Pennsylvania Corrections Department Seeks $300 Million Budget Boost Amid Shrinking Jail Population

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections wants more than $300 million in next year’s budget, despite a shrinking jailed population and the recent closure of two institutions, prompting lawmakers to ask critical questions.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal to the Legislature included more than $200 million in new funds for the department, bringing the agency’s total request to almost $3.3 billion. The department is also asking the Legislature to authorize an additional $100 million in supplementary money to cover spending that exceeds last year’s estimates.

Officials argue that the increase is required to satisfy both higher federal requirements and declining federal revenues; commitments under employee union contracts; and overtime caused by staffing shortages.

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However, parliamentarians questioned why such a significant increase was required after the jail system projected savings from the closure of two sites in 2017 and 2020. Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, highlighted that the proposal was twice what taxpayers were expected to save.

“What happened with the cost savings that we expected from those closures?” Baker asked at a February appropriations meeting. “When we consider the expense of carrying forward, it does not appear to be cost-effective. Taxpayers will question how we proposed $120 million in closures when we are presently facing a quadruple increase.

What is the basic answer? It is more expensive to perform the same thing.

The Corrections Department manages almost 38,000 jailed inmates in 24 prisons and employs over 17,000 workers in both the prison and parole systems. Its budget covers the cost of administering prisons, which is its largest expense, as well as the operation of the state’s parole and pardon boards, the Office of Victim Advocate, and the parole process.

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Acting Corrections Secretary Laurel R. Harry told legislators at the meeting that cost-to-carry hikes account for approximately 85% of the corrections budget increase, or the expense of maintaining the department’s present level of services.

State prisons are the main cost driver, both in terms of last year’s overspending and future spending.

The agency’s proposed budget includes a $169 million increase for prisons alone, which will be used to cover rising costs such as electricity, food, and building upkeep, as well as contract-mandated pay increases for unionized employees.

The agency also asks the Legislature to fund $53 million to offset similar contract-mandated increases from the previous fiscal year.

Medication-Assisted Treatment

The agency also experienced large increases in the expense of delivering medication-assisted therapy, or MAT, to jailed individuals suffering from opioid use disorder.

MAT helps people recover from opioid addiction by combining counseling, behavioral therapy, and prescription medicines.

In April 2022, the US Department of Justice decided that opioid use disorder constituted a disability under federal law, requiring the state jail system to expand its MAT program to offer adequate accommodation.

Despite the mandate, available federal grants do not cover the entire cost of Pennsylvania’s enlarged program, which ran $10.5 million over budget. Medication and treatment will cost $30 million over the next fiscal year.

According to Harry, around 1,800 people in state prisons receive this type of treatment, but the administration anticipates that figure to increase as some county jails begin to give their therapies to people held before trial.

Staffing Difficulties

Years after the coronavirus pandemic peaked, staff shortages continue to plague state jails, causing overtime expenses to exceed last year’s forecasts by $30 million.

As of April, approximately 8% of prison positions remained unfilled, including 779 correctional officer vacancies.

“Last year, in 2023, the number I see is that there were 40 employees in your department that had received over $100,000 in overtime pay,” said Senator Greg Rothman, R-Perry. “Is that acceptable?”

Harry told legislators that the department is focusing on recruiting and keeping staffers to reduce the number of extra shifts required to staff the prisons.

The department has expanded its hiring outside state lines and to people as young as 18, but only 16 prison officers under the age of 21 have been hired thus far.

At the same time, the population is lower than it was before the epidemic, with numbers falling from more than 45,000 in 2020 to approximately 36,000 in 2022.

The population has gradually climbed over the last two years, and the agency anticipates a plateau of roughly 40,000 people.

However, the agency does not always modify staffing numbers in lockstep with changes in the jailed population because staffing requirements vary per institution and take into account the architectural structure of the prison, the programs available, and other factors, according to department spokesperson Maria Bivens.

“In addition, the DOC conducts regular staffing surveys at its facilities to ensure effective allocation of personnel,” she added.

Even after the department reduced its statutory overtime rate, unplanned absences continued to motivate prison officers to volunteer for additional shifts. According to Bivens, corrections officers must also keep hospital posts when a jailed person is being treated at a medical institution outside of the prison.

“And while the prison population is down from the highs of several years ago, the remaining population is older, and requires more medical care, necessitating additional staff,” she stated.