By C1 Staff
DOVER, Del. — Officials with the Delaware Department of Corrections are seeking a 3.6 percent increase in departmental funding.
WBOC reports that the department is looking for money to secure staff and equipment, invest in programs that reduce recidivism, and meet increased expenses in caring for offenders.
DOC Commissioner Robert Coupe asked that funding for these areas be included in the governor’s recommended Fiscal Year 2016 budget.
“We are mindful that with limited resources available to fund the critical functions of State government, we all must do more with less and must be innovative in reducing expenditures wherever possible,” Coupe said. “One way we reduce our burden on taxpayers is by employing offenders to complete tasks throughout our facilities, at an estimated savings of $16 million this past year alone.
“However, even as we employ belt-tightening measures, we are faced with added expenses in maintaining the necessary level of care to offenders and in meeting the training and security needs of our staff.”
They hope to use the money more specifically for meeting additional offender healthcare costs, increased offender food costs, purchasing ballistic vests for officers, securing training services for inmates reentering society, purchasing TASERS for probation and parole officers, and to fund an employee drug testing program, among others.
“My team and I have worked hard to prioritize our most urgent funding needs that have the most direct impact on the safety and security of our staff and the community, coupled with a modest investment in programs that will reduce recidivism and, therefore, lower the long term costs of incarcerating and supervising offenders,” Commissioner Coupe said.