Audit of the Department of Justice, Office of the Federal Detention Trustee

Audit Report No. 05-04
December 2004
Office of the Inspector General


Appendix II

OFDT Reports and Projects


Congressionally Mandated Reports

Congress directed that the newly created OFDT prepare a number of reports and projects related to detention. The OFDT has fulfilled these mandates and generally has been timely in performing and completing the projects.29 The reports and projects, and the legislative reference to the assignment are listed below, followed by more detailed information about each project.

Congressionally Mandated Reports

YEAR LEGISLATIVE
REFERENCE
REPORT/PROJECT TITLE
2001 House Report 107-139 Federal Detention Statistical Compendium
2001 House Report 107-139 Detention Needs Assessment and Baseline
2001 House Report 107-139 Chicago, Illinois Detention Pilot Project
2001 House Report 107-139 El Paso, TX/Las Cruces, NM Detention Pilot Project
2003 House Report 108-010 Plan for Medical Evaluation
2003 Public Law 108-7 Aircraft Replacement Procurement Strategy for JPATS
2003 Public Law 108-7 Plan to Evaluate the Health and Safety of Federal Prisoners Held in Non-Federal Detention Facilities


Report Cover: Federal Detention Statistical Compendium of Federal Detention: Trends from 1994 to 2001

The Federal Detention Statistical Compendium provided an overview of detention statistical trends from 1994 to 2001. This 28-page report explored criminal detention (defendants awaiting hearings or commitment in the USMS's care) and administrative detention (aliens awaiting deportation by INS), including the number of detainees, the types of charges, the number and locations of detention facilities, the time to process detainees, and the departmental resources available.
 
Report Cover: Federal Detention - Detention Needs Assessment and Baseline Report

The Detention Needs Assessment and Baseline Report was developed to determine the present efficiency and effectiveness of all aspects of detention and detainee handling, against which subsequent process improvements would be assessed. This 30-page report assessed the current state of federal detention, highlighting critical areas of concern and opportunities for OFDT. action
 
Report Cover: Chicago, Illinois Detention Pilot Project - Needs Assessment and Action Plan   Report Cover: El Paso, TX / Las Cruces, NM Detention Pilot Project - Needs Assessment and Action Plan

The Chicago, Illinois Detention Pilot Project and El Paso, TX/Las Cruces, NM Detention Pilot Project reports identified process improvements in the areas of consolidation and oversight of federal detention. For each site, the OFDT collaborated with multiple law enforcement agencies to: 1) establish a baseline of the current state of detention operations, 2) address future detention needs, 3) identify operational areas of improvement, and 4) develop an action plan to implement recommendations and measure performance.
 
The Plan for Medical Evaluation was to determine the impact of 18 U.S.C. Section 4006 on the delivery of health care services to detainees in the custody of USMS and ICE. This evaluation has not been finalized. The OFDT issued a memo regarding the contracting out of this report; however, the contractor experienced delays. The OFDT provided constant updates to the Deputy Attorney General. A draft was sent to the affected agencies (BOP, USMS, and ICE), their comments were received, and it has been forwarded to Department management.
 
Report Cover: Aircraft Replacement Procurement Strategy Plan for the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS)

The Aircraft Replacement Procurement Strategy for JPATs report was a review of the current replacement strategy and possible alternatives to obtain better efficiency. This report explained the current practices and strategy for large aircraft long-term leasing; it subsequently outlined a purchase replacement strategy.
 
Report Cover: Plan to Evaluate the Health and Safety of Federal PRisoners Held in Non-Federal Detention Facilities

The Plan to Evaluate the Health and Safety of Federal Prisoners Held in Non-Federal Detention Facilities was developed by reviewing areas of health care, safety and sanitation, and security and control. This 13-page report addressed the current federal practices, the plan of action for future efforts, and the plan for remedial action for deficient facilities.

Other Projects

In addition to the mandated reports described above, the OFDT was tasked with several projects to be accomplished as a part of their mission.30 These included the following:

  • assembling the uniform National Detention Standards,
  • the creation of a National Repository for Detention Space Availability, and
  • the development of standardized inspection policies and procedures for non-federal facilities housing federal detainees.


Footnotes

  1. Our review of these reports was limited to assessing the timeliness of the project and determining, in general, if the congressional mandate was achieved. We did not perform a detailed review of the material.

  2. The OFDT has addressed each of these projects; we did not review them or evaluate their content or sufficiency.