Hello! I am a college senior (criminal justice major) and for a seminar course I am researching ways to reduce prison costs. If anyone could give input on where to find ways that various DOCs have reduced their costs, or if anyone has personal experience with being able to reduce prison costs in various ways, I would be most appreciative!
Ideas that my group for this project has come up with include:
- using solar panels to reduce energy costs
- limiting number of items given to each inmate per year (i.e. 2 pants, 2 shirts) -- I need to find out where I could find out the costs on these
- having religious officials come in gratis to meet with inmates
- have inmates with professional backgrounds (cooks, plumbers, doctors, etc.) work in those areas, this would reduce the number of paid employees we'd need
- having a garden which inmates work at, part of the harvest goes to kitchen for inmate food, part can be sold
Any suggestions for specific money saving ideas would be great -- or recommendations for websites/publications to look at.
Thanks so much!!