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Five Ways to Cut Correctional Facility Construction Costs

Priority one for both private and public prison operators today is finding any possible way to cut costs. Here are five strategies prison operators can use to dramatically reduce construction costs:

Site Optimization - Optimizing the prison's land development plan prior to engaging in facility design can save hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction costs.
End-Game Master Plan - Creating an "end-game" master plan designed for organized growth and development can deliver huge savings. Keys include designing for total targeted capacity and planned growth increments.
Work Process Optimization - Post construction operational costs are as critical, if not more so, than construction costs. Before designing a facility, carefully map and optimize the following key areas: work process, operational technologies, traffic patterns, and user input.
Standardized Design - One of the most effective cost reduction strategies is to create a modular facility design that can be repeated in virtually any location with a few simple customizable "plug and play" standardized components.
Collaborate Early - The final and, in some cases, most important strategy is bringing all members of the construction team in early to the facility development process. Involve the construction team prior to facility design and everyone gains from their insight.

To get details about each of these five strategies, CLICK HERE to download the ebook "Five Correctional Facility Strategies That Cut Construction Costs."

How to Reduce Hospital Costs..and Remain Viable

Hospitals are facing three major barriers in today's marketplace:

Cost reduction challenges including process improvement, throughput productivity, staff utilization and change, and staff adoption of cost reduction via process improvement.

Revenue generation challenges comprised of strategic positioning, brand assessment and positioning, patient experience, product/service line strategies, Medicare/Medicaid under payment and uninsured patients

Hospital CEO's demanding accountability. Hospital CEO's face significant financial challenges. They want evidence that care environments are improving patient outcomes and workforce efficiency. [Source: HealthTech]

The solution? Optimizing operational efficiencies.

Work process optimization. Significant operational cost savings can be achieved by leveraging the facility design to improve productivity, reduce staffing demands, and drive operational efficiency.

Optimization process. This includes clearly defining owners' operational objectives and targets, collaborating with users to indentify needs and ideas, and integrating owner's objectives with user needs to create design solutions that optimize operational efficiency

There are three core steps involved in optimizing operational efficiencies:

1. Mapping the Owner's Objectives
2. Collaborate with Users
3. Design Solution

The benefits of attacking the barriers through this process are clearly defined. Hospitals will see an ultimate result of reducing costs while increasing revues through: Increased productivity, optimized staff, increased use of advanced technologies, and reduced supply costs

See our blog next week on Mapping the Owner's Objectives to learn more about how to clarify owners' expected outcomes for the facility, before the design process begins.

How to Cut Prison Costs

The Problem: Rising Prison Costs

Prison Populations Are Rising. Since 2000, State and Federal prison populations have increased an average of 4.1% annually, almost 32% in eight years.
43 States Are Facing Financial Shortfalls. As of March 2009, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities identified 43 states facing budget shortfalls in 2009.
State Prison Costs Are Typically The Largest Budget Item. The cost of corrections increases every year and is now the largest single expenditure for many states.
Many States Are Scrutinizing Private Prison Costs. Many states with private prisons have passed laws enabling them to withhold payment of per diems if the private prison has failed to comply with its contract.

The Solution: Optimize Operational Efficiency

Work Process Optimization. Significant operational cost savings can be achieved by leveraging the facility design to improve productivity, reduce staffing demands, and drive operational efficiency.
Optimization Process:
o Clearly define owners' operational objectives and targets
o Collaborate with users to indentify needs and ideas
o Integrate owners objectives with user needs to create design solutions that optimize operational efficiency
Benefits:
o Increased productivity
o Reduced staff
o Increased use of advanced technologies
o Reduced supply costs
o Increased safety

Mapping the Owner's Objectives

Are you a company stakeholder or owner? Ever been frustrated with the design and construction process on a facility?

Too often there is a rush to design and construction before the myriad of complex issues facing the owners have been clearly defined. Documenting the owners' objectives is the process of identifying with clarity what are the owners' expected outcomes for the facility, before the design process begins.

Here's how you do it. There are 10 key components that define the owners' objectives for a hospital facility. It is critical to invest a small amount of time clarifying the owners' expectations in each of these key areas.

Strategic Purpose/Mission
Patient Experience
Targeted Operational Cost
Targeted Capital Cost
Targeted Schedule
Brand Impact
Public Image
Culture Support
Function
Productivity

Understanding these core components provides architects, engineers, designers and contractors with an optimum level of clarity to ensure the facility will meet the owners' expected outcomes.

The next step in reducing hospital operational costs and increasing revenues is to collaborate with the user. Check out A Key to Solving Critical Hospital Operational Challenges in our next blog.

Secrets to Sustainable Improvements in Hospital Operations

Have you tried to implement process improvement in your hospital? Is it working? If not, then it's likely you hit one of the fundamental barriers of change: Ownership.

Change cannot be imposed from above. For change to happen, it must be developed from within. Those individuals who must change, must own the change.

Change is not yours, nor management's. It is owned by the staff. It is their change...or change won't happen.

Here's how you do it: It starts with a thorough collaboration with users-at all levels.

Users are those individuals who work and function within the hospital. They are physicians, nurses, nurse-practioners, orderlies, administrators and outside agents such as patients, visitors, vendors, etc. The collaboration process is designed to engage all of the users in identifying solutions that both improve productivity and reduce cost. Some refer to this as needs assessment, but it needs to be much deeper than that.

The proven approach:

1. Group the users based on roles and functions
2. Engage them in work sessions
3. Listen to all ideas, analyze their impact both acute and enterprise-wide, and identify optimal solutions they can own.

The key to success is ownership. If they participate, they take ownership and drive change. When they own it, they make it work. Change cannot be imposed, it must come from within.

Through this collaborative needs assessment architects can begin to develop core areas needed for design:

Site/land analysis
Staff/space forecasting (near and long term)
Operational patterns assessment and development
Critical adjacencies for site and facility requirements
Order-of-magnitude cost estimate of all the requirements identified

So how do all of these pieces come together to form the design? Check out next week's post, Creating Design Solutions.

How to Get the Hospital Remodel You Need

The key to a successful hospital design solution is choosing the right firm.

Avoid the trap of focusing only on saving money on the cost of construction. The downstream operational costs many times are far greater if the design and construction isn't right.

When you chose the right firm you will walk away with the tools you need to build or remodel a facility that is aimed at reducing hospital operating costs and increasing revenue:

A variety of planning models
An assessment of each model for advantages and disadvantages
On-site meeting with client Leadership Team to present models and assessments, and choose a final Site and Facility Master Plan
On-site action/implementation planning session to identify all components of the project, their estimated cost, and their schedule.

It is important to search for a firm focused on integrated planning, design and engineering vs. a traditional technical services firm. The former is concerned with achieving the optimum design solution that solves a client's strategic needs, whereas the "technical" firm is focused on optimizing their particular revenue model for their firm.

This will give you a good start. Of course there's more, but stay tuned. More tips to come.

The Need for Change in Prison Design

Correctional facilities tend to have a one size fits all approach to facility design, directly impacting how prisoners are treated.

The design spaces for male facilities and female facilities are nearly identical and provide minimal positive mental and physical stimulation.
Costs for security, design and staffing for male prison's and female prison's is equal, with the latter in many cases resulting in higher costs even though studies show that female inmates are overwhelmingly nonviolent and complaint in prison and female detainees have minimal racial tension and gang behaviors.
Facilities do not account for the reason a person is incarcerated but rather place prisoners through the same internal flow regardless of their crime.
The design of correctional facilities doesn't account for prisoner age, limitations or incapacitations.

Most importantly, research shows that many facilities have a dramatic lack of long term goals with detainees other than the purpose of incarceration and punishment. Prison designs often don't take into account the need for rehabilitative programs for all inmates. Add the drastically increasing costs associated with incarceration and the formula is clear that change needs to take place.

Change needs to start with the end in mind -producing law abiding citizens that participate in everyday life outside of prison bars. The question is, can facility have an impact and reduce costs at the same time?

The answer is YES.

See our next blog titled, "The First Step: Evidence-Based Program."

The First Step to Prison Reform: Evidence-Based Programs

The growing element to enhancing the prisoner environment and reducing costs in correctional facilities is the implementation of evidence-based programs.

According to the Center for Evidence-Based Corrections, proven rehabilitative programs for inmates are available and formed through evidence-based policy. This is an approach that helps decision-makers in prison reform make well-informed decisions about policies and programs by putting the best available evidence from research at the heart of policy development and implementation.

Policy makers are becoming armed with the information they need to:

provide the right programs for the right offender,
improve program outcomes,
reduce staffing and security costs,
improve public safety,
reduce victimization, and
return offenders to their communities better prepared to live productive, law-abiding lives.

Evidence-based rehabilitative programs have proven to reduce recidivism by a few percentage points up to more than 30 percent. The cost savings can be tremendous, both in dollars and human lives.

Washington State Institute for Public Policy conducted a review of alternative evidence-based options to a)reduce the future need for prison beds, b)save money for state and local taxpayers, and c)contribute to lower crime rates (http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/rptfiles/06-10-1201.pdf).

The research indicates that Washington's adult corrections system will be more successful in reducing recidivism rates and will be significantly cost-effective if policy focuses on proven evidence-based approaches.

The reports further state that if Washington successfully implements a moderate-to-aggressive portfolio of evidence-based options, a significant level of future prison construction can be avoided, taxpayers can save about two billion dollars and crime rates can be reduced.

What role can facility engineering, planning and design have on the effectiveness and implementation of evidence-based programs and is there a role?

Read our next posting titled, "Evidence-Based Design Reduces Costs and Effective Outcomes" to understand the growing impact architecture has on success in prison reform.

Evidence-Based Design Reduces Costs and Increases Effective Outcomes

The first noted prison in the newly formed American colonies in 1775 resembled a large house with few restrictions housing both females and males. The lenient character of this first prison reflected the colonists' Calvinist belief that just as sin could not be cured, criminals could not be rehabilitated. Therefore, no effort was paid to the behavioral correction or education within the prison walls. Following several reformations within the penal system, prisons are expected to play a significant role in transforming criminal behavior.

Studies support that the design of a prison impacts the prisoner environment and drives down operational costs. There are core effective design initiatives shown to play a role:

Space that encourages socialization and reduced inmate idle time
Information-technology solutions for inmates
Rehabilitative areas
Space customized to detainee limitations such as age or incapacitation issues
Segregation by offender type

Research shows that idle prisoners results in increased depression and violent actions. The color, texture, light and attention to cell size all contribute to detainee behavior. By designing secure, engaging social spaces where prisoners can interact, learn and partake in positive stimulation, prisoner's experience decreased physical and mental health issues, which in turn directly decreases prison's healthcare costs and mental health treatments.

In addition to purposely enhancing social and private spaces, increasing inmate access to information technologies during in-cell time advances productivity. Cell solutions, such as an in-house computer system, provides an educational and communication tool for staff to communicate with prisoners. This provides prisoners with more interaction and staff with better communication control. Providing information technology along with designing space for rehabilitation activities is shown to increase the success of transition back into mainstream society, decrease reoffending crimes and provides prisoners with a hopeful outlook.

Creating spaces unique to prison sub-groups, such as age and level of criminal severity, drives down operational costs. Currently, older inmates over 50 years of age are often housed in prisons for younger inmates and have to walk to services throughout the complex. Being at a higher risk for health problems, it is not uncommon to see corrections staff spending time assisting this group. Proper prison design reduces these issues by providing appropriate access for this prison population and reduces cost through the better use of personnel and a reduction in aid supplies.

The level of crime severity directly correlates with the level of security management. Prisons can reduce security costs by pairing and managing the needs more appropriately. Designing the facility to segregate by offender type assists in security management.

Understanding the role of architectural design in the corrections industry is becoming a key topic in prison reform. See our next blog that discusses the link between corrections behavior and evidence-based research and architectural design.

Implementing Evidence-Based Design into Healthcare Facilities

Architects play a significant role in designing healthcare buildings that enhance healthcare operations and provide a safer environment for both patients and healthcare providers. By implementing evidence-based design methodology, design is determined by science and proven successes rather than initial cost or personal preferences.

As healthcare industry construction booms, now is the opportune time to begin practicing evidence-based design. Key areas of importance from an architectural perspective include:

Ergonomics: Implementing design factors intended to maximize productivity while improving the safety of both the patient and the healthcare staff. Elements such as having the bathroom on the same side of the room as the patients' beds can reduce the chance of falls.
Acuity adaptable: Create rooms to house the same patient from admission to discharge no matter the health issues that may arise during the stay. Patient rooms designed to cater to all needs reduces transportation cost, document loss and bottlenecks causing delay in patient care.
Air control and Filtration: The second most powerful way to control the level of pathogens in the air is ventilation through the use of air changes per hour (ACH). Filtering the moving air at 95 percent efficiency through HEPA filters throughout the building removes particulates. Aside from filtering and moving air, climate control within the building creates a need to analyze heating, cooling and ventilation.
Human factors analysis: The study of the interrelationships among humans, the tools they use and the environment in which they live and work. Nurses are typically not involved in the planning stages of a new building. Nurses can offer specialized knowledge of the unique needs of patients, themselves and patient families. They should be involved in all phases of the planning process to help guide the design process of healthcare environments built to reduce errors.
Universal design: A building design should be usable to the greatest extent possible by everyone regardless of age, ability or status in life.
Green buildings: Buildings that are resource efficient in design, construction, operation, management and demolition.

In a recent survey performed on behalf of the journal Health Facilities Management and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering, only 48% of hospitals surveyed stated they incorporated evidence-based design in their construction process.

There is a large window of opportunity for architects to begin improving the healthcare industry through building design and the incorporation of proven patient-safety features.

The Impact of Design on Enhancing Patient Safety

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that between 44,000 and 98,000 patients die each year due to medical mistakes. These preventable mishaps have become a bigger killer than breast cancer and car accidents. Since the time the statistics were released, research and discussions on patient safety and healthcare quality have exploded. Architects and healthcare facility planners now have access to a plethora of resources and information allowing them to build with the focus of improved patient safety.

Part of the solution to providing patients a safer environment revolves around the performance of the care staff. Dr. Bob Wears, scientific director of the Florida Patient Safety Corp, said, "There's a lot of evidence the architecture and building design changes how people work, but most of that hasn't filtered into healthcare."

When hospital staffs consistently feel stressed and fatigue or are disrupted and distracted from tasks, the patients' safety and quality of healthcare is compromised. The design of the healthcare facility is a key solution. Key examples include:

Eliminating centralized nurse stations and creating perches where a single nurse can monitor three to five patient rooms will balance patient accessibility and reduction of disruptions.
Designing all patient rooms identically so care staff can quickly find necessary materials is ultimate in reducing stress.

The second part to enhancing patient care is to form an environment that prevents patient accidents and controls infection. Several hundred patients in healthcare facilities are treated for sicknesses other than what they were admitted for. In preventing infection, key building design functions play a role.

Hand-washing is the No. 1 way to reduce spread. Patient rooms can be designed to warn hospital staffers wearing magnetic badges by shining a red light if hands were not washed within a minute of entering.
The installation of HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filters) throughout a healthcare facility to improve air quality and trap a large amount of very small particles.
Creating private rooms where all care is performed on a patient from admission to discharge reduce cross contamination possibilities from one space to another space.

Changing the environment around the patient prevents patient accidents and inspires healing for shorter stays.

Design patient rooms with the bathroom on the same side of the room as the bed and installing slip-proof floors to reduce falls.
Design patient rooms with glass walls to allow nurses to easily view patients' status from nursing stations.
Design patient rooms to incorporate natural light which is shown to allow patients to gain better orientation, decrease confusion, and is associated with both a shorter length of stay and lower use of pain medications.

Additionally, less outside noise around patient rooms provided by sound absorbing flooring improves patient sleep patterns and communication between staff members and physicians, as well as between patients and their caregivers.

Alternative Energy Resources in Correctional Facilities

There is recently massive support and funding by the U.S. government to increase the energy efficiency of large public and municipal facilities. These facilities can benefit financially from the governments greening initiatives, cash to help improve sustainability otherwise losing a return-on-investment, by implementing environmentally friendly practices and technologies within the building design.

Making a correctional facility more environmentally friendly could be a challenging task when taking into account security and regulatory restrictions. Specific problems include: geographic location, elevated energy and water consumption and material choices. Fortunately, however, diverse solutions can bring the corrections industry into the green age.

Geographic location

Correction facilities devour extensive amounts of green space due to large parking lots, the extensive size of the building, bare recreation yards and security parameters with limited natural visual barriers. Building on brownfield sites such as abandoned industrial facilities and landfills is just the solution in rural areas. In urban areas, erecting a correction facility on a public transportation route can reduce the amount of parking traffic and thus reduce the need for a land-consuming parking lot.

Water consumption

The need for water increases as penal populations escalate. From showers, laundry and kitchens, a lot of water is consumed within prison walls. By implementing PC-based water systems, security is able to control individual or group plumbing fixtures in a cell or cells, group showers or individual showers to reduce and manage water usage. Using treated recovered water gathered from rain and air handler condensation for toilet flushing will reduce the consumption of potable water.

Energy consumption

Correctional facilities endure strict limitations on natural lighting options due to security and, by nature of the 24/7 operation needs, require immense amount of energy. Using high-mass construction such as precast concrete takes advantage of thermal inertia to regulate the internal temperatures, or implementing a radiant heating and cooling system within the walls or floor and design a tight, energy-efficient building envelope will generate operational savings.

Material

Material choice for penal facilities is limited due to strict maintenance and security requirements. Building designers can maximize the amount of recycled content in materials traditionally used such as steel and concrete containing fly ash.

Check out our next blog on alternative energy resources that are available and being used.

Alternative Energy Technologies Available for Correction Facilities

The implementation of alternative energies in correction facilities helps reduce the amount of tax payer funding over time and can qualify the system for government green-initiative grants. Many correctional facilities throughout the U.S. are committed to implementing alternative-energy technologies to fuel their energy demands. Under the guidance of prison planners' seeking to operate a more sustainable facility, examples of alternative technologies already applied include:

Bio-mass boiler was installed at the South Central Correctional Center in Missouri. The boiler replaces propane with wood chips as the primary source of fuel. The project resulted in approximately $450,000 dollar savings in annual energy costs.
Missouri's State Prison's hot water is heated by the conversion process of changing methane gas from the Jefferson City Landfill into electricity.
Washington State's new facility expansion to Coyote Ridge Corrections incorporates 135 solar panels to produce enough electricity to power approximately 518 televisions.
Ironwood State Prison in California also implemented solar power with the installation of a photovoltaic system. The new system is a joint effort between Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and SunEdison.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is powering security towers with the latest wind and solar technologies eliminating the need for grid power.
Oregon Department of Corrections replaced old appliances with energy efficient ones, modified washing machines to reuse rinse water. The department also installed solar water heaters and used a geothermal well to heat water.

Implementing alternative-energy technology is just a step in creating a more environmentally friendly and more efficient facility. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the qualifying standard to guide and enhance environmentally responsible building. Catch our next blog as we dive into how LEED improves correctional facility operations.

A Step Toward Environmentally-Friendly Prisons: Applying LEED to Correctional Facility Design

The fundamental nature of penal facilities does not easily lend itself to sustainability. With construction costs rising, everything a facility owner can do to reduce life-cycle cost and represent sound financial stewardship of tax payer dollars is essential. By implementing Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) into sustainable strategies for a facility, the owner has taken the first step toward a building that will operate more efficiently and reduce cost. LEED is a set of standards that qualify and guide greener building designs.

LEED was created by the U.S. Green Building Council to enhance environmentally sustainable construction. LEED qualified buildings attain points by applying various elements within six interrelated categories:

sustainable sites,
water efficiency,
energy and atmosphere,
materials and resources,
indoor environmental quality and
innovation and design process

Totaled points result in one of either four levels of accreditation.

Using LEED as a guide to building a sustainable building is only a small part of creating an environmentally friendly facility and is not a one-size-fits-all program. Prison architects and designers need to work with the guidelines to build a strategy that works for the long-term sustainability of each unique prison. Several correctional facilities are already LEED approved as designers and architects understood and applied various sustainable systems meeting the unique needs of each facility.

Federal Correctional Institution #3, in Butner, N.C., was the first federal prison project to earn LEED certification. This project is an example of how simple energy and water efficiency strategies can significantly impact a build's resource consumption. The energy model completed during the design phase of the facility predicted energy efficiency strategies would result in a 31 percent decrease in energy costs. For the approximately 530,000-square-foot facility, annual savings would total to $137,000.
In Minnesota, Blue Earth County's new justice center, opened in March of this year, is also LEED certified. The center, which includes a 125-bed county jail, sheriff's department, county attorney and corrections department and courts, utilizes a ground source heat pump as well as recycled and local building materials. The greener applications added $400,000 dollars to the upfront cost. Administrators plan to regain that cost via better operating efficiencies in seven years.
In Washington State, an executive order mandates LEED Silver-rated public facilities. Clearly understanding the long-term pay off of green construction, Washington State Prison, a nearly $500 million dollar project, was the first of its size and type awarded Silver LEED. Through a tight coalition of designers and builders, the 270,000 square foot facility implemented energy efficient equipment and responsible site development.

Although the return on investments resides more on the social side, it is clear that implementing alternative energy resources is an important component for environmentally -friendly prisons.

Relieving Healthcare's Regulatory Compliance Through Design

Winston Churchill in 1941 stated, "We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us."

Applying this quote to healthcare design allows us to understand that the current state of the healthcare industry is directly correlated to the facilities. Healthcare facilities feel an enormous weight to attain government reimbursements as they strive to uphold several codes and regulations heavily monitored and dictated by numerous agencies and government commissions. Architects who are aware of these pressures are more equipped to design buildings that decrease the regulatory strain which in turn helps them to meet and exceed the needs of patients.

The American Society for Healthcare Engineering outlines the codes and standards healthcare facilities face:

The Joint Commission: TJC certifies hospitals as having met the condition of participation required for reimbursement under the federal Medicare and Medicaid program. Healthcare Facility inspections are typically tri-annual with accreditation and survey findings made available to the public. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 19,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States. As an independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission is the nation's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare.
AIA: American Institute of Architects publishes the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities every four to five years which includes requirements for engineering systems, infection control, and safety as well as architectural guidelines for design and construction of hospitals, outpatient facilities, and other types of health care facilities. The Joint Commission states that the Guidelines are to be used during new construction.
CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention releases the Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Health Care Facilities which offers a comprehensive, "one stop shopping" approach to environmental infection control in the healthcare environment. This comprehensive approach offers keen insight into establishing and refining management plans to reduce the potential for hospital-acquired infections and influential design factors.
CMS: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services provide payment to healthcare organizations that are certified as complying with Conditions of Participation and standards set forth in federal regulations.
OSHA: The Occupational Safety & Healthcare Administration, under the U.S Department of Labor, has authority to go into workplaces, inspect worksite conditions, cite employers found in violation of agency standards and levy fines.
EPA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency imposes standards to protect the environment and public health from hazardous materials and other pollutants such as Air Emissions Permitting (Clean Air Act), Waster Water Permitting (Clean Water Act), Medical Waste Incineration and Underground Storage Tanks.
FDA: The Food and Drug Administration requires the healthcare facility to take corrective action to protect the safety and well-being of patients, staff and visitors whenever information on a hazardous product is brought to the facility's attention.
USP: United States Pharmacopeia provides guidance on achieving and maintaining sterility and overall freedom from contamination of compounded pharmaceutical products. A key element of this standard is the Environment Quality and Control requirements which establish specific design, construction operation and testing requirements for pharmacy cleanrooms.
NFPA: The National Fire Protection Association establishes codes, standards, guidelines and recommended practices for the prevention and control of fire. Codes are enforced by local government agencies, The Joint Commission and CMS.

As hospitals and facilities move to design more effectively for patient safety and care, it is clear to see that the role of the architect and design will positively impact the achievement of regulations in the healthcare industry.

The Effect of Natural Light within Prisons

Natural light affects humans physiologically (bodily) and psychologically (mentally) in a way that can only be understood when it is taken away for a long period of time. Building a prison that is just as encouraging of natural human necessities as well as providing a detained environment plays a significant role in determining prison layout and design. By strategically placing natural light in the most effective places, prison designers can create a healthier environment that provides for the well being of the society in the end, as inmates are better rehabilitated, and drives down prison operational costs.

Utilizing natural day lighting in buildings where people spend nearly all day light hours such as schools, offices, manufacturing plants and prisons is proven to enhance productivity and intellectual stimulation. A study by the Heschong Mahone Group, an architecture consulting firm based in Sacramento, concluded that students with the most day lighting in their classrooms saw their reading scores improve 26 percent more and math scores increased 20 percent more than students with the least day light. The study included more than 21,000 elementary students. The effect of natural lighting on the mind and body performance is unmistakable. Prisoners confined in areas that lack natural day lighting experience increased rates of:

Depression
Suicide
Increased need for psychiatric help
Sleep disorders

The borrowed lighting design, widely implemented in several US prisons, provides adequate natural lighting while taking into consideration building and medical costs for dealing with side-effects listed above. The prison layout utilizes oversized windows in larger, common spaces where mid-level to less secured prisoners spend most day-time hours. Energy costs are driven down when lighting this large space with natural light. Inmate cell fronts open up to the common area. With large glass opening in the cell door, natural light filters into cells to provide light to inmates in their cells during the day. As natural light is provided through the cell door, the need for expensive exterior windows in each cell is eliminated.

The borrowed lighting design practice, along side of providing the most efficient natural lighting, significantly reduces the amount of attempted escapes, which in turn creates a safer work environment for prison staff as they are able to directly supervise inmates with direct interaction.

Long Range Master Planning and Site Acquisition Go Hand-in-Hand

As the corrections industry expands to cater to the increasing population of inmates, correctional budgets are weighing on state and federal governments as well as privately owned prisons. In fact, this is the biggest budget line item for the majority of states. While methods for controlling the prison population are consistently questioned, making efficient changes during building and expansion processes is essential to driving down costs to handle the swelled inmate population. The most essential part of any building project occurs before a single architect sits down to the drawing board. Taking time to clearly understand current situations, set long-range goals and design for improvement will help both the private and public prisons. Carefully and patiently selecting a site and planning for optimal land use will dramatically cut upfront construction costs and will enhance the future of a facility.

Often times, prison planners desperately want to move the dirt and get the project done quickly to realize a return on investment. Without proper land planning, however, the facility may be up and running only to have significantly reduced site capacity and wasted large amounts of land. Optimizing the prison's land development plan prior to engaging in facility design can save hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction costs. Focusing on two key actions can make these saving a reality:

Footprint optimization: This is the process of understanding the organizational, operational and function requirements for the prison, the site's opportunities and constraints. Then moving to develop a site plan which minimizes dimensions between the physical elements resulting in a compact "lean" development plan.
Share or Eliminate Infrastructure Costs: Negotiating with local municipalities for infrastructure support and contributions can result in significant cost reduction. In some cases, the municipality will offer the infrastructure, land, at no cost in order to obtain the employment and tax revenue.

In the same step, selecting a site and using the land directly affects future growth possibilities and facility effectiveness. Building simply to house the current prison population is a close-minded approach as trends show significant growth. Since 2000, state and federal prison populations have increased at an annual average 4.1 percent. Setting a master plan that works for the current and future population along with facility capacity goals will allow planers and designers to achieve a better gauge on land use. The master plan is derived by:

Indentifying start-up bed capacity target: The right number of beds and cells to optimize start-up cash flow

Indentifying right-sized bed capacity growth stages: the most cost-effective capacity expansion size
Identifying end-game capacity: the goal for prison population and understanding how the prison can expand to meet end-game capacity while minimizing disruption to existing operations and not jeopardize security

Evidence-Based Healthcare Facility Design Creates Sustainable Infection Control

According a recent article on MSNBC.com, 40 percent of nearly 2,000 hospital infection workers responding to a professional association survey reported being hit by budget cuts in the last 18 months, primarily due to the state of the economy. The cuts result in layoffs, reduced hours, hiring freezes and diminished ability to detect, track and manage infections that cost money. In fact, every new hospital-acquired infection adds an average of $15,275 dollars in additional costs to patient care. Designing hospitals and healthcare clinics from the beginning using evidence-based design tactics and recommendations from infection control professionals will assist facilities to cope better with infection prevention, with or without a recession.

Even if the economy sags, hospitals should be able to provide the same quality of care as when the economy is booming; in the end, a life is a life. Reforming the healthcare system is a hot topic for both government leaders and healthcare administrators. While a solid solution seems to be in the making, designing a healthcare facility with infection control elements makes infection prevention sustainable and not dependent on the state of the economy. The CDC recommends several tactics to incorporate during a new healthcare facility project:

Healthcare infection control experts should work directly with architects, engineers and construction workers to educate them about potential infection risks and appropriate methods for reducing them.
As part of the planning process for construction of a new facility, an infection control risk assessment should be conducted to determine the potential risk for transmission of microorganisms within the hospital, especially focusing on air, water and environment mediums.
Wall coverings should be fluid resistant and easily cleaned
Finishings around plumbing fixtures should be smooth and water resistant
Pipe penetrations and joints should be tightly sealed
Avoid acoustical tiles in high-risk areas, because they may support microbial growth when wet
Walls and ceilings should have smooth, impervious surfaces that are easy to clean with minimal likelihood of dust accumulation
Each patient room, examination room and procedure room needs at least one sink that is as close the entrance as possible and large enough to prevent splashing

Evidence-based design features as recommended by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to implement during new construction to prevent infection spread include:

Private, acuity-adaptable patient rooms
High quality air filters to reduce the spread of airborne infections

Master Planning for Easy Prison Expansion with Minimal Operational Disruption

When an initial correctional facility is built, creating a master plan for current and projected trends in prison populations as well as expected business decisions will save construction costs in the long run. The master plan should include: knowing the number inmates to build for from the get-go, the most cost-effective bed capacity and the targeted bed count and number of clients.

Planning for these three factors plays a major role in designing a building and more importantly designing for future easy, cost-effective expansion projects that do not interrupt critical prison operations. It is extremely imperative, due to the mission-critical nature of a prison, that when a facility is up and running that operations are not interrupted for any reason. Operations include:

Inmate and staff flow
Movement of goods in and out
Infrastructure: communications, water, sewage and electricity

It is also important to recognize before the initial building is built that once a secure perimeter is established, that no future construction occurs behind it.

Designing a master plan that is flexible to fit future needs is critical.

A building that is flexible will allow for a prison to bring on multiple clients as future business decisions are made. While the primary facility is usually built for only one client, bringing on multiple clients can bring with it increased revenue and requires a facility to be flexible. Sharing a building with multiple clients requires a person flow that does not allow comingling of prisoners of specified states due to variations in standards and programming. Realizing the benefits of including several clients is only possible if future expansion is included in the master plan.
Not planning optimal infrastructure for expansion projects will drive up future costs. The worst thing during an expansion is worrying about size and location of infrastructure: digging up plumbing because it isn't the best solution for the expanded facility. The master plan for the initial building should include current needs of water, electricity and communications and also a plan to fit these systems to expanded ones.

Correctional Facility Design to Enhance Staff Outcomes and Satisfaction

A recent article from Corrections.com noted how the effects of the prison environment wear down correctional officers. They work in an environment of chronic stress, continual alertness with the ever-present possibility and exposure to violence. Correction officers read about crimes in offender files, they view assault and riot videos for training purposes. They witness first-hand riots and assaults or have been victims. Gradually this exposure coupled with the high stress and need for continual watchfulness, breeds symptoms of psychological disturbance such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and secondary traumatic stress.

According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), in 2000, the average national turnover rate for correctional officers was 16.1 percent. The American Corrections Association (ACA) concluded stress and burnout among the reasons for the high rate.

Diminishing the potential for prison crime through design while integrating elements to support a positive work environment will enhance correction officers' job outlook and help to reduce the advanced turnover rate.

Creating consistency within correctional facilities allows prison officers to become accustomed to space and supervision tasks. The National Institute for Corrections (NICIC) reported that when direct supervision was introduced in the 80s, most correctional officers had at least initial adjustment problems. Even though direct supervision was proven to be safer, with fear at the root, officers were not trained in how to be in direct and solo contact with prisoners. Creating consistency with prison systems, will allow for easy facility transfers and standard training.

Implement a design which incorporates direct supervision. Data gathered by the NICIC to analyze the success of podular, direct-supervision jails indicate sharp reductions in vandalism, escape, disturbances, suicides, murders, and sexual and aggravated assaults. Less violence directly results in safer work environment as required force is reduced. The direct supervision also allows correction officers to readily avert problem situations before they escalate.

Strategic person flow throughout a prison provides an optimal safe and secure environment. Restricting interaction between visitors and weekend visitors from standard prison population is proven to reduce the amount of contraband throughout the prison. Understanding prison flow in the pre-design process eliminates unsupervised, blind areas where problems are likely to occur.

Boosting staff morale through facility design will increase retention rates. In effort to reduce the feelings of being locked up, correctional facility design should include adequately sized and furnished locker and changing rooms, muster rooms and training rooms, well-located staff restrooms, cheerful dining and break rooms and natural lighting.

Evidence-Based Design Interventions: Operating Rooms and Intensive Care Units

Using evidence-based design to promote better healthcare, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) identified six specific areas within a healthcare facility needing critical design interventions for improved safety and quality care. This blog encompasses two of those areas: Operating Rooms and Intensive Care Units. Our proceeding blog series will dive into other areas addressed by IHI: Emergency Departments, Medical-Surgical Nursing Unit, Medical Office Settings and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Operating Rooms
Studies show that design characteristics of the operating rooms impact staff functioning and communication and ultimately impact patient care and safety.

Optimal ventilation and filtration within operating rooms impact surgical site infections. Discussions and research is underway to determine the best system to implement.

Designing for OR functions will assist in relieving the pressure felt by staff. Adding to the stressful nature of the job, for long periods of time, physicians and nurses are in the operating rooms with excessive noise, no access to natural light and are crowed by people and equipment. While most sound-absorbing materials are hard to clean, thus unsuitable for the OR, IHI suggests implementing:

o Adjustable -height footstools
o Better monitor placement
o Ergonomically designed instrument tables to help reduce neck and back tension experienced by surgical nurses trying to obtain an unobstructed view of the operating field while reaching for instruments.

Intensive Care Unit
Communication and collaboration are key factors in the effective treatment of high-risk and critically-ill patients.

Acuity-adaptable rooms are basic features of evidence-based healthcare design as well are critical for Intensive Care Units. The rooms provide different levels of care without having to move patients from room to room as their acuity improves. The implementation of this design concept reduces patient handoffs, potential for patient slips and falls, incidences of staff injuries related to patient lifting and medication errors.

Larger rooms which allow patients' families to be involved in care have shown to improve outcomes and perceptions of both patients and families. In fact, having family members present during cardiopulmonary resuscitation is becoming a practice in pediatrics.

Sound-absorbing ceiling tiles, in studies where they replaced sound-reflective ceiling tiles, have showed to improve patients' sleep patterns.

In our next blog of the evidence-based healthcare design intervention series we will visit Emergency Departments and discover ways proven design tactics benefit both patients and staff.

Effective Prison Design Can Reduce Sexual Abuses

Sexual abuse in prisons is as old as prisons themselves. While knowledge of these occurrences is prevalent, only recently have guidelines and standards for prisons to follow in effort to prevent abuses come into fruition. The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC), an eight-member panel formed under the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act, released its final report on June 23 and proposed standards to prevent, detect, respond to as well as monitor sexual abuse of incarcerated or detained individuals throughout the United States.

NPREC reported more than 60,000 inmates are sexually abused every year.

Experts estimated that the total number of inmates in the US who have been sexually assaulted over the past 20 years could exceed 1 million.

Along with prison administrators providing education programs and instilling safer cultures, architects can design correctional facilities that through function and layout address issues causing the extreme amount of sexual victimization cases. Catalysts for more sexual abuse cases that can be addressed through design include:

Segregating prison populations based on evidence-based offender classification will provide safe havens for prison populations more likely to be sexually abused. Youth, small stature, homosexual inmates with a lack of experience in correctional facilities or with mental illnesses appear to be at increased the risk of sexual victimization by other prisoners. While classification and segregation is necessary, it is also important to not allow these populations to be left out of programming.

Overcrowded facilities are harder to supervise and are harder to carve out spaces for vulnerable prisoners. Inmates in crowed areas often are more aggressive and feel more tension provoking more assaults. Programming that creates a culture that prevents sexual assault and teaches imamates to protect themselves becomes inadequate as the prison itself is stretched to cater to large population.

Prison designs that promote the most efficient supervision will provide the most safety for all inmates and staff. Correction facility designs such as podular, direct supervision allow the most unobstructed view of inmates in a particular are of a detention facility. Direct supervision also allows correction officers to interact with inmates and are more able to avert problem situations.

Understanding the prison structure and identifying problem areas where assaults are likely to occur will lessen the amount of victimizations. Employing surveillance cameras in these areas and understanding prison flow in the predesign process will eliminate these unsupervised places.

Evidence-Based Design Interventions: Emergency Departments

Evidence-based design interventions for Emergency Departments revolve around understanding and balancing critical patient perceptions and physician needs as well as designing and managing an entire facility to better manage patient flow.

Balancing patient privacy and ED team's need to directly monitor and access a patient is imperative. Visual or auditory barriers might impede timely intervention by a physician, while lack of privacy might lead a patient to withhold private health information.

- A study in a university medical center's ED found that time to initial physician assessment was higher for chest pain patients placed in rooms farther from the staff work area or placed in rooms with doors rather than curtains.

- Another study discovered that five percent of patients examined in curtained spaces reported withholding portions of their private history and refused parts of their physical examination because of lack of privacy.

- IHI recommends the best way to balance needs of patients, staff and HIPPA is to provide enclosed treatment rooms with decentralized nurse stations to maximize room visibility.

Designing a more welcoming Emergency Department will increase the number of patients that wait out time to see a physician. Crowded, noisy emergency rooms convey the wrong message to patients already stressed.

- A study conducted at New York City's Weill Cornell Medical College examined the relationships between attractiveness of the physical setting and actual and perceived waiting times, quality of care, anxiety and staff-patient interaction in seven specialty out-patient practices in Manhattan. Results showed that a more attractive environment resulted in a higher perceived quality of medical care, lower levels of anxiety, and more positive interactions with staff. The study also reported patients perceived shorter waiting times.

Implementing evidence-based design to an Emergency Department is only a small part in improving quality care through design. Studies show that understanding patient flow throughout an entire healthcare facility and knowing where bottlenecks, causing delay in care, reside is imperative to relieving pressure on Emergency Departments.

Our final blog of the evidence-based design intervention series will focus on design specified to improve patient care and safety in Medical-Surgical Nursing Units, medical offices and Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

Five Design Strategies to Increase Staff Retention

Many hospitals face significant nurse turnover rates, which can be very costly. Recent studies conclude that the costs of single nurse turnover can range from about $22,000 to more than $64,000 dollars. According the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the average annual turnover rate for healthcare workers is 20 percent due primarily to stress and the physically demanding nature of the job. In addition to instituting a supportive work culture, healthcare design should support ways of working that ensure health, safety and effectiveness for all in healthcare.

Reduce Patient transfers to increase productivity and reduce errors: According to the Center for Healthcare Design a typical nursing unit transfers or discharges 40 to 70 percent of its patients every day. Acuity-adaptable rooms are rooms that are designed to care for patients as the demands of their health changes from admittance to discharge. This patient room design decreases the amount of time staff spends transferring patients and the chances of patient information getting lost leading to errors. Clarian Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, IN, under the leadership of Ann Hendrich, equipped single-patient rooms of the cardiac wing with acuity adaptable headwalls that included gases and equipment needed to provide care as patient acuity changed. Patient transfers were reduced by 90 percent and medication errors were reduced by 70 percent.
Reduce caretaker walking: One study reported by the Center for Healthcare Design found that 28.9 percent of nursing staff time was spent walking. Research suggests that bringing staff and supplies closer to the patient helps reduce the time spent walking and increases the amount of time caregivers spend with patients. Hendrich's project at Clarian included decentralized nurse stations and supply areas. The design reduced walking and supply trips which increased nursing time allowing for a reduction in budgeted staffing care hours, while at the same time increasing time spent in direct-care activities.
Reduce excessive stressful noise: The World Health Organization recommends noise levels within hospitals to not exceed 35 dB. High sound levels are directly correlated with work interference and noise-induced stress. Reducing noise through the use of sound-absorbing ceiling tiles have been found to improve speech intelligibility, reduced perceived work demands and lessened perceived pressure and strain.
Reduce staff sickness: In addition to having better ventilation to reduce air-borne infections, poor hand washing compliance among staff is the primary cause of contact transmission of infections. Design aspects to increase hand washing include: visible and conveniently located sinks, handwashing liquid dispensers and alcohol rubs.
Reduce staff injuries: strains and sprains account for 44 percent of nursing injuries that result in lost days while more than 10 percent of back injuries are associated with moving and assisting patients. Ceiling lifts to eliminate the need to lift patients. PeaceHealth in Oregon installed ceiling lifts in most patient rooms in its intensive-care unit and neurology unit to realize the annual cost of patient-handling injuries in these units reduced by 83 percent.

Solutions to Reduce Correctional Staff Stress and Inmate Aggression

While the effects of excessive noise are readily available, noise control within prisons is often overlooked in predesign, marginalized or victim of budgetary constraints. Many corrections professionals believe noise is part of the natural prison physical environment thus, beyond their ability to change. Through design interventions however, noise can be reduced to produce a better built environment for all inside.

Experienced jail administrator, Morton Liebowitz suggested materials and designs to be implemented during the design and construction processes in effort to reduce noise within correctional facilities:

Irregularly shaped rooms
Acoustical materials between ceiling, wall and floor surfaces
Acoustical materials should be at least an inch thick
Air space behind acoustical materials to help absorb low-frequency sound
Carpeting
Acoustical materials located near sound sources
Upholstered furniture

Exposure to loud noises for an extended period of time can lead to increased negative biological and psychological effects. According to researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, excessive noise levels are also associated with patterns of increased irritability and aggression and decreased cooperation. Also, excessive noise levels in correctional settings are associated with increased levels of stress and heightened safety and security concerns among staff.

Noise was studied at the Oshkosh Correction Institution in Oshkosh, Wis. "The Wisconsin Department of Corrections Noise Study" concluded that:

High noise levels contribute significantly to staff concerns about safety, assault and maintaining control of their housing units. In housing units with the highest noise levels, reducing noise was ranked as the single most important strategy for addressing staff concerns about safety and control.
Correctional staff also identified noise as a major contributor to stress and tension over staffing levels, lack of program resources and co-workers' management techniques.

So how loud should a prison be?
According to the American Correctional Association's noise standard, inmate housing should not exceed 70 decibels during daytime hours and should stay below 45 decibels (dBA) at night. In Oshkosh, when noise levels were reduced below 65 dBA, staff tended not to consider their unit noisy and reported they were less concerned with inmate behavior as it affects their safety.

In addition, noise mitigation provides credits for facilities looking to become LEED certified.

Evidence-based Design Interventions: Medical-Surgical Nursing Unit, Medical Offices and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Concluding our series of evidence-based design interventions within specific areas of healthcare facilities, this blog identifies problems and provides design solutions for enhancing patient and staff outcomes in Medical-Surgical Nursing Units, Medical Offices and Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

Medical-Surgical Nursing Units

Better design within Medical-Surgical Nursing Units will result in decreased caregiver stress and increased time a caregiver spends at a patient's bedside.

Standardized, acuity-adaptable rooms, a design tactic adopted from the aeronautical industry, have shown to significantly reduce human error in care. In this design, each patient room is set up exactly the same which minimizing potential mistakes such as administering improper gas, because the gases are located in different locations in each room.

Decentralized nursing stations increase caregiver visibility and access to patient rooms. Utilizing this design is results in improved communications and reduces staff fatigue and stress from having to walk distances to patient rooms.

Noise reduction design and materials on patient units result in speech intelligibility and reduced staff and patient stress. During the design process, architects should conduct a noise audit to determine sources and then identify design strategies that will reduce or remove noise.

Medical Offices

Creating a better environment through design should lead to increased patient and family satisfaction, improved provider-to-patient communication and enhanced organization efficiency.

Improved access to the medical office by addressing proximity issues such as convenient parking and providing a clear way-finding system within the facility will increase patient and family perception and reduce stress.

Attractive waiting areas are directly correlated with reduced patient anxiety, higher perceptions of quality care and shorter perceived waiting times.

Patient access to technologies provides additional ways to improve communications between patients and providers.

Spatial organization of the exam room and orientation as well as the sense of connection experienced by the patient.

Decentralized nurse stations, information kiosks and implementing electronic medical records will reduce patient-wait times.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

The National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions identified loud noise, high light levels and infectious pathogens as environmental factors negatively affecting NICU patients.

Infants exposed to excessive noise levels in the NICU have been shown to have poor auditory system development, poor auditory attention and increased stress. Sound-absorbing ceiling tiles, flooring and wall panels along with privacy curtains will significantly drive down access noise levels.

Visual development and physiological outcomes among preterm infants is directly related to their sensitivity to light exposure. Cycled lighting and focused light over incubators will help improve sleep and developmental outcomes.

Single family rooms within the NICU provide a controlled and safe environment for the infant and privacy for the family. Each infant receives appropriate lighting, sound and level of care. In addition, single family rooms are associated with fewer nosocomial infections. Several studies on staff perception and performance in an open bay versus private room model suggest staff perceive that the private room model improved the quality of the physical environmental conditions, interaction with infants' families and overall patient care.

The High Cost of “Great” Design

Buildings that look the most aesthetically pleasing or are one-of-a-kind in design often receive awards and prizes of distinction. While the design may be very attractive to outside viewers, you need to ask yourself the most important question: Will the facility design proactively work to enhance process and drive down costs? Will the facility work with your other facilities to provide the same benefits? Prison operators miss huge cost saving opportunities when they build "unique" facilities for each location or community.

Contrary to the design objectives of individual architects, one of the most effective cost-reduction construction strategies is to create a modular facility design that can be repeated in virtually any location with a few simple customizable "plug and play" components.

The benefits of utilizing a standardized design include:

The ability for staff to move from facility to facility with minimal training and ease: The National Institute for Corrections (NICIC) reported that when direct supervision was introduced in the 80s, most correctional officers had at least initial adjustment problems. Even though direct supervision was proven to be safer, with fear at the root, officers were not trained in how to be in direct and solo contact with prisoners. Creating consistency within prison systems, will allow for easy facility transfers and standard training.

Promotes efficient operations in multi-plant businesses

Solidifies branding impact: As a business, private prisons need to brand their services and appearance in order to be recognized by both investors and clients.

Reduces upfront construction costs: When using a proven facility model, the cost of designing is significantly reduced as only minor tweaks to the standard need to be made.

Expedited construction, move-in and start-up dates: A standardized design will be repeated. After the first of its kind is built, the construction team, already having had experience with it and the materials, can move more quickly to build the facility.

Property Shape Handcuffing Expansion?

Feeling the pressure of the demanding need to house the ever-growing inmate population, prison developers often rush to build and ignore how their biggest resource, land, affects their long-term facility strategy for the present and the future.

The shape and contour of the land you expect to build your facility on will bring with it opportunities and constraints. A sober analysis of the land before it is purchased and a facility designed will ensure your selection best fits your project objectives and works to bring down your operational cost now and in the future.

Avoid being handcuffed by the land you choose:

Understand the constraints and build on the opportunities: Understand your organization's operational and functional requirements and then develop a facility which minimizes dimensions between the physical elements will result in a compact "lean" development plan that increases productivity to drive down operation costs.

Define the end and move backward: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Or in the case of facility design worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction and operation costs. During the project prethinking process, start at the end and then move backward. Keeping the end in mind while land is purchased will ensure you have enough in order to attain your end goal. Rushing to get a facility built to meet today's demands does not ensure you will be able to grow to meet the demands of tomorrow.

5 Proven Steps That Will Cut Prison Operation Costs

Performa's ebook Five Correctional Facility Strategies that Cut Construction Costs lays out the five steps every prison builder should undergo before digging the dirt. The ebook is a great guide for correctional facility developers, both private and public, as they drive the prethinking process.

If the strategies defined in the ebook are successfully executed before the construction or designing process of any facility project, owners and operators will attain their top priority: dramatically decreased operational costs.

The five key steps are:

1.) Understand how your land selection and use affects your future: rushing to build often results in reduced site capacity and a huge waste of land. Reversely, if land is analyzed before construction and design, the most-valuable resource will be utilized to reduce post-construction operational costs.

2.) Create an end-of-game plan: creating master plan with the needs to tomorrow and today in mind will result in organized growth that doesn't result in significant expansion costs.

3.) Analyze operational processes: designing to optimize work processes will directly result in maximum productivity of both staff and inmates.

4.) Take a standardized approach to design: contradicting the creative notion of architecture, often times the most cost-effect and saving designs are ones that can be repeated with minor modifications.

5.) Bring all project bodies together early: collaborating early with call construction bodies including architects, contractor and construction crew will bring down construction costs, efficiently.

4 Ways to Dramatically Cut Operation Costs

Whether you are a private or public prison operator, you understand the continual pressure to cut costs while providing the best rehabilitative care for inmates. One of the most commonly overlooked opportunities to cut costs is optimizing work flow and usage during the facility design process. Here are 4 proven ways to dramatically cut operation costs.

1. Map Work Processes: Analyze all work processes, staff traffic flow, proximity and tasks to create a floor plan that reduces wasted time and maximizes productivity.

In the healthcare industry, one study found that nurses spent nearly 29 percent of their time walking to and from the nurses' station and on supply runs. Through an analysis of work process, designs that include decentralized nurse stations and supply caches reduced budgeted staffing care hours and increased the time spent in direct-care activities.

2. Document Key Operational Technologies: Advances in technology reduces required staff and improve staff productivity. When building, consider what technologies would best suit your facility. The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC), part of the National Institute of Justice's Office of Science and Technology, offers prison operators support, research findings and technological expertise assisting in technology selection allowing them to perform their duties more safely and efficiently.

3. Map Traffic Patterns: Projecting inmate traffic flow to determine possible bottlenecks that could be areas of security concern resulting in increased amounts of correctional officer supervision.

4. Document User Needs and Ideas: A previous blog, entitled Correctional Facility Design to Enhance Staff Outcomes and Satisfaction, explains four design strategies to increase staff productivity and reduce turnover rates. Building with the user behavior and tasks in mind will ensure optimized productivity which directly brings down operational costs.

Corrections.com: Connecting Point for Correctional Staff

From guards to facility principals and operators, Corrections.com is an engaging informational resource on all topics pertaining to the correctional industry. News and information on the site is updated daily, so there is always fresh information waiting to enhance your career.

The Web site features:

Feature stories from industry leaders promoting the well being of all staff involved in corrections:
Tracy Barnhart writes the "Tell It Like It Is" blog. This blog pinpoints the struggles C Os face while on duty and offers expertise tips on dealing with them.
Caterina Spinaris Tudor writes the "Safety & Sanity" blog dedicated to the mental and physical well being of all staffed within prisons and jails.
Joe Bouchard publishes his articles on "Foundations". Blog posts revolve around two themes: contraband control and recognizing and repairing staff division.
Bill Sturgeon writes on emergency preparedness and security for the blog "For Those In The Field".
Current industry headlines from the U.S. and around the world
Community forums to connect with people who share common interests and struggles
Careers page for recruiters looking to hire or those looking to be hired within the correction industry. You can post a resume and review job openings or post job openings.
Easily accessible information segmented by topic of interest
Library of information organized by topic

Correction.com is not a Web site simply feeding you information, but seeks your involvement. You can submit your news, an article or story idea to the editor. At the end of every blog topic or article you are also given the opportunity to post your comments and thoughts on themes discussed.

How to Find Money for Prisons

Federal and state aid for state, county and city municipal projects is drying up. Many state governments are dealing with budget deficits reaching into the millions and billions. While this is the case, the prison population and population types are consistently growing and diversifying as existing local prisons and jails age.

In the past, General Obligation Bonds (GOB) have provided long-term financing of capital projects. These types of bonds for many states require an approved voter referendum, which can take several years to pass. In addition, GOBs calculate into the municipality's debt limit, which could limit funding for other needed projects and equipment.

Municipal Lease-Purchase Financing (MLPF) allows for easy access to the funds needed for much-needed projects without weighing on the debt limit. MLPF is structured as a series of one-year renewable obligations that are subject to the governmental entities ability to appropriate funds for the continuation of the lease. If the lessee discontinues payments, the agreement is terminated and the title of the items on lease is surrendered to the lesser.

Private organizations such as the Municipal Capital Markets Group provide MLPF to local municipalities in need of upgrading their detention centers even when cash flow from state and federal bodies is strapped.

Unlike GOBs, MLPF:

Does not require voter approval
Not treated as debt, but as an alternative source of capital
Does not sit on the municipal budget as huge investment
Is able to be used for the whole project or just parts of it
Allows for municipalities to eventually own the leased items

How to Get the ROI You Want

Bluntly- construction of a new facility is downright expensive. Furthermore, if not built to suit the needs or goals of your organization, it could end up costing you even more in renovations and operations. It is extremely important that the huge investment you secure in a facility pays you back. It all begins in the predesign process. Follow these three steps to ensure your finalized facility works to enhance your organization and doesn't hinder it with hidden post-construction costs.

1.) Carefully choose an architect firm-- one that doesn't come to the table with predetermined solutions to your problem they have not yet heard.

Often times, administrators seek an architecture firm with only one thought, "I need a new building." Owners often don't understand what exactly they need and can be easily sold. An architecture firm that tries to sell a solution to you before understanding the challenges and goals of your organization will create a facility that costs you more in the end. An architecture firm that guides prethinking process by asking the right questions to understand your culture, users and processes will provide a facility that performs to enhance your organization and help you regain what was spent on the initial construction project.

2.) Identify the blood of your organization

In the project planning stage with your architect, identify and define the problem and discuss, identify and review the directives (goals, objectives, assumptions, critical issues, facts, milestones etc.) for the entire endeavor. These directives are used as the road map to guide the project. Also in this step, make sure your organization's processes are carefully mapped by the architect.

3.) Manufacture a master plan

Working side-by-side with your architect, create a master plan that explores and develops a conceptual model for physically organizing the site and facilities. The master plan should include prioritized and scheduled capital investments.

Is Green Sustainable?

Washington and California state governments are the leaders of LEED implementation. Washington currently has 34 LEED certified correctional facilities. California, with plans to retrofit 16 facilities to become more green, is home to the country's first LEED gold certified jail. Green, LEED certified facilities have been given the reputation of environmentally friendly and more efficient--contrary to the old concrete-box approach. But how sustainable is green?

While projected numbers and figures of cost savings derived from green tactics may be thrown around, sustainable solutions to operational cost reduction cannot be determined by the check list offered by LEED or predetermined solutions such as solar and wind. Sustainable design solutions that offer cost savings through efficiency need to be customized to each individual project based on the needs of the facility, requirements of the government and opportunities of the location.

LEED certified does not completely mean the facility is sustainable. We do not fully discredit LEED, however. Using LEED as a guide to designing a sustainable building is one aspect of creating an environmentally friendly facility and is not a one-size-fits-all program. Prison architects and designers need to work with the guidelines to build a strategy that works for the long-term sustainability of each unique prison.

Sustainable design solutions are derived by:

1. Listening and fulfilling the operator's goals for the facility: approaching a project to first fulfill the needs of the facility and improve its processes-so entity itself survives and thrives
2. Understanding the location: certain alternative energy solutions are proven to be more effective in certain geographical regions
3. Determine a sustainable strategy with operator: not coming on project with predetermined solutions

Correctional News Keeps Your Facility Current

Have you ever wondered if your facility is up to par with other facilities? CorrectionalNews.com is a good resource for private and public prison operators looking for news and information on the latest innovations in design, construction, management and operations of justice facilities. Furthermore, Correctional News provides information on the impact a building and its layout has on the organizational processes within.

View the free Correctional News Magazine online. The format is incredibly user friendly and allows you to view the whole magazine with no commitment and print only the articles you want. Featured article categories in each
bi-monthly edition include:

Green Scene
Courthouse News
Design/Construction
Maintenance/Operations
International News
Building Briefs
Healthcare News
Products

Correctional News highlights sustainable building practices implemented throughout the justice industry. Each time the Web site is updated a correctional facility implementing or trialing alternative energy or sustainable design is featured. Facilities that have acquired LEED certification are also featured.

The Web site is an all-inclusive resource when searching for products and services. Searching for resources is easy in the buyer guide. Simply click the type of product or service you are searching for and a list of suppliers appears.

Correctional News also links to related facility construction news such as school, healthcare and green design.

While Correctional News provides relevant information, the Web site content is only updated every two months upon the publication of the magazine.

The Pitfalls of Backdoor Financing

A previous blog post provided information on Municipal-Lease Purchase Financing for local and state governments needing to secure funds to tend to outdated, overcrowded correctional facilities. While moving away from General Obligation Bonds (GOBs) and taking on alternative forms of financing seem to solve legislatures' problems, there are serious pitfalls that need attention before signing on the dotted line.

Today's investors are more cautious

A recent Market Watch, advising investors, addresses the lesson of a bear market: stick with what you know. Municipal bonds have historically been viewed as a safe haven. However, the recent downgrades of bond insurers, the failing of the rating agencies and the rapidly worsening municipal budget deficits underscore the importance of the above lesson. General Obligation Bonds (GOBs) are very safe because they are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing jurisdiction and are senior to all other obligations of the municipality.

Functionality of the facility is limited

In 1995 the Louisiana Department of Corrections entered into a "cooperative endeavor agreement" with the City of Tallulah and Trans-American Development Associates (TADA) for the construction, financing and operation of a secure juvenile facility. The facility was refinanced with bonds by the state's operating contract with TADA. After several years of reported abusive conditions, the state, upon taking control of the facility, wanted to shut the facility down. Before doing this, however, lawmakers were warned by rating agencies that a decision to break the juvenile prison lease could damage the state's bond rating. The bond controversy delayed the closure of the facility by a year. Instead of the state turning the facility into a much needed learning center for the area, it was forced to reopen it as an adult prison in order to justify the lease payments to voters.

Easy money may result in wasteful or risky spending

Lack of rational planning will result in the slippage between supply and demand of prison beds. Unable to issue tax obligation bonds, Willacy County, Texas borrowed nearly three times more money to build a jail twice the size needed hoping to market the excess to federal government. The expected detainees never came. The county was forced to pay bondholders out of its general funds and commissioners reported that the county risked losing control of the facility.

Read More...

Prison Legal News offers several more examples of the faults of backdoor prison financing. Click here to access the article.

One-Sided Planning Will Break Your Budget

Revenue-driven organizations can be overwhelmed by the rush to build. Not planning for current and future situations at the same time will result in tremendous cost hikes, in both construction and operations. A little foresight can save a lot of dollars in the overall construction costs of the correctional facility. This is where creating an end-game master plan designed for organized growth and development delivers huge savings.

Giving definition to three areas will determine your end-game master plan:

· Identify start-up bed capacity target – What is the right number of beds and cells to optimize start-up cash-flow?

· Identify right-sized bed capacity growth stages – What is the most cost-efficient capacity expansion size?

· Identify appropriately-sized capacity – Finally, what is the target bed capacity of the prison? How can the prison expand to meet end-game capacity while minimizing disruption to existing operations and not jeopardize security?

Building too big at the beginning, in effort to meet a far-off expected inmate capacity, will increase up-front construction cost and strain your operational budget as the facility sits empty. In the same way, planning and building to only house the current population needs will break your future budget with sky-rocketed expansion costs and potential security threats.

Knowing what function you want your facility to play directly after opening as well as in the future will play a significant role in site selection and facility design. This also ensures upfront or expansion costs do not shoot through the roof.

For more cost saving ideas, read our free eBook: Five Correctional Facility Strategies that Cut Construction Costs.

How to Choose a Private Prison Operator

According to analysts reported in recent Reuters article, states can save between 10 to 20 percent on the cost of housing an inmate from outsourcing to private players. In addition to saving you money, outsourcing to a private operator allows you to cure overcrowding issues as they have the ability to quickly build without all the red tape governments face.

When outsourcing prison operations to a private operator, consider the following seven steps adopted by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections from and the NIJ report "Issues in Contracting for the Private Operations of Prisons and Jails". The steps ensure this crucial and large budget line item is correctly managed to provide positive benefits for both the government entities and inmates.

1. Determine your goals and what you want to get out of outsourcing to a private operator

Do you want to simply add more beds quickly?
Are you seeking more economical operations?

2. Develop public policy on private prison operations. The policy will include a long range plan that specifies how privatization fits into the plan. What degree of facilities and services will be offered to outsourced private contractors?

3. Determine how to define success and if the private operator delivered successful correctional services.

4. Devote careful attention to ensure the contract provides adequate protection of inmate rights and protects you from liability claims.

5. Use a competitive bidding process when contracting to avoid favoritism and or impropriety.

6. Make sure the following items are included in the RFP or contract:

The responsibilities of each party
Expected levels of performance
Staffing patterns
Inmate activity plans
Treatment plans
Detailed operation plans
Sanctions for not meeting performance benchmarks or standards
A clear payment structure
Re-bid provisions on a relatively short basis
Explicit description of inmate type and level of offender
Minimum and maximum inmate population levels

7. Once a private operator is contracted, make sure to monitor the contract to ensure all provisions and guidelines are followed.

Outsourcing prison operations to a private contractor can save the state money while providing the adequate rehabilitative services to an ever-growing inmate population. The above steps ensure your outsourcing experience is beneficial to both the state and inmates.

More Ways to Eliminate Cell Phone Contraband

Permitting cell phone jamming in prisons has become a hot topic in attempting to crack down on the thousands of cell phone smuggled into U.S. prisons each year. Essentially, a cell phone jammer blocks the transmission of radio signals within a designated area. Controversy remains around if the cell phone jamming systems will stay confined to the walls of the prison or also block signals for civilians or government agencies in the surrounding area needing to contact 911.

Confiscated Cell Phones

In addition to this, reports say cell phone jammers are not 100 percent effective, leaving corners where inmates could potentially find a signal and use a cell phone to continue criminal activity behind bars.

Currently 20 governors have signed a letter to support legislation in Congress to allow states to jam cell phones in prison.

Here are two ways prison design and technology planning can help alleviate the contraband:

Create a strategic inmate traffic flow

Visitors and weekend inmates are the leading sources of cell phone contraband. A justice facility design that controls the movement of inmates throughout the facility and eliminates the interaction with this group has with inmates will drive down levels of cell phone contraband.

As an example reported by Correctional News:

White County Law Enforcement Center, in Arkansas, serves as a judicial, enforcement and detention justice facility. Operators needed a building that provided an operational flow encompassing safety and security along with accessibility to the public. During the design process planners established two major interior traffic flows: one for the public and one for justice to cut down the interaction between visitors and weekend inmates. The justice center realized lower rates of contraband as a result of the design.

Advanced communication technologies eliminate physical inmate contact with visitors

Video conferencing technologies such as Jpay, ATM looking kiosks, allow inmates and visitors to interact without meeting physically which lead to cell phones within prisons.

Check out our next blog. We will review JPay and provide a complete run-down of the technology and its cost-saving benefits to both inmates and prisons.

JPay Keeps Jails Safe and Secure

Enhancing information technologies within correctional systems is proven to benefit both inmates and correctional systems. In effort to provide these services to inmates at a lower cost, Rockville Correctional Facility in Indiana utilizes an ATM-looking kiosks powered by JPay which provides video conferencing between inmates and friends and family.

Other facilities and states are looking to deploy the service as well. The state of Indiana plans to provide all 28,000 inmates with access to JPay video conferencing within the next four years. Kansas is following suit with nearly 9,000 inmates planned to have access in the next year.

While other prisoners around the country have video conferencing, loved ones often have to travel to sites, such as churches, to utilize the service. With JPay, family members and friends communicate with inmates from home making the contact much more personal. In addition, one JPay machine allows inmates to send and receive email and manage account finances.

Benefits to both inmates and correctional systems include:

Enhanced Safety : Often times with face-to-face visits, visitors smuggle contraband, cell phones and other banded items to prisoners. With video conferencing services such as JPay, the possibility for security breaches is eliminated. In addition, when inmates engage in regular communication with loved ones, they are more likely to behave better.
Improved Rehabilitation: Video conferencing provides more personal interaction between inmates and their loved ones who are unable to make regular visits to the prison. Because JPay video conferencing occurs from home, inmates are more likely to feel involved in loved ones' lives.
Reduced Communication Expenses: Paying only for Internet connection, JPay drives down various information technology costs. For inmates, communications costs are also reduced as they only have to pay $12.50 per half hour using JPay compared to $30 dollars per half hour of telephone access.

Increased Security: To prevent offenses and improve communication monitoring, JPay allows prison security to watch all the visits either live or later when streams are archived. If a problem arises, prison administrators are able to ban access to either the inmate or family member. The inmate can regain access within six months after first offense.

The Key to a Safe and Secure Jail

The recent prison riot in Chino, California sparked by overcrowding and under programming, has many corrections professionals predicting more U.S. prisons are a ticking time bomb due to the financial stress federal and state governments are feeling.

In August 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice and National Institute of Corrections (NIC) released their report: Inmate Behavior Management: The Key to a Safe and Secure Jail. The report material was originally published in NIC's Resource Guide for Jail Administrators and intended to become more accessible to jail practitioners looking to explore the issue further.

The Key to a Safe and Secure Jail presents six key elements that, in combination, will help jails reduce a wide array of negative, destructive and dangerous inmate behavior.

The six elements that will increase safety and security described in the report include:

1.) Assess Risks and Needs of Inmates

2.) Assign Inmates to Housing Strategically

3.) Fulfill Basic Needs of Inmates

4.) Define and Convey Expectation for Inmate Behavior

5.) Require Staff to Interact with Inmates

6.) Keep Inmates Productively Occupied

The report provides simple steps to implement all six elements. Click here to access the full report.

The Importance of Front-End Planning

In our previous blog, "What it Really Means to Listen", we discussed the benefits gained when an architecture firm listens to clarify the foundational needs behind any project rather than simply building a facility.

Engage in your company is the next step your architecture firm needs to take in order to deliver a facility that supports your business strategy and drives operational efficiency. Engaging with your organization will allow the planners, architects and engineers to understand your process, space and technology needs. This is accomplished as the architectural firm performs on-site workshops where:

Existing and/or prospective land options are analyzed
Staff and space forecasting are determined
Operational/workflow patterns are mapped
Adjacencies for site and facility components are determined

This thorough front-end process provides the information about the client that drives and becomes the standard for what is really needed in a design solution.

For Nicolet National Bank located in downtown Green Bay, WI, their newly designed 112,000 square foot facility was designed to reflect their brand and business strategy. Bob Atwell, Chairman and CEO for Nicolet National Bank said in an interview that the deep and genuine front-end process lead to the design of the building, that the minute he looked at the building the solution was clearly what his organization needed.

Click here to listen to Atwell's description of the design process Nicolet National Bank went through to get the solution they knew in the end was the obvious choice.

Discover the Surprising Capital Assets You Already Have

Should we expand our existing facilities, should we renovate our existing facilities or should we build new facilities?

The answer to these questions can only be answered by understanding your business goals and objectives (near and long term) and the implications it has on the physical environment and staff you need to support that mission. Once your strategic business direction is defined, you can then begin to develop a capital asset plan by first assessing if and how your current facility assets can support your needs. Rushing to build or expand without first understanding how your current facility assets can be modified and reutilized to fit business decisions may result in a significant waste of resources and capital.

As part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the existing Ramey Border Patrol Station in Puerto Rico needed to support the growing demands of the Custom and Border Protection Agency. Before building a new BPS, CBP wanted to know if an existing vacant facility, adjacent to the station, Support Facility #723, could provide the space requirements that were needed. Support Building #723 was built between 1999 and 2000 at which time further construction was ordered to be stopped. The two-story building consisted of several office spaces, a communications room, break room, arms vault, storage rooms, restroom and a large service area.

A physical condition assessment was performed on the support facility, evaluating the architectural, structural, plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems as well as the amount of useable space within the facility. The assessment revealed that the functions identified by CBP could be accommodated within the existing Facility #723 square footage and the systems would require minimal upgrades.

By spending the time to identify CBP’s needs and then assessing the capacity and condition of the existing Facility #723 systems, DHS was able to reduce the overall schedule and cost of the project.

The Top 10 Benefits of Planning for the Future

Developing a strategic capital asset master plan will deliver the following benefits to your organization as you head into the future:

1. Facilities that meet your organization's Strategic Business Plan

2. A shared vision and the feeling of ownership will be created within your organization

3. Better use of your existing site and facilities

4. Ability to anticipate future site and facility needs

5. Avoid displacing or removal of any capital assets

6. Establish a realistic schedule and capital budget

7. Unify the aesthetic quality of your assets

8. Enhance your credibility with financial institutions

9. Develop land use and building plan for facility management coordination

10. Alignment of capital assets with strategic business direction

The 4 Ultimate Benefits of Master Planning

The 4 Ultimate Benefits of Master Planning

Site and Facility Master Planning provides you the ability to walk into the future with ease knowing your business strategy is documented and that your capital assets support your organizations near and long-term organizational, operational and functional needs.

Simply beginning as an inquiry into the possibility of increasing the number of Border Patrol Agents at a Border Patrol Station from 35 to 50, the Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Patrol Agency determined that a Site and Facility Master Planning effort was is need.

As an outcome of the Master Planning effort, DHS/CBP gained the following:

1. The proposed plan corrected operational inefficiencies and provided a safer work environment for the agents.

2. The land feasibility study helped determine the agent capacity for the existing owned property.

3. The planning process helped generate a near and long term growth plan within budget constraints.

4. The building strategy utilized much of the existing structure as possible, reducing overall project costs.

Performa's Justice Team met with representatives from the CBP Headquarters, Detroit Sector and the Detroit Border Patrol Agent-in-Charge to determine the project's form, function, economic and time goals and objectives, define near- and long-term space requirements and discuss the necessary adjacencies between departments for optimal staff workflow. Space facility programs and cost models were developed for 25, 50, 75 and 100 agent Border Patrol Stations. Using this information Performa conducted existing site capacity studies, to determine how large of a Station could be placed on the existing site.

The analysis indicated that the existing 25 agent Station was landlocked and could not expand to the desired 50 agent Station.

The Performa Planning and Design Team were asked to assess a site and facilities located within the Fort Wayne Military Museum. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is owned by the City of Detroit and partially occupied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Using the station requirements and site evaluation criteria established during an interactive needs assessment workshop, Performa developed alternative master plans with associated project costs. Each alternative illustrated how the Station could be accommodated.

CorrectionsOne.com

CorrectionOne.com is an online resource geared to provide correctional officers information, news and educational resources that enable them to keep their facility a safe and controlled environment.

Upon accessing the home page at www.correctionsone.com, you will notice several interactive and accessible links to valuable information correction staff members can utilize on a daily basis.

· Correction industry news is updated and complied on the homepage as it happens.

· Exclusive articles from featured columnists are segmented by category: C.E.R.T., Prison Gangs, Correctional Healthcare, etc…

· Product reviews and information are continuously updated and categorized by type of product.

If you discover the site offers information you are interested in, it is very useful to become a registered member and create a username and password. As a qualified member, you will be entitled to read and access exclusive information not published to the public. You will also be able to access private forums that provide a deeper, secured look into corrections than the public one.

When registering, you can sign up to receive weekly eNewletters sent directly to your inbox. The newsletters provide you the week’s top topics.

Corrections.com is another resource for correctional staff. The Web site provides many of the same resources and information as Correctionsone.com. However, the information is less tailored to only correctional officers and is geared more toward providing every person in the corrections industry something of value.

All information and forums are available to the general public and do not require specified requirements. Corrections.com provides you the option to receive RSS feeds from its panel of bloggers, but does not offer a weekly or monthly eNewsletter.

Autism Guide for Correctional Officers: A Must Read

Recent estimates state that the number of children with autism-related disorders has increased to one in 150. The chances are very likely that correction officers will encounter and have to deal with situations where a person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is involved. Careful, thoughtful actions need to be taken to both protect people and enforce the law without incurring legal trouble and averting tragedy.

The Children's Hospital and Health System of Wisconsin, recently released a report and resource entitled Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Special Needs Subject Response for Police Officers. The report, while geared toward police officers, presents useful information and tactics correctional officers can employ when dealing with inmates with other psychological, developmental and emotional disorders.

While no person with ASD is exactly similar to another, the report details the common characteristics and behaviors of people with ASD in order to recognize the disorder. Those characteristics include:

Stimming: self-stimulating motions
Repetition: unusual repetitive behaviors
Acclimation: in an unfamiliar environment they may need to wander around looking at and touching things or people to feel safe
Delayed response or latency: delayed reaction to commands
Dissociated speech: replying with seemingly meaningless answers
Unusual tone of voice: inappropriately loud or soft-spoken tone of voice for situation and/or talking over others
Lack of eye contact: appear to be ignoring or not paying attention
Unusual or unbalanced gait: clumsy with difficulty balancing

After determining the disorder, correctional and police officers can adopt tactics presented in the report to handle situations effectively. These are clearly defined by what type of characteristic the person with ASD is exhibiting or to what level that person is able to communicate. The report provides relatable conversations and actions that make it easy for the correct responses to be taken.

Click here to obtain a copy of Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Special Needs Subject Response for Police Officers.

High-Tech Technologies for Today

In the midst of budget cuts and high recidivism rates, CorrectionsOne selected high-tech products on display at the American Correctional Association's Summer Conference. These wireless and web-based products are key solutions to a variety of problems the corrections industry faces today.

The Sentry: cell-phoned sized personal wireless pendant system is designed to protect officers and employees from violent attacks and hazards by pinpointing who it is that needs help and where they are located. Officers in need of assistance push the button at the center of the device and a voice message, providing who and where assistance is needed, is instantly broadcast over all existing facility hand-held radios. The Sentry System can be used as a replacement for live dispatchers with a facility. Little installation is required and it can be synchronized with other in-house systems such as fire alarms.

Einmate.com: secure email, instant messaging and video visitation system for inmates and their family and friends. Einmate cuts both physical visitations and hand-written mail increasing security by eliminating contraband and cutting costs. Einmate provides correctional facility staff the ability to completely monitor communications and determine who inmates have access to.

LearnKey, Inc.: digital programs provide on-demand access to award winning Post Secondary Occupational Certification Programs. Virtual classroom courses are provided to inmates online, via CD-Rom or through an institution's intranet. These re-entry programs are perfect for understaffed facilities.

Join Performa at ACA's 2010 Winter Conference

Performa will attend the American Correctional Association's 2010 Winter Conference in Tampa, Fla. February 22 to 27. At the conference Performa will highlight its extensive experience in lowering corrections/detention operating costs. Performa's President of the Federal Programs Group, David Robillard and CEO, Jeff Kanzelberger will be in attendance to show booth visitors how they can lower operating costs while improving performance.

Visit Performa's booth #808. Enter to win a free 24 in. Dynex TV/PC capable LCD HDTV.

A Design for Multiple Clients

In December, Cornell Companies, Inc., a private provider of correctional services, began housing Alaskan inmates at its newest facility located in Hudson, Colo. Performa, Inc. planned and designed the 1,250 bed, medium-security correctional facility to house multiple clients.

"To bring on multiple clients, Cornell needs to accommodate individual client requirements and avoid inmate integration," said David Robillard, President of Performa's Federal Program. "The facility's flexibility allows Cornell to house large and small populations from a particular client without wasting space or co-mingling inmates."

The 32-acre, 230,000-square-foot Hudson Correctional Facility includes an administrative building, with inmate processing, medical and visitation functions, four inmate housing units, various inmate support services buildings containing vocational, educational, dining and laundry services, recreational programs and a maintenance/warehousing facility.

"This is really a state of the art prison," said Rick Veach, Warden at the Hudson Correctional Facility. "I have been at 11 different prisons that I was stationed at with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and this is probably the nicest."

"The buildings are spacious, the design is very nice, we have a central control in each of the housing unit buildings and the housing units have a lot of room."

In a recent news story from Alaska's Channel 2-KTUU, inmates, compared the new Hudson Facility to the previous Arizona prison from which they were transferred. "This place is the best we have been so far," said one Alaskan inmate.

According to the news story, the Alaska Department of Corrections plans to model their upcoming facility in Port Mackenzie to what is available at the Hudson Facility.

Watch the entire news story>>>

The plan/design/build project team, Miron/Performa has master planned the correctional complex to add two additional phases which would increase the inmate bed capacity to 4,000 beds.

First Day is Busy for Performa at ACA 2010 Winter Conference

Sunday evening was the first exhibit day for the ACA's 2010 Winter Conference in Tampa Bay, FL. Despite being opposite the AFC Championship football game between the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets, attendance was strong.

David Robillard, President of Performa's Federal Programs Group, met with a large number of private and public corrections professionals.

At the booth, Performa is demonstrating BIM (Building Information Modeling) and site optimization models for prisons. In addition, Performa is conducting a survey of corrections professionals about the top issues confronting them in 2010. Following last night's exhibit, here are the top three issues:

1. Funding
2. Operating Costs
3. Staffing Costs

No surprise that finance is the key issues heading into 2010.

A strong number of write-in votes identified "over-crowding" as a key issue challenging corrections professionals in 2010. Watch for updates on this blog each day of the conference.

Costs are the Major Issues for ACA Attendees

At the ACA 2010 Winter Conference, Performa has been conducting an informal survey asking attendees to identify the top issues challenging them as they look ahead to 2010. Costs lead the way. Below are the top three vote getters:

1. Funding
2. Staffing Costs
3. Operating Costs

Inmate rehabilitation and security both ranked high but neither cracked the top three. More than 85 percent of attendees identified a cost issue as their number one challenge heading into 2010. What does this tell everyone who serves the corrections industry?

Focus on solutions that reduce cost.

Throughout 2010, we will explore proven methods of reducing costs. We look forward to your input and comments.

Below are the complete results from the survey.

ACA 2010 Winter Conference Wraps Up in Tampa

Tuesday was the final day of the ACA 2010 Winter Conference held in Tampa, FL. The team from Performa saw a lot of booth traffic the final day- as did many exhibitors. Performa wishes to thank everyone who stopped by during the show. We met a great many new friends and look forward to seeing everyone again in July in Chicago. Below is a brief photo album from the show.

Cornell Companies' George Killinger, VP, Adult Secure Division (left) discusses prison design with Performa's President of Federal Programs David Robillard (right).

Miron Construction's Senior Project Manager John Murphy (center) and Project Executive Todd Sabourin (right) visit Performa's booth with Performa's David Robillard (left).

Max Cramer (left) from Independence House is one of two winners of a 24" HD TV provided by Performa.

Lieutenant Pete Tartaglione (left) Palm Beach County Sheriff's Officer is one of two winners of a 24" HD TV provided by Performa.