Year 2000 Computing Crisis

The Bureau of Prisons depends on an information technology system--SENTRY--to carry out one of its most critical responsibilities--managing and tracking inmates. Among other things, SENTRY monitors prisoners, computes inmate sentences, documents work assignments, and tracks disciplinary actions. The Bureau also uses more than 2,000 individual non-information technology systems, which rely on embedded computers, for other vital functions, from video surveillance and perimeter detection systems to telephone switches and boiler controls. This report assesses how well the Bureau has managed its program to make these systems Year 2000 compliant. GAO discusses (1) the status of the Bureau's Year 2000 program and (2) recent steps the Bureau has taken to strengthen its management of the program and improve Year 2000 assistance to state and local governments.

GAO noted that: (1) BOP has assessed, tested, and implemented its only mission-critical information technology (IT) system and reports that it is year 2000 compliant; (2) in addition, BOP reports that it has assessed, renovated/replaced, and implemented 94 percent of its 2,021 mission-critical non-IT systems; (3) for those that are not yet implemented, BOP plans to do so by March 1999; (4) during the course of GAO's review, BOP has acted to strengthen its year 2000 program management, including: (a) defining its year 2000 program structure and developing a year 2000 conversion plan; (b) expanding its year 2000 program scope to include its 250 contract facilities; (c) tracking the status of workstation testing and non-IT assessments; (d) hiring a contractor to validate the vendors' year 2000 compliance certifications for non-IT systems; and (e) directing all offices, including contract facilities, and institutions to review, revise as necessary, and test their emergency preparedness plans for consideration of the threat of external infrastructure and internal system failures; (5) however, BOP's outreach efforts to the state and local corrections community have not been proactive; (6) during the course of GAO's review, BOP updated the BOP and National Institute of Corrections (NIC) Internet sites to provide links to government and private sector year 2000 sites and identify BOP and NIC points of contact; and (7) however, this requires that state and local corrections officials come to BOP to obtain the information.

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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