Archive

Archive for the ‘Delaware’ Category

Monitor Critical Of Delaware Inmate Health Care

February 2nd, 2009
Comments Off

The independent monitor overseeing Delaware’s state prison system says poor performance by the company providing inmate health care is hampering efforts to get the Department of Correction out from under federal supervision.

“The monitoring team continues to be concerned over the lack of stable and effective leadership at the vendor level,” independent monitor Joshua W. Martin III said in a report issued Friday. “As the monitoring team emphasized in previous reports, without stable and effective leadership, the state will be significantly hampered in its attempts to become compliant with the [memorandum of agreement between the United States Department of Justice and the State of Delaware]” …

Calling the report balanced, Department of Correction Commissioner Carl Danberg agreed there were problems with the medical vendor, Correctional Medical Services, and said he has spoken with the St. Louis-based company.  “I have addressed my displeasure at the pace of progress directly to the CEO of CMS, the vendor, in very clear and uncertain terms,” Danberg said. Despite his displeasure, Danberg extended the $39 million contract with CMS for another year, saying it would cost an additional $4 million to seek a new vendor. With the state facing a $606 million budget deficit, Danberg said, it would be difficult to argue for a new contract …

Friday’s report was not entirely critical.

It found that Delaware is still trying to maintain areas of improvement highlighted in the previous report, adding that the overall timeliness of certain screening processes is “fairly good.” The monitor also found sanitation efforts have improved, although “some problem areas remain.” And the state continues to take action to remedy some of the issues surrounding the availability and use of space needed for the provision of health-related services.

vericatrajkova CMS, Delaware, Inmate Health

Delaware Governor Targets Recidivism

January 28th, 2009
Comments Off

gov-jack-markellWith prison gates amounting to revolving doors for too many inmates, Gov. Jack Markell said Monday that Delaware needs to get serious about reducing recidivism among convicted criminals.

Markell said he has ordered the heads of five state agencies to report to him within 90 days on ways to coordinate efforts so that fewer inmates return to prison after serving their sentences. The effort will include the departments of correction, health and social services, education and labor, along with the Delaware State Housing Authority.   Markell said the issue of recidivism has been studied and discussed for years, but now is the time for action.  “Enough of the conversation, enough of the dialogue,” he said at a news conference at the Howard Young prison in Wilmington. “We’ve got the information we need; let’s put it together and get the job done” …

Department of Correction Commissioner Carl Danberg said a study of the overall recidivism rate in Delaware hasn’t been conducted in 10 years, but he estimated that the recidivism rate is about 65 percent.

vericatrajkova Delaware, Recidivism

Census of Facilities

October 10th, 2008
Comments Off

The Bureau of Justice Statistics has just released the 2005 Census of Federal and State Correctional Facilities.  The document has a wealth of data across all States, including the numbers of privately-operated facilities.

The document can be accessed from the Basic Stats list at the top right sidebar.

vericatrajkova Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Federal Systems, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Private Prisons, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Issues In Delaware

September 4th, 2008
Comments Off

The following is an editorial from the News-Journal:

Errors In Prisoner Release Go Deeper Into Managing Information

Delawareans, of course, were startled to read recently that over an 18-month period, 29 prisoners were let go too early. The released prisoners, while recaptured, put citizens and law enforcement officers in danger. The accidents also made a mockery of our penal system. But luckily, a tragedy did not occur … this time. All four candidates for governor rightly expressed outrage, and each duly promised to fix the problem.

The recordkeeping in the state prison system cannot keep up with the complexity of sentencing laws. Some records are still kept by hand. Calculations can go wrong. Department of Correction Commissioner Carl Danberg acknowledged the problem. Critics of the system said it goes back farther and deeper than the 29 prisoners prematurely released on Mr. Danberg’s watch.

No wonder.  The system is inadequate. It has to be thoroughly modernized, and up-to-date information controls must be put in place. In fact, it’s probably a good guess that the prisoner release is only the most dramatic failure of an outmoded information system.

While criticism from the four candidates for governor stings, it didn’t go far enough. The Department of Correction’s failure goes beyond human fumbling. The real trouble is too little is known about what state government does. Even the governor doesn’t know. Nor does the General Assembly. Delaware simply doesn’t make enough information available to its top management. For sure, some people like it that way. The different lower management silos in state government are free to operate with little supervision. The reports that are generated are often not combined and analyzed.

All an administration has to do is avoid a crisis, such as the death of a child in state care or the murder of a civilian by a prematurely released prisoner. Avoid that, and it’s business as usual. But for the new governor, the next crisis is in the data.  The next governor will have to deal with a crisis at some point, whether it is in a prison or mental hospital, the state police force or child welfare department. Once it is over, a blue-ribbon commission will lament that this crisis could have been prevented, if only someone had detected the signals.

Now is the time to monitor those signals. A system that routinely and thoroughly examines the information available can fix problems before they develop. The state government is moving into a more transparent accounting system. Citizens will be better able to see where the money goes. But the candidates for governor should push for a system that accounts for results as well as money.

vericatrajkova Data Sharing, Delaware, Early Release, Sentencing

“Lack of Leadership” Cited Against CMS In Delaware

February 3rd, 2008
Comments Off

Correctional Medical Services, the State of Delaware’s inmate health care provider, is strongly criticized in an independent auditor’s report.

Continued poor performance by the Department of Correction’s medical vendor could hamper the department’s efforts to get out from under federal supervision by the U.S. Justice Department, according to a new report by an independent monitor overseeing the state prison system. Correctional Medical Services, a private company Delaware pays millions a year to provide medical care to inmates, suffers from a “lack of stable and effective leadership,” Independent Monitor Joshua W. Martin III wrote in a 229-page report released today … While Martin found that the DOC has made some improvements, he concluded that many CMS staff lacked proper credentials or were working outside their areas of expertise.

The Delaware News-Journal has more information.

vericatrajkova CMS, Delaware, Inmate Health

Daily Sweep 080102

January 2nd, 2008
Comments Off

Medical care costs in Mesa County CO expected to increase 40% this year. Inmate suicides in the UK have risen 37%; overcrowding blamed. Sussex County DE develops new bee-keeping program to add honey to inmate meals. South Carolina uses God and drug treatment to help inmates.

vericatrajkova CO Mesa County, Colorado, DE Sussex County, Faith-based Programs, Inmate Health, South Carolina