The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices

New Report from the Vera Institute

Declining revenues from the worst fiscal crisis in decades are forcing many states to make across the board budget cuts. Even departments of corrections and public safety, long considered off limits, are affected.

A new report from Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections highlights the impact of these cuts and the ways officials are rising to the challenge of lowering spending while maintaining—and in some cases enhancing—public safety. The findings are based on a survey of enacted FY2010 state budgets and recent legislation, which found at least 22 states reversing the trend of recent decades and cutting corrections spending.
Findings include:

• At least 28 states are reducing staff, instituting hiring freezes, reducing salaries or benefits, and/or eliminating pay increases.
• An increasing number of states are identifying groups of people who can be safely released after serving shorter terms behind bars.
• At least 20 states are closing facilities/reducing beds or delaying expansion/construction of new facilities.
  

This report was funded by the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Center on the States.

To download this report visit Vera’s web site at www.vera.org/content/fiscal-crisis-corrections-rethinking-policies-and-practices-1.

The Vera Institute of Justice is an independent nonprofit organization that combines expertise in research, demonstration projects, and technical assistance to help leaders in government and civil society improve the systems people rely on for justice and safety.