Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Prison study unveils potential savings
The findings of an analysis commissioned by the Delaware County Jail Oversight Board determined that the county could save up to $7 million annually by taking over the operations of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.
During a public unveiling of the study Thursday, the assessment included a reduction in staff, mostly administrative and in the K-9 unit, and potentially in population and featured a 6 percent salary increase for staff at the facility and a $1.6 million increase in programming. Proponents said it demonstrated an ability to direct revenues towards rehabilitating citizens and retaining employees; opponents questioned the risk it would place on the county, such as litigation costs.
It showed that the facility
could be under county operations as early as next
March, if notification to the current operator, GEO
Group Inc., would be given in August.
“If the decision is to deprivatize, it’s not something that it can be done lightly or should be done quickly,” Kevin Madden, chairman of the Jail Oversight Board and a county councilman, said. “It’s something that has to be done in a responsible manner. But, at the end of the day, this is not rocket science. I hear a lot of concerns about the risk of taking action but I want to highlight again, we are the only county in the state of Pennsylvania who does not run their own jail and who outsources it to a private entity. We can’t lose sight of that. Other counties have found ways to mitigate risks ... My view is pretty clear. I think the benefits are well worth the risk because ultimately, our responsibility and our priority is the health and welfare and safety of our community both in the jail and outside the jail.”
In December, the county Jail Oversight Board hired CGL Companies to over
see the transition of the 1,883-inmate facility and perform a financial evaluation of such a transition. The facility has been operated and managed by GEO Group Inc. since 1998.
At the time, county officials looked towards privatization as a way to reduce the costs of building a new prison to replace the old facility. In December 2019, a Republican-majority council approved a fiveyear, $264 million contract with GEO. It included a sixmonth opt-out transition clause.
On Thursday, CGL presented the findings of their report, which presented three scenarios: status quo; a revised staffing and program model; and a reduced average daily inmate population approach. Various factors evaluated to determine those costs included the facility’s population; the staffing pattern; the facility’s condition; policies; and operations.
Karl Becker of CGL Companies said the assessment was not the creation of an operation budget for the facility but how deprivatization would situate the county and if it was financially feasible to due further evaluation of this process. He said public safety, accountability and facility operations would need to be addressed separately.
The 6 percent acrossthe-board salary increases with county benefits, were accounted for in all three models, as was the outsourcing of health care and food services. A 5 percent contingency was also built into each.
“Staff turnover is a major problem at the facility,” Becker said. “Salaries at the George W. Hill are below levels paid to correctional staff at other counties in the region and as a result, the facility has a staff turnover rate in excess of 30 percent. It’s our understanding
that 40 percent of newly hired staff leave within six months of hiring. And, if we know anything in corrections, it’s that high staff turnover rates lead to an inexperienced workforce which can create operational problems so we think a salary increase is an important consideration going forward.”
The status quo approach was determined to cost $49.9 million, or $72.56 per day per inmate, to serve a population of 1,883, which is the facility’s capacity. Staffing levels and programming would remain the same.
In the second scenario, 48.5 full-time positions would be eliminated and $1.6 million would be invested into new programs. This option is anticipated to cost the county $47.7 million each year, or $69.42 per day per inmate.
Becker said about 38 percent of the staff reductions in this scenario would be administrative and questioned the necessity of the 10 staff appropriated for the K-9 unit.
In the third scenario, there would be 68.5 positions eliminated, 20 due to the closing of a housing unit as this model shows the reduction of the average daily population to 1,450. The enhanced programming would include substance abuse treatment and behavioral program services. This model was shown to cost $43.1 million a year with a cost of $81.44 per inmate per day.
Becker also spoke to onetime costs that would be incurred as a result of a transition, noting that $8 million would be estimated for all new equipment and more than $1 million for transitional support, such as human resources, procurement and IT.
In addition, he said facility capital repairs and security enhancements, such as cameras, would need to be assessed. A facility assessment of the county prison is underway and its results are anticipated to be finalized soon.
If deprivatization were to be pursued, human resources would face challenges with having to hire this amount of staff, the county would need resources to manage health, food and commissary services and capital investment and litigation costs would need to be addressed, according to Becker.
“That said, these issues are not unique to Delaware County,” he said. “There is very few privatized county jails in the United States and the vast majority of counties successfully address these issues as they manage their own jail systems.”
GEO submitted a fivepage comment responding to the study.
“As a professional management company for the George W. Hill Correctional Facility for almost 20 years, GEO has serious concerns about the recent cost-analysis study and recommendations that will, if acted upon, jeopardize the safety of inmates and staff – while significantly impacting the residents of Delaware County,” David Byrne, GEO’s facility administrator, said. “The study fails to provide a complete picture of the actual costs the county will incur if it assumes operation of the jail.”
He noted that several of the one-time costs, such as oversight and equipment, are recurring and questioned how the county would operate the facility with up to 25 percent less staff.
Byrne also questioned the ability of the county to handle the support functions as well as how it would pay for necessary facility improvements and how the county would reduce recidivism. During Thursday’s presentation, it was noted that George W. Hill has a 60 percent recidivism rate.
Board member and county Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Alice Brennan also expressed concern about the potential of catastrophic litigation costs being passed to
the county. Currently, GEO is responsible for these costs as a part of their contract.
Becker said the $385,913 provision for insurance in the financial assessment would cover these costs.
“So you’re saying that right there that $385,913 protects the county 100 percent against any lawsuits by any inmates and all attorneys’ fees?” Brennan asked.
Becker said he’d want to check into the details of the policies.
Madden added that every other county in Pennsylvania, and most others across the country, manage these risks successfully.
He emphasized that his stance is not an indictment of GEO but an expression of his belief that any forprofit entity does not have alignment with the county’s priorities for the health and well-being of Delaware County in the long term.
“The direct cost here is only one component of this decision,” he said. “The purpose of the work that CGL was to determine the financial feasibility and I believe that they’ve done just that. Under any scenario they laid out, the county would be saving a material amount of money versus the existing GEO contract.”
“Our priority is the safety and well-being of our community and our residents and as I’ve said before, my view is that the short-term motive for profit does not align with those priorities. A move to end this contract would mean removing the profit to GEO and investing in our people,” Madden said, whether that’s the workforce or the inmates. “Providing top-notch services whether that’s drug and alcohol addiction treatment, mental health, job training, parenting - these should not just be check the boxes and to a for-profit entity, that’s all too often what they are. If we invest in our neighbors and family members and help them help themselves to get their feet back under them, it’s less of a burden on the taxpayer and on our community.”