HIGH QUALITY SERVICE

Public-Private Correctional Partnerships Provide High-Quality Service

Providing safe, secure, and humane care and custody for offenders is the most critical requirement of any public-private correctional partnership. Saving money at the expense of quality of service provides no value to the taxpayer. Many facts and independent studies document the high level of service provided by the private sector.

  • The Abt Associates Study, funded by the Department of Justice, found that the private operator of the Taft Federal Correctional Institution met every contractual requirement and did exactly what it said it would do.
  • In 2002, a Florida study revealed that rehabilitative programs provided by the private operator were significantly more sophisticated than those made available to prisoners in a comparable state prison.
  • The Reason Public Policy Institute issued an independent 2002 report, which found that 61% of the private prison research surveys conducted (11 out of 16), concluded that the private operations were as good as or better than comparable publicly-managed facilities were at providing services.
  • The standard for quality operation in the United States is accreditation by the American Correctional Association. Forty-four U.S. prisons hold this accreditation while only 10 publicly-operated facilities meet this same standard.
  • State jurisdictions generally provide an on-site contract monitor at private facilities, and conduct numerous contract compliance audits. These activities rarely, if ever, occur at public facilities.
  • Contracts to operate facilities can be terminated for poor quality control, therefore each private operator is motivated to rigorously maintain its standards of quality operation.
  • Contracts may provide financial incentives for superior performance, and financial penalties for failure to meet standards, thereby encouraging superior performance by private operators.
  • Public-private correctional partnerships allow direct access to innovations and expertise developed in other correctional systems.
Cost savings alone is not enough. APCTO is committed to the principle that assurance of a high quality of service and strict compliance with contract requirements is essential for successful public-private correctional partnerships.
  1. Abt Associates of Cambridge, MA, 2005. Available atwww.apcto.org
  2. Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, 2002. Available at www.apcto.org
  3. Reason Public Policy Institute Study, 2002
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