Conclusion The District's inmate population is a diverse group. With the exception of two wards, inmates are from wards of the District in fairly equal proportions. Many have completed high school (26 percent), while about 17 percent failed to complete the ninth grade. About 30 percent of the inmates are 35 years of age or older, while about an equal number are 25 years or younger. Some inmates have extensive criminal histories with about 14 percent indicating five (5) or more felony convictions, while others (ten percent) have one (1) or no felony convictions. About 15 percent of the population is serving a maximum term of one year or less, while 22 percent is serving a maximum term of 16 years or more. The diversity of the District's inmate population suggests that program and treatment needs vary greatly. It appears that a wide range of programs and services are required to cover the spectrum of inmate needs. Specific areas where a majority of inmates appear to need services include vocational training, educational services and drug treatment. Summary The District's Office of Criminal Justice Plans and Analysis has prepared a comprehensive report of the District's inmate population. The report contains an analysis of inmate socio-demographic characteristics, criminal histories, educational background, including schools attended, and a geo-based analysis that assigns the last known address of inmates to the ward location. The population examined for compiling criminal histories consisted of all sentenced prisoners at local facilities on March 9, 1986. The population examined for educational and some of the socio-demographic data consisted of sentenced prisoners at local facilities surveyed from March 31 through April 4, 1986. The District's inmate population is overwhelmingly Black (99 percent), male (98 percent), and 71 percent is 34 years or younger. Only 26 percent of the inmate population completed the twelfth grade and about 17 percent failed to complete the ninth grade. About 49 percent of the inmates were employed at the time of their commitment to prison. About 55 percent of the inmate population attended high schools in the District of Columbia. Approximately 39 percent of this group attended high schools in Ward 5. Approximately 83 percent of the District's inmates attended junior high schools in the District and about 82 percent attended local elementary schools. Crimes for which inmates are currently serving time were identified. About 50 percent of the inmates are currently serving time for felony violent offenses, 18 percent for felony drug offenses, and 16 percent for felony property offenses. About ten (10) percent are currently sentenced for misdemeanor crimes. An analysis of the conviction history of inmates revealed that approximately 80 percent have three (3) or more convictions, 39 percent have five (5) or more convictions, and less than one (1) percent have only (1) con viction. About 55 percent of the District inmates have three (3) or more felony convictions. Urinalysis testing by the District's Pretrial Services Agency indicates that the majority of inmates examined since March of 1984 tested positive for illicit drug use (60 percent). The majority of inmates testing positive for drugs are poly-drug users. About 57 percent of those persons found to be using illicit drugs tested positive for PCP, either used alone or in combination with other drugs. Nearly one-fifth of the inmate population is currently serving time for selling or intending to sell illicit drugs while only four (4) percent is sentenced for drug possession. Approximately 42 percent of the inmate population indicate at least one (1) drug conviction. An analysis of sentencing data indicates that the average maximum length of sentence for inmates convicted of violent felony offenses is 17 years as compared to nine (9) years for felony property offenses. The average maximum length of sentence for drug offenses is five (5) years. About one-third of the inmates are serving maximum sentences of 15 years or more, while 15 percent are serving maximum sentences of less than a year. The last known addresses for inmates are evenly distributed among Ward 8 (17 percent), Wards 1 and 2 (16 percent), Ward 7 and Ward 5 (15 percent) and Ward 6 (14 percent). Less than one (1) percent came from Ward 3 and eight (8) percent from Ward 4. For each of the wards, the majority of inmates are serving sentences for felony violent, felony drug, and felony property offenses. Overall findings indicate that the District's inmate population is a diverse group. Their educational backgrounds and criminal histories vary to a large extent. These findings suggest that the program and treatment needs of the inmate population also vary. However, it does appear that the majority of inmates need vocational training, educational services, and drug treatment. CORRELATION BETWEEN EDUCATION AND RECIDIVISM Mr. DIXON. The Director of the Department of Corrections, Mr. Williams, referred to a study that is going on now regarding the vocational and educational programs. MS. WILSON. Yes. Mr. DIXON. And we were asking him if there was a correlation as far as recidivism is concerned between those inmates who receive their G.E.D. versus those that are not in the program. MS. WILSON. Well, in the inmate profile study we noted the number of years of schooling that had been completed. Only 26 percent of the inmate population had completed 12th grade. Mr. DIXON. Are you conducting the study that Mr. Williams referred to? MS. WILSON. No. No. Mr. DIXON. Well, who is conducting that? I thought the Office of Criminal Justice Plans and Analysis would be doing all of those things. He is doing it himself? MS. WILSON. Yes. The Department of Corrections has a planning office of its own. I would assume that this study is being conducted in conjunction with the vocational programs and with plans that are being made for the new facility. Mr. DIXON. Mr. Coughlin? Mr. COUGHLIN. No questions, Mr. Chairman. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF JUVENILES SERVED Mr. DIXON. Mr. Green? Mr. GREEN. I am a little puzzled. You have a major upturn in your juvenile program? MS. WILSON. Yes. Mr. GREEN. On page 1204 of the justifications, your page BQ-3, it shows a workload of juvenile clients served going from 60 to 300, or a quintupling, and I am wondering how are you going to handle it with no extra people? MS. WILSON. The $750,000 that the agency is requesting will primarily be for contractual services. We will be contracting with community-based and neighborhood-based organizations that have experience in working with juvenile delinquents to provide the needed services. TYPES OF JUVENILE SERVICES PROVIDED Mr. GREEN. Could you give me an example of the kind? MS. WILSON. Yes. Tutoring would be one example. Another area requiring services is self-esteem building. Many of the people at risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system have low self-esteem. Also we provide counseling for youth and families. Oftentimes parents are too overwhelmed and traumatized to go out for services, so we have service providers that work with the entire family unit in the home setting. MONITORING CONTRACTS Mr. GREEN. You think we will be able to monitor these contracts at a much increased level without any additional personnel? MS. WILSON. Yes, I do, because we have an ongoing project right now that is doing just that. We have an automated system set up for paying the service providers as well as for putting in the information that will allow us to evaluate service effectiveness. Mr. GREEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. CLINICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM Mr. DIXON. Ms. Wilson, I notice in your justifications here you talk about the clinical assistance program. MS. WILSON. Yes. Mr. DIXON. Could you describe to me what it is? MS. WILSON. That is a program that has been in operation for about four years where we provide financial assistance to law school clinical programs that provide services to indigents. This current fiscal year we funded six different law schools which provide services that range from services assistance to the elderly, to landlord and tenant, to representation for misdemeanants. Mr. DIXON. Misdemeanor criminals? MS. WILSON. Yes, misdemeanor criminals. PROCESS FOR GRANTING AWARDS Mr. DIXON. How do you provide the services? I believe you have $250,000 in your budget for this program? MS. WILSON. Yes. We issue a RFP, accept applications and committee representatives from the court, the Corporation Counsel, my office, the Public Defender Service, and Budget Office, then evaluate the applications and make the awards. AMOUNT OF GRANT AWARDS Mr. DIXON. So these grants are like $50,000 a year? MS. WILSON. Yes. They range from approximately $35,000 this year up to about $100,000, with $100,000 being the largest grant that went to any one program. Mr. DIXON. What school did it go to? MS. WILSON. The Consortium or D.C. Law Students in Court. That is a program that takes clinical students from each of the law schools to provide them with in-court experience. SCHOOLS THAT RECEIVE GRANT AWARDS Mr. DIXON. What schools receive grants? MS. WILSON. Antioch received money. Mr. DIXON. How much? MS. WILSON. $58,000 this fiscal year. Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, American Universities, and the Consortium. Mr. DIXON. And how long has Antioch been receiving funds? GRANT AWARDS TO ANTIOCH LAW SCHOOL MS. WILSON. Antioch has been receiving money since the inception of the program about five years ago. Mr. DIXON. And it is usually around $50,000 each year? MS. WILSON. The initial year Antioch received the lion's share, when I believe Antioch received about $120,000. But as more law schools started to apply and submit very good applications, it was decided that other schools should receive additional money. Mr. LESTER. We began to bring in special activities such as one law school that brought in Spanish attorneys while another wanted to establish Women's Clinics. The committee felt we had to expand and try to support some of those special activities. STUDENTS IN CLINICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS Mr. DIXON. Are these traditionally students who are in their third year of law school? Mr. LESTER. Yes, except for the Antioch program. Antioch believes the clinical experience is part of the whole education experience, so they start them off the first year. But for other schools it is always the third-year students. Mr. DIXON. So first-year students give advice in landlord and tenant cases? MS. WILSON. Generally, along with doing basic legal research. They have intensive supervision by supervising attorneys and become more independent as they progress to the second and third years. Mr. DIXON. And they are allowed to appear in court with a person on a misdemeanor hearing? Mr. LESTER. Yes, under rules of the court under certain circumstances. Mr. DIXON. Any questions, Mr. Coughlin? Mr. COUGHLIN. No questions. Mr. DIXON. Thank you very much for your testimony. We appreciate it. TUESDAY, MAY 12, 1987. OFFICE OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE KEITH A. VANCE, DIRECTOR WITNESSES PATRICIA ANDUZE, FINANCIAL MANAGER |