By C1 Staff
SACRAMENTO — For decades, California prisons have tracked inmates manually, adding to paper files that were started the day inmates began their sentences.
Now all of that has changed with the Strategic Offender Management System, according to GCN, which is now live.
The system offers secure access to accurate and complete offender information. It has eliminated manual processes, enabled real-time data, and saved the state $15 million annually.
“When inmates enter the prison system now, it’s all done online, like checking into a hotel,” said Russ Nichols, project director of SOMS. “They are registered so that whatever action is taken on them next can be done on that inmate’s electronic file, from noting what type of special needs the inmate has to whether he is at the right place at the right time and what services he’s scheduled for.”
Before SOMS went live, it wasn’t unusual for inmates to be double-scheduled for activities, such as an anger management class and a dentist visit. With SOMS, each inmate’s calendar is visible to all prison staff and inmates get the services they need.
HP was hired as the system’s integrator, directed by Nichols and his team of business experts. They reconfigured Marquis Software’s Electronic Offender Management Information System (eOMIS) to meet California’s specific requirements.
The bulk of the $400 million project was completed in 2011 and rolled out to all 35 prisons.
Since then, the team has continued to add functionality. Each team recently completed a program that classifies inmates by security level, services required and potential job and educational needs. Next up is a module that will support 60,000 parolees by making their information accessible to parole officers and allowing them to add to the files.
Today, the system supports more than 53,000 users and processes an average of 84,800 visitors, 116,500 external movements, 27,500 reception center intakes, 99,400 bed assignments, 1,255 master count transactions and 325,000 scheduling appointments each month.