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A sign designating the correctional institutions is shown Wednesday outside Maryland Correctional Institution - Hagerstown. (By Ric Dugan, Staff Photographer) |
Maryland's prison chief said this week that a reorganization of the state prison system will reduce recidivism and improve the way inmates re-enter society upon their release.
Gary D. Maynard, secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said Wednesday that part of the reorganization involves incarcerating prisoners in the same region where they committed their crimes.
"Offenders that come into the system stay in that region, and when they re-enter they stay in that region," Maynard said in a telephone interview. "At least 80, 85, 90 percent will be arrested in the region, sentenced in the region, incarcerated in the region and released in the region."
He said the only exceptions would be for death-row inmates and inmates who committed egregious crimes. Those prisoners will be incarcerated at North Branch Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison near Cumberland that houses the state's most serious offenders.
The reorganization emerged after officials from all state prison agencies met during four brainstorming retreats this year to come up with ideas that would improve public safety efforts across the department.
The group was tasked with addressing the current operational structure, which makes fluid movement of offenders from sentencing to rehabilitation difficult due to disparate missions, poor communications, rigid operations and antiquated data systems, according to the department's website at www.dpscs.maryland.gov/publicinfo/reorg/index.shtml.
The operational reorganization plan has three main objectives: regional integration, finding efficiencies and improving inmates' re-entry into society, the website said.
The old system of having a Division of Pretrial, a Division of Corrections and a Division of Parole/Probation was abandoned in favor of a system consisting of Central, South and North regions, Maynard said.
The North Region is comprised of Washington, Allegany, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard and Montgomery counties.
Washington County is home to three state prisons: The Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown; Roxbury Correctional Institution; and the Maryland Correctional Training Center.
Baltimore City and Baltimore County make up the Central Region.
The South Region includes the counties of Anne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Dorchester, Kent, Prince George's, Queen Anne's, Somerset, St. Mary's, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester.
The old system commonly incarcerated inmates far from their homes and transferred them from prison to prison, Maynard said. By keeping inmates in the same region, they will be closer to their families and benefit from having the same case workers, educational opportunities and job training throughout their prison stay.
Targeting recidivism
Officials believe those elements will better help prisoners re-enter society when they're released and decrease the recidivism rate, Maynard said.
"They'll be more stable," he said. "They'll stay in the same region. They won't be moved around the state. They'll be closer to family."
Regional integration is expected to be a boon because it is intended to open lines of communications and reduce overlapping services, according to the department's website.
"Rehabilitation at a regional level also allows DPSCS to better utilize the $15 million investment made in an Offender Case Management System, which parallels the reorganization by improving the flow of information about offenders under supervision," the website said.
Gary D. Maynard, secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said Wednesday that part of the reorganization involves incarcerating prisoners in the same region where they committed their crimes.
"Offenders that come into the system stay in that region, and when they re-enter they stay in that region," Maynard said in a telephone interview. "At least 80, 85, 90 percent will be arrested in the region, sentenced in the region, incarcerated in the region and released in the region."
He said the only exceptions would be for death-row inmates and inmates who committed egregious crimes. Those prisoners will be incarcerated at North Branch Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison near Cumberland that houses the state's most serious offenders.
The reorganization emerged after officials from all state prison agencies met during four brainstorming retreats this year to come up with ideas that would improve public safety efforts across the department.
The group was tasked with addressing the current operational structure, which makes fluid movement of offenders from sentencing to rehabilitation difficult due to disparate missions, poor communications, rigid operations and antiquated data systems, according to the department's website at www.dpscs.maryland.gov/publicinfo/reorg/index.shtml.
The operational reorganization plan has three main objectives: regional integration, finding efficiencies and improving inmates' re-entry into society, the website said.
The old system of having a Division of Pretrial, a Division of Corrections and a Division of Parole/Probation was abandoned in favor of a system consisting of Central, South and North regions, Maynard said.
The North Region is comprised of Washington, Allegany, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard and Montgomery counties.
Washington County is home to three state prisons: The Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown; Roxbury Correctional Institution; and the Maryland Correctional Training Center.
Baltimore City and Baltimore County make up the Central Region.
The South Region includes the counties of Anne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Dorchester, Kent, Prince George's, Queen Anne's, Somerset, St. Mary's, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester.
The old system commonly incarcerated inmates far from their homes and transferred them from prison to prison, Maynard said. By keeping inmates in the same region, they will be closer to their families and benefit from having the same case workers, educational opportunities and job training throughout their prison stay.
Targeting recidivism
Officials believe those elements will better help prisoners re-enter society when they're released and decrease the recidivism rate, Maynard said.
"They'll be more stable," he said. "They'll stay in the same region. They won't be moved around the state. They'll be closer to family."
Regional integration is expected to be a boon because it is intended to open lines of communications and reduce overlapping services, according to the department's website.
"Rehabilitation at a regional level also allows DPSCS to better utilize the $15 million investment made in an Offender Case Management System, which parallels the reorganization by improving the flow of information about offenders under supervision," the website said.
