APCTO Urges Texas Lawmakers to Weigh Short-Term Savings vs. Long-Term Costs in Correctional Rehabilitation Programming

2/19/2003

From: Andrew LeFevre of APCTO, 703-548-8532; 703-967-1076 (cell) web: http://www.apcto.org

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 -- The downturn in America's economy has forced many states, like Texas, to consider difficult cuts to balance their budgets. When lawmakers weigh their options, many have looked upon their state correctional departments as areas where funding might be saved. In these challenging economic times, the Association of Private Correctional & Treatment Organizations (APCTO) commends Texas lawmakers for recognizing the value of inmate education and rehabilitation programs as a means of reducing repeat incarcerations.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Executive Director Gary L. Johnson says, "The impact of eliminating treatment programs would achieve short-term savings at a far greater long-term cost. The inmate population would grow more rapidly, requiring construction of or contracting for additional correctional facilities."

Extensive research from the Correctional Education Association (CEA) supports this position. In one recent CEA study, inmates who did not receive educational programming had a 31 percent recidivism rate compared to 21 percent for those who did receive proper inmate educational programming. Another CEA study found that the state of Maryland enjoyed a 2-to-1 return on the funds it invests on inmate education. Maryland state analysts determined inmate educational programs saved the state over 24 million dollars per year -- twice the amount the state was investing in its correctional education program. The report showed that when inmates are properly educated they dramatically improve their chances of returning to society as taxpaying members rather than re-offending and remaining a burden to the state.

APCTO members are proud of their partnerships with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Parole Division, and several Texas Counties. Our members' private correctional facilities and treatment programs seek every opportunity to provide the rehabilitation opportunities necessary to return inmates to society prepared to succeed. In addition to improving inmate lives, APCTO members are also providing cost savings through the safe and economically efficient management of correctional facilities, consistently delivering the 10 percent cost savings required of private correctional providers in Texas.

"Modern state budgets cannot support growing correctional systems in which incarceration is the first and only option," says Texas State Representative Ray Allen (R-Grand Prairie), Chairman of the House Corrections Committee. "Educational and treatment programs offer more effective rehabilitation options at a lower cost."

Nearly one third of all privatized correctional facilities in the United States (47 out of 155) are in Texas. APCTO members are responsible for managing more than 30,000 prison beds in the state, and more than 110,000 nationwide. APCTO members are proud to provide a cost effective alternative to the TDCJ and several other governmental agencies in the state. "In these difficult economic times, APCTO stands ready to assist Texas in any way possible to provide for the public safety of its citizens," said Andrew LeFevre, APCTO's executive director. "APCTO is grateful for its association with the great state of Texas and pleased with the foresightedness being shown by members of the Texas State Legislature."

APCTO is a 501 (c)(6) non-profit association, serving the $45 billion private correctional and treatment industry. The commitment of all APCTO members is to assure that correctional services provided by the private sector meet or exceed all applicable constitutional, legal, and professional standards, to facilitate the development of meaningful partnerships between government agencies and APCTO's corporate members, and to sponsor public policy research aimed at enhancing the caliber of correctional services provided by either the private or the public sector.