“To direct the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to conduct a comprehensive review of understaffing across the Bureau, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings on understaffing at Bureau of Prisons facilities, which operate 121 institutions and employ nearly 35,000 staff and which jeopardize staff and inmate health, safety, and well-being by limiting inmate access to medical care, case reviews, sanitary conditions, recidivism reduction programs, and protections against abuse; endangering staff through workplace abuse, stress, health concerns, and long shifts; and reducing security and public safety via mandated overtime and employee overwork.
This section directs the Director of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), not later than 180 days after enactment, to complete an external review of BOP staffing levels and their impacts on employees, individuals in BOP custody, and agency spending; and to submit to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and the Council of Prison Locals C-33 (AFGE) (1) a plan for recruiting applicants, filling vacancies, reducing mandated overtime and augmentation misuse, and strengthening staffing; and (2) staffing guidelines specifying correctional officers and non-correctional staff (e.g., teachers, counselors, case managers, medical staff) needed per individual in custody, disaggregated by shifts, security levels, and special missions. The review, conducted by a non-BOP entity in consultation with the prison locals council, civil rights organizations, and recidivism-reduction organizations, must (1) assess understaffing effects on care/program waiting lists; medical, substance use disorder, mental health, and maternal care availability; compassionate release/home confinement/time credit processing under the First Step Act; evidence-based recidivism reduction programs and productive activities (as defined in 18 U.S.C. §3635); violence/neglect/sexual misconduct protections; food services; contraband detection; security cameras; radio system upgrades; employee work conditions; and overtime/augmentation costs; (2) include an independent medical care review by the National Academy of Medicine or equivalent; (3) compare BOP staffing assessment methodologies; and (4) provide a 3-year strategic plan with cost projections for filling vacancies and maintaining staffing. This section further requires BOP to implement the plan within 3 years after submission (subject to appropriations) and to submit annual progress reports to the specified committees and council for 3 years thereafter.