Artistic Surfaces

Spending in our Federal Prisons: Where Does All That Money Go?

Spending in Our Federal Prisons: Where does all that money go?

One out of every ninety-nine people in the United States is currently incarcerated in a Federal Prison.  With numbers like that, increases in prison costs have skyrocketed over the past 20 years.  Since 1988, the Department of Corrections has increased their spending by 127%–which outweighs Higher Education spending; with only a 21% increase in the past 20 years.  Why is more money pumped into our prisons than into our children’s schools?  And what can we do about it?

The major contributing factor in our escalating prison costs is the amount of prisoners we have incarcerated.  By 2011, there will be 1.7 million inmates in the United States.  And that high volume of prisoners will cost the American tax payers $27.5 billion over the next five years.  Where is that money going?  The majority of the money is going to the construction of new prisons to hold the ever increasing number of inmates.  The amount of money needed for each new construction is based on a combination of building structure, the housing area design and layout, the mix of security levels needed, and the geographic location of the prison.  On top of that are daily operating costs, attributed to: personnel salaries and expenses, inmate-to-staff ratios, and the costs of supplies, materials and food.  But the biggest cost (and the most controversial one) is that of inmate health care.  $3.3 billion was spent last year on prison health care services.  Every inmate is guaranteed access to health care when they require it. 

To investigate the spending in one specific state, let’s look at Pennsylvania.  With nine federal prisons, P.A. ranks second in the United States for total number of federal prisons in state.  For every $1 spent on Education, $.81 was spent on Corrections.  Pennsylvania has actually cut their budget for Higher Education to compensate for a rapid growth in prison populations and prison construction.  In the past 5 years, 2 new prisons have been constructed.  At the end of 2007, a total of $1.6 billion was spent by the Corrections Department.  There are 46,000 inmates in P.A and $90 is spent on each inmate per day—which covers food, health care recreation, etc.  (The national average is only $63).  Pennsylvania is one of the most costly states in Corrections spending (surpassed by Texas and Ohio).  When we start to take money away from our children’s futures to afford our nation’s criminals, action needs to be taken.  One such solution is the privatization of prisons.

If only 30% of the prison population went to private facilities, we could save $100 million annually.  And private prisons also would provide better care.  But only 28 states allow privatization; and only in certain minimum-security prisons, juvenile correction centers, half-way houses and illegal alien detention centers.  But why aren’t all states taking full advantage of this option?

Privatization can be broken down into different forms.  The most common form is contracting out certain services to a prison.  For example, private firms are hired to provide services such as medical and mental health treatment, drug treatment, education, staff and vocational training and counseling; instead of publicly funded companies.   

Another form of privatization is contracting out prison labor; and the benefits that come with it.  Private companies are putting prisoners to work and paying them competitive wages, which allows for a reduction in prison costs for the government by withholding tax earnings, room and board expenses, family support and victim’s compensation.  Employing prisoners also provides them with the skills and work experience that will prepare them for the real world when they get out.  The ultimate goal is to rehabilitate a prisoner as much as possible so they can become a functioning member of society upon release.

The ultimate goal behind privatizing prisons is efficiency.  Its purpose is to improve the quality of the service provided without raising the costs, or to decrease the costs without decreasing the quality of the service.  The supporters of prison privatization believe that it will ultimately cost the American tax payer less and require the prison facilities to operate more efficiently.

Bottom line: our prisons are becoming over flooded with inmates, and the number of incarcerated individuals increases more and more every day.  More inmates equal more pull on funds to operate, service, maintain and construct more prisons.  The amount of money spent on prisons and inmates every day is at an all time high: and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon.  But with privatization and better cost allocation procedures, we can reduce the amount of money being pumped into the Corrections Department, and use it for better means: like schools for our children. 

About the Author

Queens Woman Cleared Of Murdering Husband May Still Face Prison Sentence

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