ANNUAL COST OF ISOLATION UNITS TO BE $2.8M EACH

A new analysis by the parliamentary budget officer says the annual cost of units for keeping federal prisoners apart from the general jail population will be $2.8 million apiece by 202627. In response to criticism of solitary confinement, the government created “structured intervention units” for prisoners requiring isolation to allow better access to programming and mental-health care. Prisoners transferred to the units are supposed to be allowed out of their cells for at least four hours each day, with two hours engaged in “meaningful human contact.” The budget officer’s report says the cost analysis considers the number of additional full-time employees required, the number of independent external decision-maker positions available, infrastructure costs and chaplaincy services.