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The Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Release Preparation and Transitional Reentry Programs

Report No. 04-16
March 2004
Office of the Inspector General


Appendix XV
Analysis and Summary of Actions
Necessary to Close the Report

The BOP response to the audit (Appendix XIV) describes the actions taken or planned to implement our recommendations. Our analysis of the BOP's response to specific recommendations is provided below. In addition to responding to the recommendations, the BOP made several claims in the program overview section of its response to which we first respond.

The BOP states in its response to the draft report that the establishment of the Inmate Skills Development Branch in June 2003 is one of the most significant initiatives related to the preparation of inmates for successful transition into the community. As stated in the background section of our report, the mission of the Inmate Skills Development Branch is to "coordinate the [BOP's] efforts to implement inmate skill development initiatives and provide a centralized point of liaison with external agencies to equip inmates with the necessary skills to succeed upon release." However, it is important to note that, at this time, we are unable to determine what impact, if any, the initiative will have on the issues identified in this report because the Inmate Skills Development Branch is still in its developmental stage.

The BOP also states in its response to the draft report that, "Many of your findings and recommendations were items we self-identified and reported to your auditors that we were actively addressing." In our judgment, this statement is somewhat misleading. While it may be true that the BOP was aware of some of the findings included in our report, much of this information was not shared with the auditors until our preliminary findings were presented to BOP officials.

  1. Resolved. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has implemented a formal process to set realistic occupational and educational program goals stated as a percentage of completions to account for total enrollments and the inmate population.
  1. Resolved. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has implemented a formal process of accountability for institutions in meeting their occupational and educational program completion goals that includes corrective action plans, as necessary, to remedy performance issues.
  1. Closed.
  1. Resolved. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has implemented a formal standard process for evaluating institutions' occupational program performance and accountability annually that includes corrective action plans, as necessary, to remedy program performance.
  1. Resolved. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has implemented procedures for assessing the occupational needs of inmates and a formal standard process for screening inmates prior to enrollment in an occupational program.
  1. Resolved. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has implemented new data collection procedures that provide an accurate picture of the percentage of all inmates entering BOP institutions who lack a high school diploma or GED and the percentage of those inmates who actually earn a GED while incarcerated in a BOP institution.
  1. Resolved. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has implemented a performance measurement for the percentage of citizen inmates with GED needs who have dropped out of the literacy program at the national and regional level and incorporated the measure into monthly reports for monitoring performance at each institution.
  1. Resolved. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has implemented a performance measurement for the percentage of noncitizen inmates with GED needs who have dropped out of the literacy program at the national and regional level and incorporated the measure into monthly reports for monitoring performance at each institution.
  1. Resolved. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has implemented a system for reporting on psychological program resources and participation that includes developing corrective action plans if program participation falls below 90 percent.
  1. Resolved. The BOP states in its response to the draft report that during the exit conference the auditors agreed to close recommendations 10 and 11 based on information provided during the exit conference related to the BOP's plans to eliminate the RPP once the Inmate Skills initiative is fully implemented. Rather, the auditors stated that if the RPP was eliminated, recommendations 10 and 11 could be closed; however, we did not agree to close the recommendations at this time. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has eliminated the RPP and fully implemented the Inmate Skills initiative which focuses on community transition throughout the inmate's incarceration.
  1. Resolved. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has eliminated the RPP and fully implemented the Inmate Skills initiative which focuses on community transition throughout the inmate's incarceration.
  1. Closed.
  1. Resolved. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation supporting that the BOP has implemented a formal process for reviewing eligible inmates that are denied or not referred for CCC placement that includes region review for compliance with national policy.