Strategic Management Issue 1:
Acquiring Supplemental Resources for Department Programs

GOAL: By June 30, 2003, increase the total dollar amount received from all funding sources except general revenue and trust fund sources by 10% above the baseline total in June 1997.

1. Number and dollar amount of grants awarded annually. (Baseline data pending)
2. Dollar amount of resources provided through the activities of the Foundation for Partnerships in Correctional Excellence. (96/97 $2,995)
3. Annual dollar value of food produced from gardening operations (96/97: $442,715)

Financial Accountability and Responsibility:

Business expertise is spread system-wide ensuring financial responsibility and accountability at all levels of the department.

Organizational accommodation:

A Grants Clearing House organized to develop, initiate and monitor grant acquisition and expenditures has been established and is operating.

An operating direct support organization:

The Foundation for Partnerships in Correctional Excellence is now in operation.

Need for consolidation of resource acquisition efforts:

Fragmentation of resource acquisition efforts promotes duplication and wasted energy. Coordination of grant seeking activities will ensure there is a focused approach to obtain desired results.

Management Information System Integration:

The department is engaged in customizing several information systems. These include Budgeting, State Accounting Management and Automation System (SAMAS) and Cooperative Personnel Employment System (COPES), to make them more user friendly and the data more understandable and accessible. An overall integration of systems will occur within the next five years to facilitate more efficient management.

Enterprise Funds:

The department is operating non-PRIDE work programs and PIE initiatives with self-generated revenues. Farming and gardening to raise produce for institutional consumption are among these efforts. Expansion of these programs is intended.

Partnerships and Resources:

Linkages with universities, other agencies and the private sector offer opportunities for access to federal dollars and foundation and corporate grant funds to provide additional support for programs and activities of the Department.

Technological Innovations:

Opportunities exist for cost-savings and program improvement through the use of technology. Examples include data collection for research and program evaluation and the use of distance learning to enhance training and education for both staff and inmates.

Limitations of General Revenue Funding:

The department competes with other government agencies for shrinking General Revenue dollars. Also, the diversion of General Revenue funds to private prisons will adversely affect the department's funding.

Future Operating Costs:

The costs of operating new prison beds is increasing. The department may experience diminished success in competing for General Revenue funding if other state priorities may emerge.

Unfunded Mandates:

The impact of legislative mandates which specify performance but do not appropriate the requisite funds create a potential problem for the department. Examples are salary incentive payments, AIDS treatment and sentencing guideline implementation.

Curtailment of Building Renovations:

If funding for conversion to secure beds is not continued, the flexibility which makes possible the assignment of inmates presenting particular threats to different or more secure facilities will be lost, and the dangers to staff and inmates increased.

Restrictions on Use of Inmate Funds:

Inmate management difficulties are increased by restrictions placed on the use of funds.

Future Health Care Costs:

Costs of treating AIDS and TB could increase dramatically, and if made an unfunded mandate, could adversely impact the department.

The Department of Corrections is a major state agency responsible for the fourth largest prison system in the nation and faces the ever-present challenge of acquiring resources necessary to carry out its mission. On April 30, 1997, the appropriation for the Department of Corrections operating budget totaled $1.486 billion. Ninety-five percent of that total was comprised of general revenue. Four percent was funded through grants and donations of which 42 percent represented inmate welfare trust funds generated from canteen sales. The remaining one percent was composed of other funding sources, primarily the operating trust funded through work squad contracts with the Department of Transportation. All sources are appropriated by the legislature, and many, such as inmate welfare trust funds, are restricted in use to certain programs and functions.

The department has demonstrated excellence in the efficient and innovative use of funds. The Florida Department of Corrections has the lowest per diem rate of the four largest state prison systems in the United States.¹ There appears to be limited public appreciation of the department's efforts in this regard. A recent survey disclosed that only 20% of respondents could correctly estimate the cost, within a broad bracket, of housing an inmate for one year. Over 60% thought it was much more than the actual cost ($16,564).² Continued emphasis placed on the department's management philosophy of Correctional Quality Managerial Leadership has motivated staff at all levels to create innovations, improvements and value(s) in the work they do. The innovative use of funds is evidenced by the number of Davis Productivity awards and certificates given to Department of Corrections employees (45 in 1997).

A large gap exists between the number of Agency Strategic Plan strategies requiring funding which the department has included in its Legislative Budget Request and the numbers that are actually funded. In one way or another, this gap represents lost opportunities which adversely affect public safety and hinder cost-effective operations of the department. The continuing challenge for the department is to acquire sufficient resources aside from General Appropriation Act and Inmate Trust Fund appropriations to adequately meet the demands of the prison system and the community supervision program without compromising public or employee safety.

One source of supplementary funds which the department intends to utilize to greater advantage is grant funding. Grants are defined as funding derived from an external source, government or private, and distinguished from the department's regular funding sources in General Revenue and Trust Funds. Between 7/1/94 and 6/30/96 funds received from 54 grant awards and donations financed department expenditures of $26,281,804.³

In 1995, foundations in the United States gave over $10 billion; corporate giving was $7.4 billion. In Florida alone in 1994, the top ten foundations controlled nearly $1.9 billion in assets.⁴ Substantial grants are given in areas such as education, health and religion which impact directly on unmet corrections programs needs. The continuing commitment of the Department to the formation of appropriate community partnerships in furtherance of its mission is particularly important in the effort to secure foundation and corporate support for programs and activities.

In 1996, the Legislature authorized creation of a direct support organization for the department, The Foundation for Partnerships in Correctional Excellence, a 501 (c)(3) not for profit foundation.⁵ This organization will help the department to access additional resources from foundations, corporations and broad-based membership support. The continuing commitment of the department to the formation of appropriate community partnerships in furtherance of its mission is particularly important in the effort to secure foundation and corporate support for programs and activities.

Through innovation and economies of scale, the department has managed to operate efficiently while seeking grant funding for new job training and treatment programs. However, the changing nature of the inmate population as well as the continuing need for programs to assist inmates in a successful return to the community upon release will continue to strain resources. Programming efforts include:

• Academic training, vocational training, and life management skills
• Drug treatment
• Specialized programs for inmates aged 50 and over who may have special needs
• Screening, identification, placement, and monitoring systems for special education
• Parenting classes for female offenders
• Treatment programs for female offenders who have experienced domestic violence
• Boot camp for female offenders
• Post treatment for boot camp graduates
• Community work release programs
• Transition programs to provide education and identification of community-based support services upon release

The correctional system must ultimately be viewed as a whole. Appropriated funding or trust fund resources have not been adequate to fund all strategic plan strategies. This situation should concern every citizen because these strategies have been formulated around the department's primary mission, to protect the public. Each area, such as bed expansion, inmate programs, community-based alternatives, among others, is part of the correctional whole and requires adequate funding if offenders are to be prepared for their safe return to society.

Objective SM 1-1:
By July 1, 2003, funding for 75% of the strategic plan strategies that require additional resources beyond those appropriated as General Revenue or allocated Inmate Trust Fund authorizations will be provided by alternative grant funding sources.

Strategies:

1. Identify additional funding beyond General Revenue appropriations or Trust Fund allocations. Lead Org Unit: Executive Services; Other Org. Units: All other assistant secretaries
2. Obtain grants to meet the determined needs. Lead Org Unit: Executive Services; Other Org. Units: All other assistant secretaries.

Objective SM 1-2:
By July 1, 2003,funding for 25% of Strategic Plan strategies that require additional resources beyond appropriated General Revenue funds or allocated Inmate Trust Fund authorizations will be provided through the activities of the Direct Support Organization.

Strategies:

1. Ascertain dollar amounts required for unfunded programs or portions of programs determined to be essential to improvement of department mission fulfillment. Lead Org Unit: Executive Services; Other Org. Units: Administrative Services; Legislative Office.
2. Conduct fund raising activities to acquire needed funding activities annually. Lead Organization: Foundation for Partnerships in Correctional Excellence

END NOTES:

1. Corrections Yearbook 1996, Criminal Justice Institute, Inc., New York
2. Bureau of Research and Data Analysis, Florida Department of Corrections
3. Grants Development Partnership Survey, Florida
4. Foundation Center
5. Section 944.802, Florida Statutes