TDOC/BOPP Joint Plan
(video transcript)

Hello. I'm George Little, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction

We are here today to talk a little bit about an innovative joint plan between the Department of Correction and the Board of Probation and Parole that we believe will add to public safety here in Tennessee.

I’m Charles Traughber, Chairman of the Board of Probation and Parole. The joint plan between the Board of Probation and Parole and the Department of Correction will change the face of corrections in the State of Tennessee.  Its primary focus is on offenders under supervision in the community…to provide them with opportunities that can help them avoid situations that contributed to past criminal behavior.  By doing that, we help ensure public safety and save money for the state.  First, this is not a mass release program.  Instead, it’s another way of managing offenders.  It provides several options for our probation and parole officers, the courts and community corrections agencies to help offenders focus on the issues that contribute to criminal behavior.  It will utilize assessment tools, treatment services and other practices and programming that have been shown to be successful in other jurisdictions.  We are certain that this program will be successful in reducing recidivism.  That’s why we have joined together to put it into place.

Little:  I would like to thank you for the hard work you do on behalf of all of the citizens of this state. Very often, what we do is not fully appreciated. I just want to let you know as your Commissioner and on behalf of Governor Phil Bredesen, your work is appreciated and we are making a difference.

Now that the budget has been adopted, we are prepared to put the joint plan into action. The TDOC was asked to come up with 43 million dollars in savings. We came up with a plan that responded to that and, in fact, was so aggressive in terms of what we thought we could produce, ultimately our savings request for the two fiscal years, beginning July 2009,  is now a total of 64 million dollars.

There are several different components of this plan. First, it involves phasing some prison beds off line. For our longtime veterans of the department, you know that we’ve taken six cuts since we came out from under federal court supervision and frankly, we’re at a point where there are no other savings, besides the reduction of prison beds.

Beyond that, we began to look at the greater needs. What we found is that we can do an even better job of protecting public safety while realizing the necessary savings and we can do that to meet the long-term needs of the state of Tennessee. That’s where your role comes in. Of course, we’ll have to continue to operate our prisons and community programs in such a way that they fit with policy and procedure, so as to protect the public and protect ourselves. Beyond that, we’re implementing a comprehensive plan that starts with a risk and needs assessment, the LS/CMI that will begin the day an offender is in court and will follow them through the end of their term of parole supervision. The LS/CMI, which is the level of service / case management inventory, is a prescription for each man and woman who comes to us. We find that many of the men and women who come to us have a great many needs and those needs in most cases contributed to them being with us in the TDOC or on probation or parole supervision.

This risk assessment instrument represents a bold step forward for us because we are committing ourselves to correcting behavior not just containing individuals.

Through this level of service inventory, we will be dealing not only with the needs of individuals but will continue to address the risks. The risks of assaultive behavior, the risk of escape and the risk in the community of these offenders. We recognize that if we’re truly going to have a positive impact we have to do a good job not only while individuals are with us but also when they return home to our communities.

We believe that effective offender programming is also good security. So even as it contributes to the outcomes once somebody leaves us it will help us better manage inmates while they are with us. Beyond that, we’re working with the Board of Probation and Parole on a number of diversion programs for technical violators.
These are individuals who simply can’t get it together when they’re in the community and end up back with us in corrections. Perhaps they start doing drugs or alcohol again or maybe they can’t make it in to see their probation or parole officer. Whatever it is, we’re weighing out the need to save scarce prison beds for the most violent and serious offenders versus somebody who can’t comply with their program. We think dealing with these offenders in the community or perhaps a technical violator center makes a lot more sense both fiscally and from a public safety standpoint.

We will then we look to provide transitional programming to improve the chances that men and women can succeed in the community. When they’re successful, we’re all safer and they contribute to the tax base and become productive citizens. These are all parts of the plan but we have to work together.

You may ask, what’s in it for us. As I said at the outset, the TDOC has been asked to come up with 64 million dollars in savings. At it’s most basic what’s in it for us is the ability to save jobs while protecting public safety.

This plan doesn’t involve early releases of offenders. It involves working with offenders while we have them and working with them while they’re in the community. The plan is about managing our prison beds efficiently, while controlling intake into our prisons.

Certainly safer prisons and a better environment in our community is part of what’s in it for us. The other part of what’s in it for us is we’ve come too far in terms of this fiscal condition that we face in Tennessee. For the old heads out there who would say, “well the Commissioner is only going to be around for a little while longer,”  I would say to everyone in the sound of my voice that we’re at a point now where much like Cortez landed on the new world, the boats have been burned, we can’t turn back. The fiscal resources simply aren’t there in the current environment. However, we do have a choice. Do we shut down prison beds, do we let individuals out early, do we perhaps lay off individuals in our ranks and ultimately compromise public safety at several different levels or do we chart out a brave new path and move forward in a way that provides coordinated, comprehensive services?

I invite each of you to move forward with us. We think this is the right thing to do. It would be the right thing to do even if we didn’t have the fiscal environment in which we are working but this allows us to manage scarce resources, keep beds available for the most serious violent offenders while not engaging in early release and really lets us be about the business of correcting offender behavior.

Once in a lifetime, once in a career there’s an opportunity to really make a difference. I believe with our staff, the very best in the country and I say this without reservation, with the very best in the country we can succeed. I ask you to come along, to engage the training you will be receiving, to engage the planning and the processes to change the way that we do business.

Working as a team within our institution, with probation and parole and with our communities at large because if we do this, we can meet the request that has been put to us by the legislature and by the Governor and we can provide for a safer Tennessee. Something we can all be proud of. Again, thank you for all that you do. 

Traughber: To summarize, the plan is based on research, on best practices and things that have proven to work. For offenders, this is not mass release. We do not want to repeat the mistakes of other states where they have had mass release programs so Offenders do not get your hopes up. It’s accountability. You will be accountable to finish the program as identified by the assessment tool as your goals and objectives when you are released. For offenders under supervision, you will be required to meet those goals. For the community, you will have offenders who will be returning with some definite plan to achieve some goals and objectives as well as to remove themselves from supervision in a successful manner. This plan again is about reducing offender recidivism. It’s a different way of doing business. To all of the staff in the board of probation and parole and department of correction, we want to thank you for your hard work and for your efforts and for all of those years that have contributed to this plan we want to thank you and those who will be carrying out this plan. We know we have a big job ahead of us but it will be worth it. Lastly, this is a plan we know will work and we solicit you ideas for carrying it out. Thank you very much.