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| Bipartisan group promotes cheaper, better corrections |
| By poconorecord.com - MELISSA DANIELS |
| Published: 05/17/2012 |
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Pennsylvania -- State prisons don't always work the way they're supposed to. Sometimes, released inmates return to a life behind bars after committing another crime or after being busted on a parole violation. In Pennsylvania, more than 51,000 inmates are housed in a network of 81 prisons, halfway houses and contracted community centers built for about 48,000, according to an April 2012 prison population report from the state Department of Corrections. State spending on corrections has increased by 1,700 percent since 1980, with the DOC allocated to receive nearly $1.87 billion next year. The figure is flat from the current fiscal year, but it represents the third-largest state department expenditure out of the $27.1 billion general fund, after education and welfare. More offenders are being pushed into the system, creating a tipping point that, some say, can no longer be maintained. Searching for fixes A bipartisan group of public and private officials is saying it's time for "Real Corrections Reform, Right Now," the title of the group's proposal materials. The group includes DOC Secretary John Wetzel, who says the system no longer works. "We're out of money, and when you look at the other states, that's when everyone kind of rolls up their sleeves on corrections reform," Wetzel said. Wetzel was one of several panelists who participated in a discussion hosted Monday by the Commonwealth Foundation, a free-market and taxpayer advocacy think tank. The group — composed of public and private officials — is calling for changes to the state's prison system by looking at what works in other states. This is far from the first effort for correction reform. Read More. |
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