Taft Prison Facility: Cost Scenarios

• NCJ Number: 190778
• Author(s): Julianne Nelson Ph.D.
• Date Published: November 1999
• Length: 21 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Corrections
• Sale Source: National Institute of Corrections; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded on 10/05/01

Annotation

This study compared the contract cost of a private sector contractor, Wackenhut Corrections, with the cost of comparable services provided directly by the Bureau of Prisons in the operating of the Taft prison facility.

Abstract

In 1997, Wackenhut Corrections was awarded the contract to manage the new Taft Federal prison facility. Also, in 1997, Congress mandated that the Bureau of Prisons undertake a 5-year prison project involving the Taft prison facility examining the merits of having private sector contractors compete with civil service employees for the right to provide traditional public sector services. This study was the first of a series of shorter and more focused analyses on the contract cost of Wackenhut services and those comparable costs of services provided by the Bureau of Prisons. The study had a two-fold purpose. First, it recommended a methodology for comparing public and private sector costs grounded in the approach specified in OMB Circular A-76. Second, it used data from fiscal year 1998 to indicate what results may be anticipated from any longer range study using the A-76 methodology. The remainder of the report consists of seven sections. Section II defined the general A-76 methodology, describing the nature of the data used, and highlighting the findings presented in subsequent sections. Section III defined the specific accounting framework used to analyze Wackenhut performance at Taft. Sections IV through VII explained the calculations used for specific cost categories. Finally, Section VIII summarized the findings of the study and described a number of issues to be resolved in further research. In summation, it was seen that if the Bureau of Prisons uses a staffing plan similar to the ones in place at the Federal Correctional Institute at Elkton Forrest City, and Yazoo City and their 1998 costs remained representative of future costs, then the privatization experiment at Taft was not likely to save taxpayer dollars. Tables