Fontana to peruse SCI Pittsburgh operations
Wolf administration considering its closure
State Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline, is going behind bars at SCI Pittsburgh this morning for a better view of inmate services in the prison, one of the state correctional facilities the Wolf administration is considering shutting down to save money.
The prison along the Ohio River in Woods Run that opened in 1882 is the oldest of five the state is considering for two planned closures by June 30, but Mr. Fontana said safety and specialized inmate services are good arguments for keeping the lockup open.
He said the prison, historically known as the Western Penitentiary or Western Pen, provides inmate treatment for mental health, addiction and cancer not found in other state prison facilities.
Its proximity to Pittsburgh’s hospitals and its role as the intake center for inmates entering prisons in the western part of the state are also advantages, he said.
“There are certain functions SCI Pittsburgh does there that make it special, make it stand out, and should give the state compelling reasons not to close it,” said Mr. Fontana, who will begin his prison tour with the facility’s warden at 10:30 a.m. and be inside for an hour or so.
Other prisons under consideration for closure are SCI Frackville, Schuylkill County; SCI Mercer, Mercer County; SCI Retreat, Luzerne County; and SCI Waymart, Wayne County.
Closing SCI Pittsburgh would save $81 million in the first year, according to a state Department of Corrections facility analysis, slightly less than the $82 million that could be saved by closing SCI Waymart. Savings from closing any one of the other prisons on the list would range from $44 million to $46 million.
Most of the cost reductions would come from job cuts. SCI Pittsburgh employs 555, and has a little more than 1,900 inmates.
The state is facing a growing budget shortfall, and the Wolf administration wants to make a decision on which two prisons to close by Jan. 26 in advance of Gov. Tom Wolf’s Feb. 7 budget address. But Mr. Fontana said that timetable doesn’t allow sufficient time to publicly vet all of the alternatives, which should include reducing inmate populations.
“A lot of the talk so far has been about jobs, but we also need to think about safety, and about reducing prison populations, which is already happening.” he said. “Sentencing reform? We’re going down that road already.”
He said SCI Camp Hill in Cumberland County has more than a thousand empty spaces, as does SCI Graterford, a maximum security prison in Montgomery County.
The state spends $39,000 to $66,500 per inmate for housing annually in the five prisons under consideration for closure. SCI Pittsburgh’s annual cost per inmate is $53,413.
“I’m not saying that closing two prisons isn’t the way to go,” Mr. Fontana said, “but we need more hearings and data before we decide that’s the way to do it.”