Members of the CRCP (Frank Dunbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Charlie Culbertson, Florence Welch and Nancy Moran) and others (Frank J. Murphy [educator], Roland Daniels [Baltimore City Health Department AIDS Outreach Center] and Frank Boston [Delegate to General Assembly, Chairman of Baltimore City Delegation]) participated in a tour and briefing on the recently-opened Pre-Release Unit for Women on Thursday, October 31, 1991.
Present for the tour and briefing the group were Barbara Shaw ["Facility Administrator"], Sr. Cecelia Doyle [Chaplain, MCIW], other employees of the facility and a Mr. Dodson [from the Classification Unit for the Pre-Release System].
Below is an account of what was learned during the event:
BPRUW is located at 301 North Calverton Road (off Franklin Street) in Baltimore City. Its zip code is 21223. It officially opened on June 20, 1991 and admitted its first inmates on July 13th. The cost to build the facility was $3.9 million. It was originally conceived as a CARC ("Community Adult Rehabilitation Center") but by the time of its opening, it was converted for use as both a Pre-Release Unit and minimum security facility. Its rated capacity is 72 (though the population as of the date of the tour was 57). It has 33 full-time employees.
Administrative/Financial: BPRUW is administered as part of the 11- unit Pre-Release System (PRS) of the Division of Correction (DOC), especially in regard to Personnel, Dietary and Finance functions. Thus, the "warden" is Thomas R. "Randy" Corcoran while the on-site director is Barbara Shaw, who has the title "Facility Administrator". According to Ms. Shaw, the budget for BPRUW is integrated with that of the entire 11-facility Pre-Release System so that specific figures and cost estimates for BPRUW itself could not be provided. (However, based on information developed during the tour and briefing, Bill O'Reilly speculated that the annual cost per inmate would be about $30,000, probably the highest in the State. This figure was not challenged by any of the staff present.)
Population Overview: According to DOC statistics distributed by Ms. Shaw as of October, 1991, roughly 76% of BPRUW residents were "black" while 24% were "white". This statistic was derived at a point when the population was 63; as of the date of the tour, the population was 57. (By comparison, the rated capacity of MCIW is 479, but the actual population stood at 879.) All residents were female. Ms. Shaw stated that 33 or 34 (over half) were on work release status. Five were "lifers", at least one of whom had been in the system for 18 years. None was considered "handicapped", although the facility was designed to accommodate disabled persons. Ms. Shaw also spoke of a "range" or "mix" where some residents had sentences around 6 months, others (such as for parole violation) for 5 years, and yet others in the range of 20 to 30 years. No one is admitted directly from Diagnostic Center, and some federal prisoners stay there on a contract basis although no federal prisoners were there as of the date of the tour. Upon questioning, Ms. Shaw estimated that "less than one percent" came from areas other than Baltimore City, and that 8 out of 10 remained in the area after release if they had a job.
Financial Situation (Residents): More than half of all residents (per Shaw: 33-34) were on "work release", earning a fairly broad spectrum of income. These residents are charged by the DOC $76.54 for every 40 hours they work. Their commissary accounts are also considered their "nest eggs"; the maximum a person could "spend" per week on commissary was $55. By report, some inmates had amassed as much as $5,000 to $6,000 by release though $2,000 to $3,000 was more common. Residents have the opportunity to apply their savings toward bus passes and/or to send home once each month.
Description of Building and Premises: The facility is completely one- story in design. As of the date of the tour, there was no sign or other criteria identifying the structure as a prison or even as part of the DOC. The facility is remarkable for its non-foreboding appearance; the facade is done in red brick punctuated with sash windows at regular intervals with jade-green tiling for decorative accent. Exterior fencing is very much unlike a medium-security prison: the chain link fence without barbed wire on the outside perimeter serves more to keep intruders out than keep residents in; a wooden slat fence (about 7' high) serves to provide privacy and noise reduction; a cast-iron style padlocked gate delimits an inner courtyard from the outside.
Relative to other DOC facilities, great attention was paid to interior design and especially color coordination. BPRUW has two color "themes": peach and jade-green, which enhance the pleasing esthetic effect. In addition, with regard to housing areas, the facility is logistically separated into two ("peach" and "green") segments.
Overall, the facility consists of an administration area containing a reception area (without closed-circuit monitors), office space, two holding cells, rooms devoted to storage of supplies and to house drug, alcohol and fingerprint analysis equipment; a visiting area consisting of a visiting room, a day room known as the "Children's Room" containing toys and other items, locker space and restrooms; a combination classroom/library; a large "multipurpose" room (such as for conferencing) and din- ing/kitchen area; and two housing areas including day rooms, a "beauty room" (aka "special service"), 8 payphone alcoves on each side, commissary and other space. All of these are arranged so as to surround an outside open area in the center, known informally as the "Little Harbor", a well-landscaped area featuring several park benches, concrete walkway and lighting fixtures for night use.
The facility itself houses 40 rooms of mixed double and single occupancy. The rooms are relatively small, but are characterized by doors with handles (rather than grates), standard-size windows that may be opened and closed at will and allow full view of the outside, an ample storage closet, and thigh-high shelving for personal effects. The floors throughout except for bathroom facilities are linoleum not concrete. Large color televisions are present in the day rooms, but not in individual rooms. Laundry, soda machines, and payphones are available either by token or with small change.
Education/Library: According to staff members present, education is not considered a priority for the women at BPRUW. The education offered is primarily for GED candidates. College programs are absent because they usually require a commitment of two semesters and BPRUW residents are generally not expected to be there that long. Since virtually all of the residents have come from MCIW, they essentially have completed whatever education thought needed prior to transfer. The "library", provided by the Department of Education, consisted of a single bookcase containing for the most part second-, third- and fourth-rate "romance"-type paperbacks.
Provision for "Family"-Type Interaction: To allow for inter-family visiting and opportunity for residents to "bond" with their children, a separate and distinct visiting room is available. The facility is presently soliciting donations of toys and other such items to make the area more conducive to children and family visiting. The group found during the tour, however, that because of a difference between the cable company and PRS regarding payment, cable hookup had been disconnected.
"Security"/Custody Aspects: Drug and alcohol testing is done frequently, including at first admission, after family leave or furlough, and on a spot basis thereafter. A positive test result would mean immediate transfer back to MCIW for hearing. The facility is equipped with only two "holding" cells and is not prepared to sequester a person overnight. There is no "lockup" or segregation area.
"Escape": By regulation, a person on work release is considered to be a potential escapee if her return is delayed by 16 minutes or more. At that point, staff must follow escape procedures which may include calling an employer, bus company and so forth. The next stage in the process is to file and incident report; after that, formal escape charges may be filed. The group was told at one point that the standard procedure was to send the person back to MCIW for lateness of 20 minutes or more.
Classification/Work Release: It was noted several times that, unlike the rest of the system, BPRUW continued to operate well below capacity. The reason given by both Ms. Shaw and Mr. Dodson was slowness or obstacles presented by the classification system in use at MCIW. The Case Management Program was just being instituted. DCR 155-2 governing work release prescribes a 30-day stay before employment placement. Jobs had to be approved by the Administrator; reasons for declining a job were said to include: low pay, resident not suited to the job, or the job not suited to the resident. (Also, there is a rule that persons on work release could not leave the building of their job for lunch or the like.) Regulations also proscribe persons convicted of crimes of violence, distribution of narcotics and/or child abuse.
Outside Input: Even prior to building BPRUW, the Division actively sought the involvement the surrounding community and continues to do so by regular meetings of staff with community residents. BPRUW relies heavily on local and church volunteers such as for the "family" program.
The commissary was described as an "administrative headache". Prices were said to be comparable or less than those on the outside. The current commissary pricelist was given to interested group members, and prices did appear to be lower although selection was limited.
Nancy Moran
Prisoners Aid Association
November 20, 1991
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