Post by Buss on Jul 8, 2009 5:58:03 GMT -5
TO: All IDOC Employees
FROM: Commissioner Edwin G. Buss
RE: Facility Forward
DATE: July 7, 2009
Colleagues,
As you know, prison populations across the country continue to expand, yet corrections agencies must absorb these offenders with little to no additional space or funding. As a result, overcrowding has begun to seriously jeopardize prison and public safety. Some states have resolved to permit the early release of offenders, attempting to solve the overcrowding problem, but such a move only works as a temporary solution that ends up putting the public at risk.
Under the leadership of Governor Mitch Daniels, the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) resolved not to resort to such measures and has instead evaluated all options to meet capacity and budgetary challenges. IDOC staff and leadership have worked together to address today’s challenges and proactively avoid tomorrow’s. Thus, Facility Forward came about as a comprehensive initiative to enhance prison capacity, maximize current state property and assets, decrease spending through cost savings, and increase overall efficiencies, while still providing the utmost safety and security for the State of Indiana.
A major component of Facility Forward includes moving female youths from Indianapolis to Madison, Indiana. The new Madison Juvenile Correctional Facility will best serve the model of the Division of Youth Services by providing gender specific programming, while housing the girls on an attractive campus. Such a move is unprecedented, but is a necessary and positive step in providing the best services to the female youth population.
The new juvenile facility will be separately located on beautiful grounds near the current Madison State Hospital and Madison Correctional Facility. Additionally, adult female offenders from the Indiana Women’s Prison will be relocated to the former Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility, which will allow full capacity utilization of this facility and help meet female capacity needs for the foreseeable future.
Subsequently, the Plainfield Re-entry Educational Facility (PREF) will relocate to the grounds of the former Indiana Women’s Prison. This move will allow the IDOC to use the current PREF campus (formerly known as the Indiana Boys’ School) as the location of the new Short Term Offender Program (STOP). The STOP facility will be designed and commissioned to address the needs and case management of those offenders committed to the IDOC for less than one year. It will also bolster re-entry efforts by concentrating services for such offenders at one facility. Dedicating a facility to such a transient population better prepares these offenders for their re-entry and best utilizes scarce bed space.
With these moves, the IDOC gains almost 2,100 beds, addresses the foreseeable growth in the female offender population, and saves the State of Indiana nearly $200 million. Indeed, Facility Forward is an ambitious endeavor, but with the support and teamwork of all stakeholders, its implementation will succeed as a piece of the IDOC’s preparation for the future.
FROM: Commissioner Edwin G. Buss
RE: Facility Forward
DATE: July 7, 2009
Colleagues,
As you know, prison populations across the country continue to expand, yet corrections agencies must absorb these offenders with little to no additional space or funding. As a result, overcrowding has begun to seriously jeopardize prison and public safety. Some states have resolved to permit the early release of offenders, attempting to solve the overcrowding problem, but such a move only works as a temporary solution that ends up putting the public at risk.
Under the leadership of Governor Mitch Daniels, the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) resolved not to resort to such measures and has instead evaluated all options to meet capacity and budgetary challenges. IDOC staff and leadership have worked together to address today’s challenges and proactively avoid tomorrow’s. Thus, Facility Forward came about as a comprehensive initiative to enhance prison capacity, maximize current state property and assets, decrease spending through cost savings, and increase overall efficiencies, while still providing the utmost safety and security for the State of Indiana.
A major component of Facility Forward includes moving female youths from Indianapolis to Madison, Indiana. The new Madison Juvenile Correctional Facility will best serve the model of the Division of Youth Services by providing gender specific programming, while housing the girls on an attractive campus. Such a move is unprecedented, but is a necessary and positive step in providing the best services to the female youth population.
The new juvenile facility will be separately located on beautiful grounds near the current Madison State Hospital and Madison Correctional Facility. Additionally, adult female offenders from the Indiana Women’s Prison will be relocated to the former Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility, which will allow full capacity utilization of this facility and help meet female capacity needs for the foreseeable future.
Subsequently, the Plainfield Re-entry Educational Facility (PREF) will relocate to the grounds of the former Indiana Women’s Prison. This move will allow the IDOC to use the current PREF campus (formerly known as the Indiana Boys’ School) as the location of the new Short Term Offender Program (STOP). The STOP facility will be designed and commissioned to address the needs and case management of those offenders committed to the IDOC for less than one year. It will also bolster re-entry efforts by concentrating services for such offenders at one facility. Dedicating a facility to such a transient population better prepares these offenders for their re-entry and best utilizes scarce bed space.
With these moves, the IDOC gains almost 2,100 beds, addresses the foreseeable growth in the female offender population, and saves the State of Indiana nearly $200 million. Indeed, Facility Forward is an ambitious endeavor, but with the support and teamwork of all stakeholders, its implementation will succeed as a piece of the IDOC’s preparation for the future.