NCJ Number
98936
Date Published
1982
Length
85 pages
Annotation
This paper uses case studies to draw lessons for the substance and administrative guidance of the planning process for States involved in the Prison Overcrowding Project.
Abstract
Information for this paper was drawn from planning experiences of five national programs and one State project. These programs involved planning by some State or local agencies, a situation comparable to that of the Prison Overcrowding Project. The substance of the planning process focuses on planning participants and planning activities. Components of the planning process include (1) an organizational structure for conducting the planning; (2) a set of activities, typically involving a problemsolving approach as well as a consensus-building approach; and (3) planning products, which include the plan itself as well as any interim reports. Administrative guidance for the planning process addresses three phases: (1) design, in which planning projects are envisioned; (2) activity, which implements the planning project; and (3) evaluation, which assesses the effectiveness of the planning project in producing an implementable action plan. Vignettes from various actual planning projects are used to portray centralized and decentralized planning guidance of these phases. The appendix contains an indepth case study of planning for the Hartford, Conn., project to reduce prison overcrowding and figures from the project planning case studies. Nine references are listed.