Changing Prison Management Strategies in Response to VOI/TIS Legislation

• NCJ Number: 198622
• Author(s): Susan Turner; Laura J. Hickman; Judith Greene; Terry Fain
• Date Published: December 2001
• Length: 159 pages
• Grant Number(s): 98-CE-VX-0023
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis

Annotation

This document discusses the effect of the Federal Violent-Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing (VOI/TIS) grants on prison management.

Abstract

This legislation was designed to increase the capacity of State correctional systems to confine serious and violent offenders for longer periods of time and to assure the public that these offenders would serve a substantial portion of their sentences. The VOI/TIS incentive grants provide States with funds to build or expand bed capacity in correctional facilities, temporary or permanent correctional facilities, and local jail capacity. This study examined adaptations in prison management made by State correctional agencies in response to VOI/TIS. Specifically, the study addressed the changes in management, safety and training procedures, the type and extent of programming (education, prison employment), and the experience of private corrections. The methodology included gathering nationwide characteristics on prison management, case studies on prison management in seven States, and detailed case studies and site visits related to privatization in three of the seven States. The results suggest that VOI/TIS may not be having a major impact to date on prison management issues and privatization. Longer-term historical trends have been impacting prison management over the past decade. The use of privatization has been modest under VOI/TIS and may be related more to political than to administrative correctional decisions. The analyses did not reveal large impacts on prison management at the national level, but it was possible to provide more precise information on several prison management topics at the individual State level. Such analyses have been conducted in North Carolina and are currently being investigated using data from Washington State. 15 figures, 5 tables, 2 appendices, 115 references