Prison Expansion

The Bureau of Prisons projects that its inmate population will swell from about 60,000 in 1991 to more than 98,000 by 1995. In response, the Bureau is building and expanding prisons at an unprecedented rate: the Bureau plans to open 47 new facilities and expand 16 existing facilities between 1992 and 1995. This report examines (1) recruiting results and whether difficulties exist in filling correctional officer, specialty, and technical positions; (2) whether the Bureau's practice of filling its management positions through internal promotions and lateral transfers will enable it to successfully fill future management positions; and (3) whether the Bureau's training plans will enable the agency to meet future training needs.

GAO found that BOP: (1) has generally met its recruitment staffing goals, although staffing in some of its occupational series fell below the 80 percent goal; (2) attributed the position vacancies on funding delays, pay increases, and salaries that are not competitive with those offered by state and local governments; (3) anticipates that it will have to recruit almost 16,000 new employees between 1992 and 1995, staff 13 institutions in fiscal year (FY) 1993, and staff 14 new institutions in FY 1994 and FY 1995; (4) would like to continue its policy of using internal promotions and lateral transfers to fill management and supervisory positions, but has not developed the information it needs to assess the number of eligible internal staff; and (5) could have difficulty filling some positions internally if past promotion rates do not increase. GAO also found that: (1) a forecasting model that evaluates BOP ability to meet its future management needs could indicate how well BOP is accomplishing its staffing objectives; (2) BOP needs to continue monitoring the effects of increasing promotion rates and training plans on employee ability to assume increased responsibilities; and (3) BOP has not had sufficient time to measure the effectiveness and use of its newly developed training initiatives.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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