Ballooning costs lead to debate on hiring two officers in Schuylkill.
By Ashley Kosciolek, Freelancer
The Morning Call
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Schuylkill County’s Prison Board announced Thursday it may create a committee to address ballooning overtime costs for prison officers.
County Budget Analyst Mark Catranis said $140,000 is allocated this year for officer overtime pay, but the costs could reach $230,000 by December unless something is done to decrease them.
Commissioners Chairwoman Mantura M. Gallagher, a Prison Board member and head of the board’s Personnel Committee, said she would like the board to consider hiring two more corrections officers, which could save the county $14,000, even after the officers’ $59,691 pay and benefits are considered.
But Catranis said since that amount is only what it costs to employ them for eight months, the savings would disappear in 2009, and the two additional officers -- who would get a pay raise after six months and reach the top of the pay scale within a year -- would actually cost the county $2,224 more.
If projected numbers are accurate, Catranis said projected hours for May through December would decrease from 5,739 to 3,071 because the new officers would fill in when others are sick instead of having current officers work overtime to compensate.
Part of the problem, some officials said, is the number of corrections officers who are off-duty for medical reasons. Warden Eugene Berdanier, in a report to the board, said there now are five.
Allan Sienkiewicz, prison chaplain who also is a truck driver and union member, said he must pass a physical exam every two years to continue driving and asked why corrections officers don’t have to do the same. Sienkiewicz said the exams could cut down on the number of officers on medical leave and possibly the number of sick days used.
County President Judge William E. Baldwin, the Prison Board’s chairman, said he would like to explore the possibility further and asked for volunteers to form a committee to review the situation.
Also Thursday, the Prison Board was told Schuylkill is among only 13 counties in the state not signed up to use the Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification system.
Sam Wilder, a member of SAVIN’s Governance and Outreach and Training committees, said the system lets victims who register via telephone or the Internet get automated notifications and updates within hours if a criminal escapes, or is released or relocated.
Wilder said anyone can register on a victim’s behalf.
“It’s not just for the victim,” he said. “It’s for anyone who has an interest in protecting that victim.”
The system, used in 43 states, would cost about 4 cents per prisoner per day for the county to implement. Based on the jail’s capacity of 240 beds, it would have a pricetag of $3,900 per year, part of which may be eligible for state or federal funding.
In another matter, the board heard from Joel Jakubowski, a representative from Teen Challenge of Rehrersburg, who said the voluntary drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs his facility offers could help alleviate prison crowding problems.
Jakubowski said Teen Challenge has facilities for 12-to-17-year-olds, but most of the program’s faith-based counseling work is with adults.
The yearlong residential program includes both private and group counseling and life skills programs. Participants must complete a 15-minute phone interview and pass a physical exam, and do community service and hold jobs to help to pay for their stay.
Jakubowski said the facility’s success rate is 76 percent.
The jail, which has a capacity of 240 prisoners, had a population of 311 at the end of March. Officials are applying for a U.S. Agriculture Department loan that would fund a new pre-release center in Frackville that has been estimated to cost $6 million -- about twice as much as originally estimated.
Ashley Kosciolek is a freelance writer.
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