NCJ Number
77445
Date Published
Unknown
Length
44 pages
Annotation
The fiscal year 1977 annual report for Delaware's Department of Correction covers the activities and accomplishments during the year of the department's various units.
Abstract
The Department of Correction is composed of a central office, an adult bureau, and a juvenile bureau. The adult bureau has responsibility for offenders age 18 and over; the juvenile bureau for juveniles between the ages of 10 and 17. Both bureaus operate institutions and administer services in the community. An organizational chart of the department is provided, and disbursements are shown for the Office of the Commissioner and the adult and juvenile bureaus for 1976, 1977, and 1978. Major accomplishments, major service needs not being met, major operating problems, items of special interest, and major goals for fiscal year 1978 are described for the central administration and the adult and juvenile bureaus. Overall, during its second year as a separate department of State government, the Department of Correction survived a virtual onslaught of problems. At the beginning of the fiscal year, the then acting commissioner and the departmental ills were attempted through legislation. The appointment of a permanent commissioner was soon followed by a Federal court order designed to force a reduction in the overpopulation of the Delaware Correctional Center. The remainder of the year saw great effort expended to comply with that order. Because of the population problem in the adult institutions and the involvement of many in the solution of that problem, no attention was given to treatment problems or to those of the Adult Bureau Community-Based Services section that is responsible for 400 percent more offenders than the institutions. Many improvements, innovations, and changes were accomplished in the juvenile bureau, with some resulting from a reduction in population caused by the diversion of status offenders to other agencies. Organizational changes made are expected to improve significantly the efficiency and effectiveness of the juvenile bureau. (Author abstract modified)