Expands eligibility for the shock incarceration program

1 Co-sponsor

• Betty Little

BILL NUMBER:S8228

Title of bill

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to eligibility for the shock program

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill would expand eligibility for the shock incarceration program for certain non-violent offenders.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 of the bill would expand eligibility for the Shock Incarcera- tion Program to allow non-violent inmates who had been in prison previ- ously for a non-violent offense to be reviewed by the Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) for the Shock program.

Section 2 of the bill is the effective date.

Justification

New York State has the largest Shock Incarceration Program for sentenced state prisoners in the nation. Shock is an intensive, "boot camp" based program available for male and female inmates convicted of non-violent offenses. Since screening of Shock eligible inmates began in July 1987, an average of 242 inmates are admitted to the program each month.

The Shock Incarceration Program saves the State money, while providing inmates intensive treatment and education programs. For the 35,102 releases from Shock through September 30, 2006, the Department saved an estimated $1.18 billion in both operating and capitol costs. Each year, supervised crews of shock inmates perform thousands of hours of communi- ty service as part of the daily routine of the facilities. It is esti- mated that in calendar year 2006 inmates from Shock facilities performed 1.2 million hours of community service.

Each Shock graduate was released to Parole supervision an average of 345 or approximately 11.3 months earlier than his/her earliest possible release without Shock. On average, Shock inmates who graduated during fiscal year 2005-2006 increased their math and reading scores by at least one grade level. The GED passing rate for Shock inmates was 80%, considerably higher than the passing rates at comparison medium (57%) and minimum (41%) facilities. Shock graduates are more likely than comparison group parolees to be successful on parole supervision and more successful at securing employment than comparison group parolees.

Prior to last year's expansion of the Shock program, inmates could only be placed into Shock immediately upon receipt by DOCS. Therefore, the Shock program essentially reduced a prison sentence to 6 months before

release on parole. However, inmates can now "age in" to the program meaning that an inmate can be placed in the program once they are within 3 years of release after serving a portion of their prison sentence in general confinement. Therefore, it no longer makes sense to limit eligi- bility to first-time offenders when second non-violent offenders could also benefit from the program prior to release after serving a portion of their sentence.

Prior legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

According to the Department of Correctional Services, there is existing capacity on the Shock program to accommodate additional inmates so no fiscal impact is anticipated.

Effective date

Immediate.