Corrections_Today_March_April_2020_Volume 82, Number 2

n Overcrowding

–– Available beds: The number of available beds for each SCI is determined before assigning the inmates. At least a minimum number of inmates should be assigned to each SCI to properly utilize bed spaces. Additionally, for each SCI, the maximum number of inmates is specified to avoid creating long lists of inmates waiting for beds to become available at SCIs. Furthermore, the number of inmates assigned to the SCIs should be proportional to the number of available beds when it is within the minimum and maximum range. –– Home county: Inmates need to be assigned to a SCI near their home county. –– Separations: Considering previous inmate-to- inmate and inmate-to-staff conflicts, some inmates cannot be assigned to specific SCIs. Additionally, some pairs or groups of inmates who are waiting for an assignment cannot be assigned to the same SCI.

must be considered. This is the basic inmate initial assign- ment problem. Figure 1 shows a map of Pennsylvania with its 25 currently-running SCIs of the PADOC. A crucial feature of the inmate initial assignment problem is that inmates must go through individually specified programs, which are scheduled according to explicit rules and requirements. Furthermore, for a variety of reasons, an inmate might transfer from his or her initially assigned SCI to another one. The need for the inmate transfer further complicates the problem. The criteria that must be considered during the initial assignment of inmates to SCIs is as follows: –– General factors: A variety of factors must be satis- fied at initial inmate assignment, and inmates who meet these criteria must be assigned to a predefined set of SCIs; these criteria include but are not limited to risk level of the inmates, physical and mental health status, age, gang affiliation, type of the crime, sentence duration, etc.

Figure 1: The Map of PA SCIs

Figure courtesy Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

38 — March/April 2020 Corrections Today