NCJ Number
158830
Journal
Journal of Correctional Education Volume: 46 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1995) Pages: 16-18
Date Published
1995
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the direct and indirect costs of incarceration in Alabama concludes that corrections policies are based on faulty cost estimates and should be reconsidered and that correctional education programs are the best known and least expensive solution to reverse the trends of increasing prison populations and higher recidivism rates.
Abstract
The analysis considered not only the known costs of incarcerations but also the taxes lost from wage earners, food stamps and welfare for families of incarcerated persons, family Medicaid, housing for the family, public defenders, and prison overhead. The analysis revealed that the total costs of $23,257 per inmate are more than double the amount budgeted by the Alabama Department of Corrections. Findings support several recommendations: (1) that correctional education programs be expanded in both vocational and academic areas, (2) that Alabama judges make attendance and completion of a correctional education program an integral part of the sentencing process, and (3) that the Alabama State Board of Education develop a catalog describing the courses and locations of correctional education programs and place this catalog in the hands of each trial judge in Alabama.