Budget Cuts to the Correctional System
The country is still in the grips of a massive financial crisis. As companies and government organizations continue to feel the impact of the recent financial crisis, budgets are being slashed across the board. Unfortunately, that means that funding formerly allocated for public goods and programs is being cut as well. One of the largest budget cuts seen in a number of states across the country has been within the context of correctional facilities. Due to the exurbanite costs of keeping the prison systems running effectively, correctional facilities have been a major target for budget slashing. However, this leaves these facilities vulnerable and unable to care for the massive number of inmates that are in their charge.
The last few decades had actually seen an increase in prison spending, as more and more facilities diversified their programs and practices to incorporate new methods of inmate care. During the 1990s, there seemed to be huge increases in corrections budgets across the country (King & Mauer 2002). Research often states that this is because of an increase in the overall prison populations, which forced correctional facilities to increase their operating costs dramatically. By the turn of the millennium, the prison system was spending an average of $25,000 annually on each inmate (Luekefeld & Tims 1992). This number had increased to over $28,000 annually by 2004 (Awofeso 2005). The continuous increase in prison spending then made it a target when the financial status of the country turned for the worse. The research shows that 2001 saw spending of over $38 billion on corrections (King & Mauer 2002). When the financial crisis hit, many looked at that much money as unnecessary. According to the research, "In an era of increasingly tight budgets, many states are seeking to identify areas in which they can make significant cuts, and the growing corrections budget is one that is being...
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