Core Function V: Detention and Incarceration

The Department is responsible for both detaining and incarcerating persons in Federal custody. Detention is the temporary holding of individuals accused of Federal crimes or those awaiting sentencing or deportation. Incarceration is the long-term confinement of convicted and sentenced offenders. In recent years, more aggressive law enforcement, combined with mandatory detention and sentencing requirements, has spurred a rising demand for detention and incarceration space.

The detention and incarceration Core Function includes four Strategic Goals that seek to (1) provide for the safe, secure, and humane confinement of detained persons; (2) ensure that sufficient prison capacity exists; (3) maintain and operate Federal prisons in a safe, secure, and humane manner; and (4) provide productive work, educational, and other programs to meet inmate needs and to help reintegrate former inmates into society.

Strategic Goal 5.1
Provide for the safe, secure, and humane confinement of persons who are detained while awaiting trial or sentencing, a hearing on their immigration status, or deportation.

The Department’s primary detention responsibilities go toward maintaining secure, safe, and humane facilities for persons placed in its custody. Persons awaiting trial on Federal charges are the primary responsibility of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), which does not operate any detention centers, but rather obtains the beds it needs from state and local jails and from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and private contract facilities. Likewise, the INS detains persons charged with violating immigration law or entering the country illegally, or those who are awaiting deportation. It houses its detainees in its own detention facilities (Service Processing Centers), contract facilities, state and local jails, and BOP facilities.

This Strategic Goal includes two Performance Goals that address detention and the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS)—the entity responsible for air and ground movements of all persons in Federal custody.

Performance Goal 5.1.1
Detention

DOJ will work cooperatively with the private sector and state and local governments to establish and maintain adequate capacity to detain persons in Federal custody in cost-effective, safe, secure, and humane facilities, while awaiting trial, a hearing, or deportation.

1. Specifically, we will obtain sufficient detention space for an estimated average daily population of 28,466 persons in the custody of the USMS. The BOP will continue to support USMS requirements by housing a significant number of Federal pretrial detainees in BOP facilities. The remainder will be housed in non-Federal facilities (e.g., state and local jails, private facilities).
   
   
2. We will also maintain detention space of 14,249 beds for persons in the custody of INS in FY 1999.

Both the USMS and INS experienced growth in their detention populations in FY 1999. At fiscal year’s end, the USMS had custody of more than 32,000 prisoners housed in approximately 1,000 state, local, private, and Federal detention facilities throughout the country. The USMS also used several alternatives to detention, such as home confinement/electronic monitoring and halfway house placement. INS had an average daily population of 16,563 for its bedspace capacity in 1999.

At the close of FY 1999, BOP allocated approximately 11,650 beds for USMS use, with approximately 11,280 occupied by USMS detainees. BOP facilities also housed about 1,000 INS detainees, including Mariel Cubans. In FY 1999, INS began implementation of the mandatory custody provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). Mandatory detainees occupied 96 percent of available INS detention space in FY 1999. Criminal aliens occupied 71 percent of available detention space, compared to 62 percent at the end of FY 1998.

In addition to providing detention space for Federal prisoners, the Department has a primary concern for the overall quality of its detention facilities. In FY 1999, 10 Federal institutions were accredited by the American Correctional Association (ACA), bringing to 80 the total number of ACA-accredited institutions. The annual target was 18. INS, which improved the overall quality of its detention facilities in 1999, obtained accreditation for four facilities.

To address a major concern over inmate health care costs, the USMS in FY 1999 completed its managed care medical network in the New York City area, saving $4.5 million. The USMS was also able to save approximately $2.4 million in prisoner medical costs by reviewing medical claims referred from other USMS field offices throughout the Nation. Additionally, the USMS developed and implemented two national health care policies to (1) define “medically necessary care” for individuals in its custody and (2) address issues regarding pregnant female prisoners.

Performance Goal 5.1.1 / Detention

*BOP figures include all BOP facilities.
Data Source: (1) USMS: PTS. INS: DACS and manual reports by the Detention and Deportation program.
(2) BOP: Internal records of the Administration Division and operational memoranda in BOPDOCS.
(3) USMS: Incident Reports. BOP: Executive staff module from SENTRY and individual divisional databases.
(4) USMS: PTS and STARS. Inmate Per Capita Costs Report. (5) BOP and INS independent accreditation
reports.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(3) The USMS anticipated having zero accidents and injury investigations for 1999, as every performance plan’s goal is to eliminate all accidents and injuries. However, for 1999, the USMS had five injury investigations. This is not a significant increase over 1998 or 1997, considering that more than 32,000 prisoners were in USMS custody every day. As the Federal detainee population increases, injuries are expected to increase; however, the USMS’ goal will remain the same.

(5) Six institutions were unable to complete the accreditation process by the close of FY 1999. Five of the six have since had successful audits and either received their accreditations in January 2000 or will receive accreditation in August 2000; ACA awards accreditations only twice a year at ACA conferences. Planned FY 1999 figures were based on the use of an average time frame of 12 months for an institution to achieve accreditation (from purchase order issuance to successful accreditation panel hearing). These five institutions took an average of 12 months to complete a successful ACA audit (due to variables such as multiple institution missions, security levels, operational priorities, changes in personnel, varying interpretations of standards, completion of construction projects, etc.). This extended period resulted in successful panel hearings in January 2000. Although institutes are not required to achieve accreditation in 12 months, they are still encouraged to adopt the 12-month time frame as a goal; however, adhering to the time frame does not take precedence over an institution’s being able to demonstrate ACA compliance at audit time. Regarding the sixth—FTC Oklahoma City—a decision has been made to halt the accreditation process at this time, as there are no ACA auditing standards that "fit" this unique institution (airlift/transportation hub). A determination will be made later whether to move forward with this accreditation. Two INS facilities originally scheduled for accreditation in FY 1999 will not have their hearings until January 2000.

Management Challenge
Shortage of Detention Space

Space to detain the Federal jail population has been a material issue since 1989. Detention space needs to be in or close to Federal court cities, as detainees are highly involved in the court process. If they are housed too far away, deputy marshals spend excessive amounts of time (and money) transporting them back and forth for court. (The Department notes, along with the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) and others, that INS also has an issue with detention space. However, programmatically, it is not the same issue, as most of the INS need is not near Federal courts.) The USMS projects that this issue will continue until at least November 2000. Meanwhile, it will establish a team to manage the private jail contract, expand a 5- year contract authority for jail service contracts, and establish detention management positions in all contract jails with more than 200 USMS prisoners.

Performance Goal 5.1.2
Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System

DOJ will improve the operating efficiency of JPATS by acquiring needed aircraft and providing on-site aircraft maintenance at the hangar in Oklahoma City to reduce aircraft down times and flight delays and prevent unnecessary maintenance costs. Also, access to the Automated Prisoner Scheduling System (APSS) will be provided to INS and BOP, as well as enhancements to the system.

In FY 1999, JPATS added more aircraft and increased overseas flights for INS repatriations, adding airlift stops to reduce ground movements and expedite transit time (see Figures 14 and 15). Use of JPATS helped the INS manage a detention population requiring longer stays and more removal coordination. JPATS performed more than 140,000 total air movements of prisoners, inmates, and aliens in 1999. Of these, approximately 51,600 were USMS prisoners, 60,100 were INS aliens, 25,700 were BOP prisoners, and 2,800 were nonfederal/military prisoners. The number of air movements increased by 4 percent in FY 1999, and the number of prisoners and detainees moved exceeded the 1999 target by approximately 700 more than planned. The USMS is able to accurately predict JPATS workload because before the start of each fiscal year, INS, BOP, and USMS provide written estimates of air movements to the JPATS Advisory Committee. These estimates help determine the cost-per-seat charged. In FY 1999, the per-movement cost of prisoner transport was $448. And in 1999, JPATS planes were generally available and ready for duty, with unscheduled maintenance problems taking planes out of commission only 13 percent of the time—well below the 20-percent target. Acquisition of a new leased aircraft improved performance by increasing available service hours.

Figure 14
Justice Prisoner and Alien Transport System (JPATS) Large Aircraft Routes

d

Source: U.S. Marshals Service

Figure 15
Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS) Movements of Prisoners in FY1999

Source: U.S. Marshals Service

JPATS also performed or coordinated more than 89,300 ground movements. Of these, approximately 58,000 were USMS prisoners, 76 were INS aliens, nearly 30,500 were BOP prisoners, and 747 were nonfederal or military prisoners. Ground movements have decreased 3 percent since 1995, owing to the cost efficiencies and increased use of air transportation.

Performance Goal 5.1.2 / Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System

*JPATS was unable to determine the percentage of seats filled in flights transporting prisoners. Future planning documents will not include this performance measure, because it cannot be accurately tracked. While USMS systems track prisoners and their movements through the system, they do not track JPATS aircraft and whether seats are filled during every segment of a prisoner movement. Maintaining this statistic would require a labor-intensive effort.
**USMS did not determine user satisfaction with JPATS in 1999. The JPATS Advisory Committee, which meets quarterly and includes representatives from the USMS, BOP, and INS, was unable in 1999 to decide on user satisfaction criteria. It is yet undetermined whether this performance measure will remain in future planning documents.
Data Source: (1) STARS and APSS. (2) Not currently collected, but will be, starting in FY 2000, when APSS is fully operational. (3) Mission Capable Status Report. (4) Incident reports. (5) Management and Budget Division. (6) APSS. (7) Surveys of the JPATS Advisory Committee.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(4) The USMS anticipated having zero accidents and injury investigations for 1999, as every performance plan’s goal is to have no accidents or injuries. However, for 1999, the USMS had five injury investigations. This is not a significant increase over 1998 or 1997, considering that more than 32,000 prisoners were in USMS custody each day. As the Federal detainee population increases, injuries are expected to increase; however, the USMS’ goal will remain the same.

Strategic Goal 5.2
Ensure that sufficient prison capacity exists so that violent and other serious criminal offenders are imprisoned to the fullest extent of the law.

To try and keep pace with a burgeoning inmate population and reduce overcrowding, BOP each year expands bedspace capacity through construction projects and facility activations, while also exploring alternatives to traditional confinement. This Strategic Goal includes four Performance Goals that address prisoner bedspace capacity activation, prison construction, contract confinement, and the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 (the Revitalization Act.)

Performance Goal 5.2.1
Prisoner Bedspace Capacity Activations

DOJ will support BOP’s efforts to reduce the systemwide overcrowding rate to 29 percent with the addition of over 3,600 new beds.

In FY 1999, BOP incarcerated more than 133,000 inmates in 94 BOP-operated institutions, 2 privately managed prisons, a variety of contract facilities, and home confinement. The Department supported BOP’s efforts to reduce systemwide overcrowding through several bedspace activations. These included FMC Devens, Massachusetts; FCI Beaumont, Texas; FCI Edgefield, South Carolina; and a camp at FCI Forrest City, Arkansas.

Performance Goal 5.2.1 / Prisoner Bedspace Capacity Activations

Data Source: SENTRY.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(1) and (2) BOP missed 1999 planned targets by a small amount. These slight deviations reflect no problems or issues with performance and pose no negative consequences to the program or its related activities.

Management Challenge
Overcrowding in Federal Prisons

As of September 30, 1999, BOP’s overcrowding rate increased to 31 percent over rated capacity—from 5 percent last year— with prison overcrowding likely to continue as a material weakness. BOP continues to rely on funding to build and acquire additional facilities to help it manage its growing inmate population and reduce the overcrowding rate. As of September 30, 1999, BOP’s institution- based population was 117,295—9,088 more inmates than were housed at the end of FY 1998. The total BOP population (including contract facilities) increased by 11,373 during FY 1999, breaking last year’s record for the largest 1-year increase ever experienced by BOP. The Department projects continued growth in the prison population, which should reach 160,118 by September 30, 2004. Through new facilities construction and expansion projects at existing institutions, the Department’s Long Range Capacity Plan projects a rated capacity of 112,148 beds by September 30, 2004, at which time overcrowding is projected to be 45 percent over rated capacity. These projections were revised during FY 1999, based on analysis of data provided by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Driving the growth are increases in drug and immigration cases.

Performance Goal 5.2.2
Prison Construction

DOJ will continue to support BOP’s construction program to build additional facilities needed to assume the District of Columbia (DC) inmate population and to reduce the overcrowding levels at existing facilities.

Funding for construction of new prisons is aimed at reducing overcrowding at existing facilities and providing adequate space for transfer of the DC inmate population. In FY 1999, BOP continued to increase Federal prison space by constructing and activating new facilities and by exploring opportunities for renovating and expanding existing ones. BOP uses population forecast modeling to help plan for future construction and contracting requirements. It met its target in 1999, with 19 new facilities under design or construction in many different states: New York, North Carolina, Arkansas, Hawaii, Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Florida, West Virginia, South Carolina, and California.

Performance Goal 5.2.2 / Prison Construction

Data Source: Internal construction and facilities reports.

Performance Goal 5.2.3
Contract Confinement

To help ensure sufficient capacity to imprison violent offenders to the fullest extent of the law, DOJ will increase the percentage of its population in other-than-BOP facilities. These include halfway houses, contract facilities, and home confinement.

Use of secure and community-based alternatives to traditional confinement helps BOP address the prison overcrowding problem by placing nonviolent Federal prisoners in other-than-BOP facilities. In 1999, such alternatives included home confinement, community corrections centers, private facilities, local jails, and juvenile facilities. Additionally, BOP continued to pursue intergovernmental agreements to set up property transfers, joint use contracts, and other cooperative arrangements. At the close of FY 1999, 15,752 inmates were confined in alternative confinement programs as follows:

• 1,328 in home confinement;
  
  
• 5,798 in community corrections centers (CCCs);
  
  
• 3,080 in privatized facilities;
  
  
• 678 in jails/short-term detention;
  
  
• 256 in juvenile facilities; and
  
  
• 4,612 in state and local facilities by intergovernmental agreement.

The total number of offenders in CCCs and home confinement grew from 6,765 at the end of FY 1998 to 7,126 at the end of FY 1999—an increase of 5.3 percent.

Performance Goal 5.2.3 / Contract Confinement

*This figure does not include 642 INS inmates housed by BOP in Eloy.
Data Source: SENTRY.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

BOP fell short of the 1999 planned target by a small amount. This slight deviation reflects no problems or issues with performance and poses no negative consequences to the program or its related activities.

Performance Goal 5.2.4
National Capital Revitalization and Self-government Improvement Act of 1997

DOJ will continue implementation of the Revitalization Act, which transfers responsibility to BOP for housing felons sentenced under the DC Code and to the U.S. Parole Commission (USPC) for conducting parole hearings for these felons. In 1999, BOP will contract to house 1,100 DC adult sentenced felons. Construction will continue toward completion of Federal Correctional Institutions to absorb DC-sentenced felons into the Federal Prison System. USPC will conduct about 450 hearings per month.

The Department and BOP—committed to housing and maintaining felons transferred from the DC Department of Corrections under the Revitalization Act—have undertaken expansion activities to accommodate this population. The Revitalization Act requires that 2,000 DC inmates be housed in contract facilities by 2001 and that others be transferred to BOP as soon as practical. Closure of DC’s Lorton Reformatory by December 31, 2001, remains on track.

Since passage of the Revitalization Act in 1997, BOP has accepted 1,861 DC-sentenced felons. To help accommodate the influx, BOP has seven facilities under development in six states— Kentucky, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina—that will provide housing for this population. USPC is responsible for conducting parole hearings for these prisoners.

Performance Goal 5.2.4 / National Capital Revitalization and Self-government Improvement Act of 1997

Data Source: (1) SENTRY. (2) Internal documents originated by the BOP Administration Division. (3) DRAM.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(1) In FY 1999, BOP housed 1,022 DC-sentenced felons, a slight deviation from the goal number that did not affect overall activity or performance.

(3) A shortfall of 223 planned versus actual hearings per month is attributable to two major factors. First, many hearings were postponed because of inadequate case files and documentation. Second, estimates of the parole-eligible population under the jurisdiction of the DC Department of Corrections have not been reliable or consistent. Earlier estimates for this population exceeded 7,000; current estimates are much lower, but their accuracy is uncertain. The nature of the offenses committed by this population and the lack of documentation have made this caseload much more labor-intensive than the Federal caseload. Therefore, the shortfall in the estimate does not lessen the impact of the workload on USPC staff. Future estimates of planned productivity will be adjusted downward based on 1999 actual performance.

Strategic Goal 5.3
Maintain and operate the Federal Prison System in a safe, secure, humane, and efficient manner.

To ensure integrity throughout the Federal Prison System, the Department has embraced a strategy of properly training and equipping BOP staff and ensuring compliance with all applicable environmental, health, and safety standards for its institutions. To get feedback on its operations, BOP conducted in 1999 almost 500 program reviews (internal audits) of its institution, regional, and central office disciplines. Numerous institution and staff surveys sought to assess overall staff and inmate morale, communication, professionalism, and degree of community relations, along with general perceptions of institution operations, safety, executive leadership, and inmate supervision. Additionally, the Department continued to see to the humane and secure treatment of inmates, including those on death row.

Special Unit to Humanely House Death Row Inmates

On July 14, 1999, the Special Confinement Unit at USP Terre Haute opened. Its mission is to provide humane, safe, and secure confinement of male offenders sentenced to death by the Federal courts. The renovated housing unit includes 50 single cells, an industrial workshop, indoor and outdoor recreation areas, a property room, a food preparation area, attorney and family visiting rooms, and a videoconferencing area.

On the negative side, armed and unarmed inmate-on-inmate assaults totaled 1,317, while armed and unarmed inmate-on-staff assaults totaled 959. In FY 1999, there were 5 homicides, 8 suicides, 1 inside escape, and 115 walkaways.

This Strategic Goal includes only one Performance Goal—that addressing modernization and repair.

Performance Goal 5.3.1
Modernization and Repair

DOJ will support BOP’s Modernization and Repair (M&R) program to maintain BOP facilities to provide a safe and secure environment. BOP will continue its special survey program of 15 facilities, which are over 50 years old and have not undergone major renovations and improvements, to develop detailed long-range master plans for these facilities.

Record overcrowding has taken its toll on Federal prisons, particularly on older facilities designed for a much smaller inmate population. BOP’s M&R Program undertakes essential rehabilitation and renovation or replacement projects to ensure that prison structures, utilities systems, and other plant facilities remain in good repair. Failure to maintain structures not only erodes capital investment and multiplies future repair costs, but can also cause direct and/or indirect security problems. In 1999, BOP continued to repair and renovate facilities as required; identify any hazardous waste on prison property; and comply with fire, life safety, and electric codes, as well as water-works standards. BOP completed 680 M&R projects in 1999, 66 percent over its target of 410. In future years, BOP plans to complete approximately 450 M&R projects each year, and has been working diligently to complete those more than 3 years old. Additionally in 1999, BOP met its goal of completing four special 50+ surveys—long-range master plans for facilities more than 50 years old.

Performance Goal 5.3.1 / Modernization and Repair

Data Source: Internal construction and facilities reports.

Explanation For Not Meeting Target

(3) In FY 1999, BOP completed 98 percent of Life Safety discrepancies, a slight deviation from the goal number that did not affect overall activity or performance. In 1999, one institution project, FCI Sandstone, Minnesota, was not completed as planned, but will be completed in 2000.

Strategic Goal 5.4
Provide productive work, education, medical, and other programs to meet inmate needs and facilitate their successful reintegration into society, consistent with community expectations and standards.

BOP’s correctional programs seek to balance punishment, deterrence, incapacitation, and opportunities to prepare the offender for successful reintegration into society. In FY 1999, BOP continued to expand and improve the quality of prison work and education programs to alleviate inmate idleness and help inmates develop marketable skills. All medically fit inmates had access to general education and skills-based training, psychological services, and religious and fitness activities. Inmates also took part in such productive activities as adult education and parenting classes. Federal Prison Industries (FPI) employed roughly 17 percent of inmates housed in low-, medium-, and high-security institutions. BOP also provided residential drug treatment programs to all eligible inmates, and continued to provide necessary quality health care to inmates and detainees while controlling costs. This Strategic Goal’s one Performance Goal addresses the many aspects of inmate services.

Performance Goal 5.4.1
Inmate Services

DOJ will support BOP’s efforts to provide services and programs to address inmate needs that contribute to their successful reintegration into society. These efforts will include the following:

• Providing adequate medical care.
  
  
• Offering appropriate dietary requirements.
  
  
• Ensuring that all medically fit inmates required to work do so.
  
  
• Delivering residential drug treatment to 100 percent of eligible inmates.
  
  
• Providing general education and skills-based training.
  
  
• Affording inmates the opportunity to participate in other productive activities such as "special needs" programs, worship services, adult education, parenting classes, etc.

BOP employs Public Health Services doctors to provide quality health care, including essential medical, dental, and psychiatric care, to its inmate population. In FY 1999, 1.25 million medical encounters occurred between inmate patients and BOP or contract health care professionals. In seven locations, BOP used teleconferencing to render health care services.

BOP also provided inmates with a range of services and programs to address their needs and contribute to their successful reintegration into society. On average, 36 percent of inmates enrolled in one or more education programs in FY 1999. These included occupational training programs, for which enrollment topped 16,100. Also, nearly 21,000 inmates worked for FPI, which activated two new factories in FY 1999—FCI Beaumont and FCI Edgefield—and established 600 new inmate jobs.

More than 10,800 inmates participated in residential drug treatment programs, and approximately 6,500 inmates completed nonresidential drug treatment programs. An interim report from an ongoing evaluation of BOP’s residential drug treatment program confirmed the importance of treatment in reducing recidivism and future drug use. The evaluation, conducted with funding and assistance from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, revealed that offenders who completed the program and were released for 6 months were less likely to be rearrested or detected for drug use than were similar inmates who did not participate in the program.¹⁷

Performance Goal 5.4.1 / Inmate Services

Data Source: (1) SENTRY. (2) SENTRY and internal budget formulation documents. (3) SENTRY.