Jail Overcrowding

ASAI Jail Overcrowding

The walls of jails in the United States are bursting at the seams. Overcrowding is a major concern for just about every jail and prison in the United States. Finding alternatives to incarceration to ease overcrowding has been a concept that Kevin Warwick has been developing for over 30 years. Kevin has been developing and designing community corrections programs for more than 25 years. In 1986 Kevin opened and directed the first day reporting center in the United States in Hampden County, Massachusetts. Alternative Solutions can provide assistance with jail overcrowding in the following areas:

  • Program design and development
  • Development of policies and procedures
  • Classification flow matrix and movement processes for offenders to enter a community corrections program
  • Development of and/or recommendation for treatment programming
  • Check in and supervision systems
  • Systems assessments to determine the best alternatives to incarceration for a particular agency or jurisdiction

A Pioneer in Community Corrections and Alternatives to Incarceration Kevin designed and developed the first of its kind community corrections continuum in Hampden County, Massachusetts. The following are the continuum components:

  • Day Reporting Center
  • Community Corrections Center for inmates, parolees and probationers
  • Pre-trial release program in conjunction with the District Attorney’s Office

The following is a description of the program:

  • The program served over 200 clients per day participating in various aspects of the continuum
  • The Classification Flow Matrix was used to classify and move inmates in a 2,000-bed facility. Over 25% of the jail population participated in community corrections. 42% served a portion of their sentence in these programs
  • The day reporting center had 16,000 square feet of programming space

Kevin served a member of the Massachusetts Legislative Criminal Justice Committee to draft the Community Correction Act of 1998. Mr. Warwick has also provided technical assistance to the following counties in the development of community correction programs:

  • City of New Orleans
  • Westchester County, New York
  • Renselaeer County, New York
  • Dutchess County, New York
  • Davidson County, Tennessee
  • Sullivan County, New Hampshire
  • Douglas County, Nebraska
  • Winnebago County, Illinois
  • Santa Barbara County, California

Mr. Warwick has also provided technical assistance to numerous private providers in the development of community corrections programs.

Mr. Warwick provided on-site tours and technical assistance to jurisdictions in 44 states across the country.

Click here to read a publication by Mr. Warwick on Jail Overcrowding.