NASHVILLE - The Board of Probation & Parole and the Department of Correction have saved Tennessee taxpayers more than $33,000,000 during fiscal year 2009-2010 through implementation of their Joint Offender Management Plan. Figures reported to the Select Oversight Committee on Corrections show the two agencies achieved 87% of their first year savings goal, delaying the need for construction of a new prison from 2016 to 2020.
Governor Phil Bredesen credited the leadership of both agencies for the success of the plan. “These two agencies worked collaboratively to develop a plan to reduce expenses while also helping offenders to rebuild their lives,” he said. “The results so far are impressive.”
BOPP Chairman Charles Traughber said Tennessee’s approach is a productive way of dealing with budget shortfalls. “In these difficult financial times, some states have chosen to save money through wholesale early releases of offenders. We took a different route -- helping offenders already in the community to rebuild their lives, thereby reducing the chance that they might return to prison.”
TDOC and BOPP worked with several partners who provided resources to support the plan. TDOC Commissioner Ray said, “We credit Governor Bredesen, the Legislature, the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (DMHDD) and the Office of Criminal Justice Programs (OCJP) for helping us put this plan in place.”
TDOC saved money through payroll savings, and by keeping fewer state felons in local jails. BOPP’s savings came through fewer revocations of technical parole violators, creating more placements in local community corrections programs and increasing the number of parole certificates.
Tennessee’s Joint Offender Management Plan was developed using evidence based practices shown effective in other states. A major component is a new risk/needs assessment tool being used by both agencies. This tool, called the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI), helps identify factors that may have motivated individual offenders to commit crimes. With this knowledge, offenders are being directed to programs and/or treatment that give them a better chance at leading successful, law-abiding lives in the future.
DMHDD worked with BOPP to establish a treatment services network that helps parolees and probationers with issues such as drug and alcohol dependency, common factors in many crimes. BOPP has also enhanced administrative case review committee (ACRC) options throughout the state to work with technical offenders, rather than revoking them to prison. Offenders with technical violations, such as being slow to pay fees or not being able to find work, can get back into compliance through ACRC. This preserves costly prison beds for more serious offenders to remain incarcerated. Traughber adds, “However, if an offender commits a new crime while under our supervision, we’ll work to send that person back to jail or prison.”