Delaware State News
DOVER - Last year, as Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's administration began work on the next state budget, the Department of Correction grappled with a staffing shortage and security questions that came to light during a July hostage incident.
A year later, the agency remains short of correctional officers and has to deal with public outcry over the level of health care prisoners receive.
"Corrections work is difficult work," Commissioner of Correction Stanley W. Taylor said Tuesday during a budget presentation.
"We supervise difficult offenders under difficult circumstances. We have dedicated, hard-working employees who put it on the line every day and I am proud of all of them."
Mr. Taylor and legislators say the flap over prison health care won't force the staffing and security improvements to be swept under the proverbial rug.
"My No. 1 goal is to always to make sure we have enough correctional officers to protect the public safety," said Rep. John C. Atkins, R-Millsboro, chairman of the House Corrections Committee.
"When you have a limited budget, that should always be the priority over the inmates."
At a General Assembly public hearing Monday night, activists, former inmates and families of ex-prisoners lambasted Mr. Taylor's agency and the private company the state has hired to provide health care.
Allegations ranged from denial of medication, misdiagnosis and neglect.
Sen. Charles L. Copeland, R-Greenville, called the combination of the staffing shortage, security concerns and health care questions "a troubling trend."
"It all starts from the same point," Sen. Copeland said after Monday's hearing.
"Eighty-five percent of the problems with any agency stem from management. We have the same management and they have failed to address these problems."
David B. Knight, senior vice president of the correctional officers' union, thinks the solutions to the issues are related and solving the staffing shortage will resolve other problems.
"A lot of this is interconnected," Mr. Knight said.
"The officers are the ones who interact with the inmates every day and take them to receive medical care.
"If we have more officers, the inmates will receive better care."
After Monday's legislative hearing, several lawmakers speculated the state would have to beef up its annual allocation for prisoner health care in the state budget.
The state is already spending $25.9 million this year on its health care contract with St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services.
Mr. Taylor's budget request sought an additional $2 million for health care, mostly to fund inflationary increases, but more cash for inmate health could be in the works.
"If someone has a specific proposal, our expectation is that we review it and consider it along with all the other meritorious requests," said Jennifer W. Davis, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
"At this point, I do not see this as a money issue."
Calls for Mr. Taylor's resignation have quieted since several lawmakers called for him to step down in September, but some legislators seem uneasy with the agency's performance.
"We have lost confidence in the corrections department," said House Speaker Rep. Terry R. Spence, R-New Castle.
"Something needs to be done to regain our confidence."
Other lawmakers are not as quick to criticize Mr. Taylor and the department.
They point out prisoners are not the easiest people to care for and that the agency is making improvements.
"I've had that job," said Sen. James T. Vaughn, D-Clayton, a chair of the Senate's corrections committee and a former commissioner of correction in the 1970s.
"I know how tough it is. Stan is OK. Sometimes I wish he is tougher than he is.
"Stan has people under him. He can't do it by himself."
Security concerns
A convicted rapist serving a 699-year sentence took prison counselor Cassandra Arnold hostage on July 12, 2004, at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna, raped her and kept her captive for almost seven hours before a correctional officer shot the inmate to death.
The incident brought to light questionable security practices at the facility, such as propping open doors that should have been locked.
As a result, the agency changed security policies at DCC to keep a better eye on prisoners and limit their movement.
In June, legislators and Gov. Minner agreed to set aside $1.5 million in a fund to pay for future security upgrades.
At his budget presentation, Mr. Taylor said about $606,000 of that money has already been earmarked for training and upgraded security equipment such as electronic doors and cameras.
"The Department of Correction is committed to ensuring the safety of the public as its top priority," Mr. Taylor said.
"This commitment applies whether the offender is in prison or the supervised community."
Staffing needs
The July 12, 2004, hostage incident inflamed correctional officers' long-standing concerns about a lack of staffing.
"While it is too early to say we have turned the corner on our correctional officer vacancy problem, there are some encouraging signs," Mr. Taylor said in his budget pitch.
"We currently have 50 correctional officer cadets in two recruitment classes. By the end of calendar year 2005, we will have more than 1,600 correctional officer employees for the first time since June of 2004.
"We still face many challenges. We have 298 correctional officer vacancies and 35 employees on active military leave. We have made a number of adjustments to mitigate the impact of the vacancies, but correctional officers continue to carry a heavy burden."
Pay raises and recruitment incentives have enticed more people to enter the correctional officer profession, but Mr. Knight said the attrition rate of about dozen officers a month negates those gains.
Mr. Knight said he was encouraged that the department's budget plan for fiscal 2007, which begins July 1, includes implementing recommendations from a task force that studied correctional officer issues in 2003.
That report suggests the state award automatic pay hikes for longevity and offer a career ladder that gives longer-serving officers more advancement opportunities.
"We need to offer officers a reason to stay and not to leave for other jobs," Mr. Knight said.
"A lot of officers can take nearby jobs with other states or the federal government after they receive training in Delaware."
The state's prison population slightly exceeds the capacity the system was designed to accommodate.
As the state plans for more prisons, it will also need to find officers to staff the facilities.
Mr. Taylor said those plans could include designing the facilities so less staff is needed and coming up with ways to entice recruits and convince existing officers to remain on the job.
"We have much more interest in the southern end of the state but we have more openings in the northern end," Mr. Taylor said.
"We need to come up with some compensation - either an incentive to move or compensation for travel costs.
"We need to start thinking creatively about flexible schedules and increased compensation for transportation. We need to get serious about alternative scheduling that meets employees' needs."
Staff writer Joe Rogalsky can be reached at 741-8226 or jrogalsky@newszap.com
