MommaHen
10-23-2003, 10:10 AM
Prison to hold elderly, infirm
By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
10/16/2003
View in Print (PDF) Format
The Corrections Department plans to start building a facility for medically needy and older inmates soon.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The state Department of Corrections is about six months away from launching construction on a facility for medically needy and elderly inmates, DOC Director Ron Ward said.
Corrections officials plan to use $5.1 million from a federal grant to build the facility, said Ken Klinger, deputy director of DOC operations.
A 10 percent state funding match will be required, he said.
Ward said the matching money will come out of agency funds that were not appropriated by lawmakers. The funds could come from revenue from Oklahoma Correctional Industries, dollars the state receives to house inmates for other agencies or funds paid to supervise offenders who are on probation, he said.
The agency is seeking slightly more than $47 million in new money in fiscal year 2005 to decrease its staff vacancy rate and pay for contract beds to house inmates, among other things. The department has said it believes that it will run out of money in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and will need a supplemental appropriation.
"It is one of those things that you will not see anything as far as something coming out of the ground for around six months, which almost puts us into the new fiscal year," Ward said of the new facility.
"It will not really affect us this particular year. Next year is when we have to use one or a combination of those funding sources."
The 250-bed, stand-alone facility will be built adjacent to the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington, Ward said. Completion of the facility could take about 1 1/2 years.
Officials say building the facility next to Joseph Harp will reduce overhead costs.
The number of employees required to run the facility and annual operational costs have not been determined, Klinger said.
The facility will house offenders who are elderly, who use wheelchairs or who have medical conditions that can't be handled at other Corrections Department facilities, according to Klinger.
Officials are not calling it a geriatric prison but a facility that will be compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The one-story facility will house medium-security offenders, Klinger said.
The DOC put plans for a geriatric prison on hold in 2000 after federal grant funds to build the facility were in question and state funds were diverted.
"We wanted to make sure that there really was a need in our agency to spend the money," Klinger said. "We do know we have that need now. The need is growing. Our population average age is 36 years of age. However, they have a multitude of physical ailments."
According to an August DOC report, 4.8 percent of the department's population -- or 1,098 inmates -- is at least 56 years old.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbara Hoberock (405) 528-2465
barbara.hoberock@tulsaworld.com
By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
10/16/2003
View in Print (PDF) Format
The Corrections Department plans to start building a facility for medically needy and older inmates soon.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The state Department of Corrections is about six months away from launching construction on a facility for medically needy and elderly inmates, DOC Director Ron Ward said.
Corrections officials plan to use $5.1 million from a federal grant to build the facility, said Ken Klinger, deputy director of DOC operations.
A 10 percent state funding match will be required, he said.
Ward said the matching money will come out of agency funds that were not appropriated by lawmakers. The funds could come from revenue from Oklahoma Correctional Industries, dollars the state receives to house inmates for other agencies or funds paid to supervise offenders who are on probation, he said.
The agency is seeking slightly more than $47 million in new money in fiscal year 2005 to decrease its staff vacancy rate and pay for contract beds to house inmates, among other things. The department has said it believes that it will run out of money in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and will need a supplemental appropriation.
"It is one of those things that you will not see anything as far as something coming out of the ground for around six months, which almost puts us into the new fiscal year," Ward said of the new facility.
"It will not really affect us this particular year. Next year is when we have to use one or a combination of those funding sources."
The 250-bed, stand-alone facility will be built adjacent to the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington, Ward said. Completion of the facility could take about 1 1/2 years.
Officials say building the facility next to Joseph Harp will reduce overhead costs.
The number of employees required to run the facility and annual operational costs have not been determined, Klinger said.
The facility will house offenders who are elderly, who use wheelchairs or who have medical conditions that can't be handled at other Corrections Department facilities, according to Klinger.
Officials are not calling it a geriatric prison but a facility that will be compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The one-story facility will house medium-security offenders, Klinger said.
The DOC put plans for a geriatric prison on hold in 2000 after federal grant funds to build the facility were in question and state funds were diverted.
"We wanted to make sure that there really was a need in our agency to spend the money," Klinger said. "We do know we have that need now. The need is growing. Our population average age is 36 years of age. However, they have a multitude of physical ailments."
According to an August DOC report, 4.8 percent of the department's population -- or 1,098 inmates -- is at least 56 years old.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbara Hoberock (405) 528-2465
barbara.hoberock@tulsaworld.com