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Correctional Partnerships: A Secure, Efficient, Flexible Option for Government

These days, government at all levels faces tougher times and harder choices. They are expected to do as much – if not more – with less. Citizens expect safe roads, well-funded schools and a safety net for the most vulnerable citizens. They support positive community growth, despite tighter budget constraints and vehement opposition to tax increases and more deficit spending. Even though the pool of budgeted resources is contracting, public needs remain as diverse and as necessary as ever.

Above all else, governments have a responsibility to keep citizens safe. Decision-makers and taxpayers alike know that communities must continue to be protected and provided for. They count on local emergency, law enforcement and fire professionals to quickly respond to them in times of need. As a result, savvy governments increasingly look to establish public-private partnerships to achieve the cost effectiveness, flexibility, competitive pricing and innovation for which leading companies are valued.

Governments are partnering with businesses to deliver and manage a range of services that were once provided solely by the public sector. Companies now work with governments to maintain and improve roads, make cutting-edge technologies available to communities and effectively manage waste. Public-private partnerships enable agencies to harness the power, relationships, speed and advancements of the marketplace while maintaining the strict standards, institutional accountability and responsible oversight of the government.

From California to Florida and many places in between, governments have discovered the benefits of entering into public-private partnerships when it comes to corrections, too. Federal, state and local agencies have turned to partnership prison companies like CCA to build new prisons that are staffed by knowledgeable and fully trained staff, who adhere to government’s exacting reporting criteria and respect its ongoing, on-site monitoring.

According to The Washington Policy Center:

• At first glance, building and operating prisons would appear to be a natural and exclusive function of government. On closer inspection, however, there is really no reason operating a prison system should remain a government monopoly. Like many essential public services, the government’s responsibility is to see that a sustainable, high-quality corrections system is provided, not that the government itself should build and operate it.

The corrections crisis demands real, long-term solutions. As states continue Weathering the Economic Downturn in Corrections, funneling more public funds into inefficient, ineffective corrections systems and outdated, overcrowded correctional facilities simply isn’t a long-term option. Taxpayers deserve – and demand – better. Correctional partnerships provide solutions that governments should increasingly consider in correctional planning for the future.

The traditional corrections model based on government-run prisons is clearly outmoded and is having difficulty keeping up with the growing needs of public safety. The conventional answer is for lawmakers simply to put more money into the current system. Given budget restraints and the public’s strong anti-tax sentiment, however, that approach is no longer feasible.[1]

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(1) Guppy, Paul. “Private Prisons and the Public Interest: Improving Quality and Reducing Cost through Competition,” Washington Policy Center, February 2003