Master Plan - Adult Corrections, 1979

• NCJ Number: 72709
• Author(s): W Gearhart; J Lehman; T O'Rourke
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 198 pages
• Corporate Author: Washington Dept of Social and Health Services
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A plan incorporating a new sense of mission and purpose into adult corrections strategies in the State of Washington is presented; goals, system description, critical problems, and ongoing needs are discussed.

Abstract

The system's missions are protection of the public through the confinement and supervision of adult felons and the maintenance of humane and secure settings in which offenders may serve their sentences and receive opportunities for self-improvement. The principles and goals provide a value system that promotes just and humane care in the management of offenders and encourages improved employee performance through education and training. The system description provides a picture of community, institutional, and support services and how these components operate within the State's Adult Corrections Division today. Community services are divided into three basic levels including regular caseload, intensive parole, and residential supervision. The institutional services component describes the basic classification process, the different levels of custody, and the programs available to incarcerated felons. Overcrowding, the single overriding concern of the Adult Corrections Division, is discussed. Strategies which address the problem include the following: development of expanded bed space and community resources; review of inmate populations to identify those persons who can be recommended for release without increasing the threat to public safety; and initiation of diversion resources to provide supervisory services in the community. Long-range projections, including factors affecting system rates and policy alternatives, are highlighted. Review of ongoing needs of the system underscores the necessity of adopting standards to define and measure the performance of the total system of services and developing a divisionwide statement of policies and procedures as well as an information system. It is concluded that although the efforts of the division will continue to be overshadowed by the problem of overcrowding, the division is moving forward. Appendixes, figures, and tables are included in the plan. (Author abstract modified).