PEF peers into budget, page by page, department by department
Budget would clip wings of prison inmates trying to rise above past mistakes
By SHERRY HALBROOK
The Executive Budget again calls for the state Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) to close Fulton Work Release Facility in the Bronx and two minimum-security facilities — Camp Pharsalia in Chenango County and Camp McGregor in Saratoga County.
This proposal flies in the face of research indicating inmates make a more crime-free transition to the community if they progress from maximum-security to less secure facilities before their final release from prison.
The budget would cut 247 jobs at DOCS over the 2005-06 fiscal year, increase class sizes for PEF members teaching academic and job skills, and allow caseloads to climb as high as 700 for PEF members counseling inmates on how to become responsible, addiction-free, law-abiding citizens when they are released.
The ratio of student inmates to teachers has climbed from 10-to-1, to 25-to-1, even though more than 14,000 inmates are functionally illiterate and read below the fifth-grade level and another 18,000 read below the eighth-grade level.
More than 35,000 state prison inmates lack high school or equivalent diplomas, and thousands are on waiting lists for academic, vocational, addiction and other programs provided by PEF members.
PEF is urging state budgetmakers to increase educational and counseling programs for inmates to meet the well documented need, because studies have shown that inmates who complete such programs are less likely to commit crimes after they are released.
The budget would reduce DOCS’ most successful drug-treatment program, CASAT, which provides six months of intensive, all-day classes and counseling because the number of inmates eligible for the program is dropping. Instead, PEF recommends redesigning and splitting the program into two parts — one with a work-release component, and one without it.
This would have the added benefit of enabling DOCS to maximize its use of Fulton by making it a CASAT aftercare or enhanced transitional services facility.
PEF members at the facilities targeted for closing have built strong community support for keeping them open. At Camp Pharsalia, for instance, employees have collected approximately 18,000 signatures from residents on petitions calling for the facility to remain open.
PEF also is waging an advertising campaign to fight these budget cuts and build support among state legislators.
KNOW THE FACTS — See the ad and download the DOCS fact sheet at
www.pef.org.
The
Communicator March 05
Features
PEF speaks up on NYS budget
Backup budget: Sweet & sour
Fairer
taxes, less waste
PEF peers into NYS
budget:
- DOCS
- AG&MKT
- DOT
- OCFS
- OMH
- SUNY
- PAROLE
- MUSEUM
- DOL
Departments
President's
Message
Member's Mailbag; You Said It
Nurses Station
Health
& Safety
Member Highlights
Retirees In Action
PEF
Membership Benefits &Travel
Union Matters
Reg.
1 offers Scanlon scholarship
Connecting troops for the holidays
Converting feepayers on the rise
PEF: Legal ground ruling is tough
Submit ’04 Empire Plan claims...
Other Links
Professional
Directory
Members'
Classified
Member
Communicator Feedback
Do You Prefer The
Online Edition?
How To
Advertise Here
The
Communicator Staff
Questions on this
site?
Email the Webmaster