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March 3, 2009

STEPHANIE SALTER: Leading the world in money thrown behind bars

By Stephanie Salter

TERRE HAUTE — One of the clichés that people in public education, health and social services frequently hear is, “You can’t just keep throwing money at the problem.”

But as the great education advocate Jonathan Kozol observed some four decades ago, nobody ever seems to say the same thing about waging war or funding other defense-related activities.

An update of Kozol’s maxim would now have to include the U.S. banking industry and the incarceration element of our nation’s so-called correctional system.

As we have seen over the last six months — from the Bush administration to Team Obama — throwing money at Wall Street and the financial sector is the solution of choice for that problem.

The announcement earlier this week that billions more will be thrown at the insurance behemoth, AIG — bringing the total thrown at AIG by the government to $173.3 billion — indicates that hurled money is the only solution we have for solving our financial problems.

A recent Pew Center on the States report reveals a similar attitude toward our criminal justice system, with a slight variation.

When it comes to keeping people in prisons or jails, the Pew study found, the feds and 50 states cannot throw enough money at the problem. Once people have done their time and been released back into their communities, the modus operandi shifts dramatically to doing things on the cheap.

Years of data show that good post-release supervision programs reduce the incidence of repeat offending by about 30 percent. But as the Pew report found, when government money is thrown at parole and probation programs, it goes “clink, clink,” as spare change tends to do.

Nationally, about 88 percent of corrections money pays for prisons and jails with 12 percent left over for post-release.

The percentages are essentially a flip-flop of the populations involved: Approximately 2.3 million adults in the United States are behind bars, while 5 million are on parole or probation.

What kind of money are we talking about?

According to an estimate by the National Association of State Budget Officers, the Pew report said, a record $51.7 billion was spent by states in 2008 on corrections. Combine that with federal, local and other funding, and the total for last year was $68 billion.

Over the past two decades, public spending on corrections has risen 300 percent, a pace that eclipses funding for every other essential government service but Medicaid. Those services include non-medical welfare, transportation and — the most telling for our society — education.

Meanwhile, recidivism rates — how often offenders go back into prison or jail — have remained virtually unchanged over the same time period.

So much for getting bang for our taxpayer buck.

A few more statistics from the Pew report:

n Nationally, one of every $15 in state general funds goes for corrections.

n In Indiana, 5.3 percent of our general fund — or $669 million — went to corrections in 2008. Even less money than the national average was spent for post-release supervision; for every Hoosier corrections dollar, only 2 cents made it to non-incarceration agencies and programs.

n One in 26 adults in Indiana is “under correctional control,” either behind bars, on parole or probation. That is greater than the national average of one in 31 (7.3 million) and places Indiana ninth among all states for high ratios of correctional population. (Georgia is the worst with a one in 13 ratio.)

n In 1982, the ratio in Indiana was one in 106 adults. Nationally, the number was one in 77.

n Of the correctional population here (about 182,000 people), fewer than one-quarter is actually in jail or prison. Nationally, the incarcerated make up about one-third of the correctional population.

n The cost to Hoosiers of keeping a person in prison or jail is $54.28 per day, much less than the national average of $79. The difference in our spending for parolees is huge compared to the national average for parolees: $2.87 per day versus $7.47.

(In 1983, Indiana spent considerably more on parolees, $4.72 per day, and less on inmates, $42.97.)

n Over the past 25 years, as prison operations have become a lucrative “industry” with private, for-profit companies contracting for everything from medical care to guards, about 1.1 million prison beds have been added to the U.S. correctional system.

One result: The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and more people behind bars than any other nation — including China, Russia and Iran. We’re No. 1.

Good to know we’ve gotten some distinction for our efforts. Lord knows, we’ve paid enough for it.



Stephanie Salter can be reached at (812) 231-4229 or stephanie.salter@tribstar.com

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