NCJ Number
165627
Date Published
1997
Length
55 pages
Annotation
This report analyzes the operational costs of juvenile and adult correctional programs in Texas in 1995 and 1996; program costs compare "apples to apples" based on a uniform formula agreed on by relevant State agencies for reporting operational expenditures.
Abstract
The data show that operational costs per day for most criminal justice programs did not increase significantly during 1995-1996. In some cases, operational costs per day actually declined compared to 1993-1994 figures. Two specific factors contributed to this trend: (1) beginning January 1, 1996, State social security payments ceased and Benefit Replacement Pay was offered to eligible State employees to offset the loss; and (2) new juvenile and adult correctional facilities which were operational but not fully populated in 1993-1994 inflated operational costs per day during that reporting period. During the 1995-1996 period, the most costly criminal justice program was juvenile incarceration. The cost per day per juvenile housed in a Texas Youth Commission facility was $113.44, and the cost per day for juvenile probation/deferred prosecution was $8.21. The cost per day for adult confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice decreased from $44.40 per day in 1994 to $39.51 per day in 1996, an 11- percent decrease. During this same period, the average daily population of Institutional Division facilities increased by about 53 percent. The decrease in cost per day was attributed to higher operational capacity levels and system facilities that were less expensive to operate. The operational cost per day per offender housed in State jail facilities was $28.96 in 1996, compared to the average contract cost per offender housed in privately operated State jail facilities of $27.91. The least expensive form of criminal justice supervision was adult community supervision. An overview of the Texas juvenile justice system and its programs is presented. Tables and figures