NCJ Number
77521
Date Published
1979
Length
35 pages
Annotation
This report details the achievements of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Correction during 1978 and outlines major areas of concern regarding future activities.
Abstract
The bureau's mission is to provide for the secure and humane confinement of offenders; to secure the training and employment of the highest caliber professional staff; and to fully develop and utilize realistic treatment, educational, and vocational programs for inmates, including the use of community alternatives when appropriate. A significant accomplishment during 1978 was the opening of the new State Regional Correctional Facility at Mercer to serve short-term offenders from northwestern Pennsylvania. Prior to opening, the 91 staff members received 7 weeks of basic training as a unit; this was the first time in the bureau's history that an entire institutional staff was trained as a team. Also in 1978, the bureau consolidated its regional community service centers and expanded both institutional educational/vocational training programs and external job placement programs. The division of special services, in addition to its inspection of all county jails, assisted six counties in beginning the construction of new facilities. The statewide furlough program achieved an impressive success rate of 99.2 percent. Escapes throughout the system totaled 114, compared with 525 escapes in 1972. The population count of all correctional facilities increased nearly 8 percent over 1977. By year end, the bureau was over inmate capacity by 20 percent, based on the number of useable general population cells. Renovation and modernization of the deteriorating correctional facilities at Pittsburgh, Huntingdon, and Graterford are primary goals for the immediate future. In addition, a new facility is needed in southeastern Pennsylvania to alleviate overcrowding. Photographs, charts, tables, and graphs are provided. (Author abstract modified)