee, Sheriffs responding to survey confirmed that most of the Tennessee jails are underfunded (Thurman, Lippard, Gibson & Green, 2007). Additionally, officials have had to succumb to budgetary constraints in the infrastructural development. Significant rise of prisoners in the facilities necessitates that the governments allocate enough money to not only expand and build new facilities, but to innovatively redesign the old jails to reduce supervision levels (Moore, n.d). However, though officials have indicated to the governments the need for such adjustments, the rise of criminal incarceration has worsened the crisis further. Primary beneficiaries of Correctional Facility Diversion Programs There are different types of diversions programs, but all are structured to benefit different offenders for they ascribe to different requirements. The objective of these diversion programs is to reduce crime by establishing the underlying factors that may have contributed to an individual’s criminal conduct (Camilletti, 2010). Therefore, since the objective of these programs is to eliminate the likely factors leading to crime in an individual, they are often better served via community restitution plan rather than criminal justice sanction process. Consequently, such programs are more beneficial to offenders charged with misdemeanors and non-violent felonies than those charged with felonies and violent crimes. Such is perhaps due to the severity of the offenses committed by felonies and corresponding demand by public to see swift justice done. Nonetheless, the objective is to divert offenders established to be suffering from either mental illness, alcohol or drug abuse or at times due to re-occurring disorders after the conventional criminal justice system (Camilletti, 2010). In addition, these programs endeavor also to eliminate the factors that can lead to an offender's delinquent behavior. Do the Women Prison and the Lois DeBerry Qualify For Diversion Programs? The two correctional facilities herein qualify for diversion programs, but in different degree depending on their size and range of services they provide. Starting with the Tennessee Women Prison, it receives women of all custody levels, including work release, pre-release and women inmates convicted to the death sentence (Tn.gov, n.d). These prisoners demand different consideration as regards diversion program. However, the facility has provision such substance abuse, anger management, and sex offender psychological and treatment programs to eliminate the like factors that lead to criminal conduct (Tn.gov, n.d). Provision of these services warrants for the diversion program in this facility. Secondly, in the case of Lois DeBerry prison, the facility receives a vast number of offenders and has extensive restitution services, some which are shared by other Tennessee prison facilities. According to the shared information about the facility, it provides care mainly for inmates with complex medical problems, together with acute and recuperative health care, and rigorous mental health involvement (Tn.gov, n.d). They also house inmates who are not manageable at other Tennessee facilities together with being a community hospital. Apparently, this facility will need more diversion to deal with its extensive roles. Are Privatized Correctional Facilities Are Better Alternatives? Considering the vast challenges facing the public correctional facilities, private correction facilities have become another option. In this regard with the acknowledgment of efficiency and several inherent advantages, I hold that privatized correctional are better alternatives to public correctional facilities. Typically, the services provided by these private correctional facilities include design and construction of modern jails and prisons, basic needs provision to offender, and contracting management of public facilities. One significant example to demonstrate the private facilities prowess is the ability to cut on costs compared to public facilities. For instance, a study in Minnesota’ Wisconsin prisons was carried out by comparing the costs of private correctional facilities. The two prisons (Prairie private prison and Winston state facility, Jackson correctional), had the same age, equal inmate population, and are within close locality (Moore,). The outcome of the revealed that on the daily basis, the Prairie private facility was 23 % lower than that Jackson facility that is a government owned facility (Moore, n.d). The research also established that the correctional officers in the private facility stood at 103 against 163 correctional officers in the public facility. Consequently, the total spending was established to be $7,200,000 in the private facility compared with an enormous cost of $12,000,000 for public facility (Moore, n.d). Evidently from this survey, private facility have grown and established their position as the best alternatives to budgetary constrained public correctional facilities. Trade-Offs Hampering the Funding to Reduce Recidivism The entry of private contracting in the correctional facility administration has raised number questions regarding the rate of increase in the number of prisoners. One of the apparent questions raised over the recent past is over the so many inmates in correctional facilities. Many concerned citizens have perceived such increase as the result of private contractors of correctional facilities fostering incentives to continue locking up people with full comprehension that they are forgoing the expected objective (Pelaez, 2014).. According to the New York and Global Research (2008), most corporate creating money from the provision of services to correctional facilities continues lobbying for longer sentences in order to salvage their workforce (Pelaez, 2014). This system, of forgoing the reducing recidivism opportunity cost, is due to trade-offs made between the policy for proper funding and the practice of proper funding to prevent recidivism. The scenario is even more apparent when considering the growth of prison’s industry complex that according to Wall Street is one of the fastest-growing industries in US. It is to the advantage of contractors when the population of correctional facilities increases References Camilletti, C. (2010). Pretrial Diversion Programs. Moore, A. T. (n.d). Private prisons: Quality corrections at a lower cost. Policy Study, 240. Pelaez, V. (2014). The Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of Slavery. Global Research. Retrieved 27 January 2015, from http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-business-or-a-new-form-of-slavery/8289 Thurman, L., Lippard, C., Gibson, T., & Green, H. (2007). Beyond Capacity: Issues and Challenges Facing County Jails (1st ed., p. 18). Retrieved from http://www.state.tn.us/tacir/PDF_FILES/Other_Issues/beyond%20capacity.pdf Tn.gov. Tennessee Department of Correction - Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility. Retrieved 27 January 2015, from http://www.tn.gov/correction/institutions/dsnf.html Read More