NEWS

Sept 17, 2010
New prison outlined at RAP Breakfast

Rebecca Bowker of the Iowa State Penitentiary Thursday wowed a crowd of business people at the Keokuk Area Chamber of Commerce Recognition, Appreciation and Participation Breakfast.

The new prison is being built at the site of Prison Farm 1 on Route X38 in Fort Madison and will replace the old prison at the foot of Burlington Hill.

“We hope to build the premier institution in the country,” Bowker said. The oldest cellhouse in the ISP, Cellhouse 217, was erected in 1839. Although no longer in use, Cellhouse 217 is on the National Historical Register.

Cellhouse row was built between 1906 and 1920 and houses more than 500 male maximum security prisoners. The John Bennett Center is a medium security facility with a capacity of 170 inmates. In 2003, the clinical care unit was completed to house up to 200 mentally ill offenders. “Since the closing of state mentally ill facilities, we have had a great influx of mentally ill offenders,” Bowker said.

In the past, the prison system used an “indirect supervision model,” she said. “They’d put the offender in a cell and every 30 minutes a guard would walk by.” The new model is called the “direct supervision approach,” in which corrections officers, psychologists, social workers and others who work with prisoners are put in with the offenders.

Being with offenders will keep them from “doing anything inappropriate,” Bowker said. “It’s like your children. When you leave them in a room alone they’re going to get into trouble. If I’m sitting in the room with them, they’re more likely to behave themselves.”

About two years ago, Bowker and prison staff planned the new program, determining “what works, what doesn’t work and what’s likely to change,” she said. The design of the new prison reflects the shift in supervision methodology the Iowa Correctional Department has been moving to in the last several years. Corrections officials believe that giving inmates the tools to help them avoid reoffending upon release will help keep them out of prison, Bowker said.

Prisoners who don’t know how to deal with anger or deal with emotions are required to take anger management and communications classes. Those who don’t have a high school diploma take classes and earn their GED. “When 70 percent of offenders come out of prison, do you want to live next door to someone who doesn’t have anger management tools or do you want someone who has a GED?” she asked.

Iowa is second in the nation at 30 to 31 percent in the rate of prisoners who reoffend, as compared to California, which has a 72 percent rate, and Florida, with a 75 percent rate. “It’s something we’re proud of,” Bowker said. “And it’s a lot cheaper to put people in community-based programs than to have them in an institution.” Iowa has a prison population of 8,600.

Roughly three times that number are overseen in community-based corrections programs. In those programs, such as probation, parole and drug court, corrections officials talk to, program and teach offenders how to succeed in the community.

The new prison is being built on the 100 acres that used to be Prison Farm 1. Ninety-seven acres are being developed for the prison project. The new prison’s secure perimeter will surround 45 acres. “Inside the current (prison) walls we have 11 acres,” Bowker said.

“It’s going to be a huge adjustment for the inmates and the staff. There will be 700 feet to the chow line and chow hall compared to the 25 to 30 second walk to chow in the old prison. With the size change, even operationally we’ll have to do things differently.”

A transition team will take care of easing everyone into the changes, including the 455 policies and procedures used to operate the prison every day, she said. Staff will number 480 at the new prison – down from the 510 people now employed.

Bowker said the number of personnel typically fluctuates with the economy. When Iowa has a financial downturn, the prison is among the first institutions to feel the effects. The new prison also will need to recruit nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, optometrists and dentists for the new facility. “We need a full array of services,” Bowker said. “And we hope to be able to keep staff at optimal levels.”

The penitentiary in Fort Madison has a payroll of about $39 million with approximately 80 percent of that paid out to employees from Iowa. About 15 percent goes to staff from Illinois and about 5 percent to workers from Missouri. Starting correctional workers are paid approximately $35,000 to $40,000 plus benefits per year, she said.

Bowker estimates it takes $1.38 per meal per day to feed offenders and about $40,000 per year to house each inmate – good reasons to reduce a tendency for reoffense and to direct more offenders to community-based programs. “The more we reduce recidivism the more we save money,” she said.

Community-based programs cost about $12,000 per year per offender. Bowker doesn’t know what the plans are for the old prison.

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