DATE: Wednesday, October 15, 1997           TAG: 9710150514

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY HOLLY A. HEYSER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   76 lines

PRISON COUNSELORS DECREASE AS INMATE POPULATION GOES UP AGENCY REPORT SAYS MORE ARE NEEDED FOR TREATMENT PROGRAMS TO BE EFFECTIVE.

A report on Virginia prison staffing confirmed critics' complaints Tuesday that the number of counselors in Virginia prisons has plummeted even as the prison population has skyrocketed.

However, while the report to the General Assembly called for adding some clerical, nursing, dental, food service and commissary staff to the prisons, it left the counseling staff issue up to the Department of Corrections.

``If an expansion of inmate treatment programming is desired, additional counselors will be required,'' stated the report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

Treatment programs include services for substance abusers and sex offenders. Treatment slots for those inmates haven't kept pace with the increasing prison population, the report said.

Corrections Director Ron Angelone told the commission he is ``not in conflict'' with the report.

But it wasn't clear whether the department was interested in expanding treatment programs. ``We're reviewing our needs now,'' said corrections spokesman David Botkins.

Botkins has consistently emphasized that the department's main mission is incarcerating criminals, not rehabilitating them. He said Tuesday, ``We provide the tools and the mechanisms for inmates to better themselves, and we hope that inmates will take advantage of those programming and treatment opportunities.''

The draft report, which examined nonsecurity prison staffing, concluded that most staffing was adequate, though there were noteworthy exceptions.

Treatment staff dropped 15.5 percent since 1994. (In comparison, the inmate population increased by nearly one-third over the same period.)

Of all categories of nonsecurity staffing, treatment took the biggest hit. It dropped six times more than the next hardest-hit category - food services staff, which dropped 2.6 percent over the same period.

One warden reported that counselors have caseloads of up to 90 inmates, ``most typically offenders with long sentences and violent-offense convictions which require more intense therapeutic counseling and treatment.''

The warden noted that counselors don't have time to meet inmates' needs, ``thus increasing the likelihood that the cycle of crime will be repeated.''

An estimated 80 percent of prison inmates have substance abuse problems. And 89 percent of inmates in prison now ultimately will be released, provided they don't commit additional crimes while they're doing time.

A shortage of clerical staff in several facilities is forcing employees ranging from correctional officers to nurses to perform clerical duties, taking them away from the work they were hired to do, the report said. The shortage has prison administrators ``overwhelmingly concerned.''

The problem is due largely to ``double bunking'' that began in 1994 when the state started bringing in prisoners from local jails more quickly. The report recommended adding clerical staff where double bunking has occurred.

The report concluded that using contract physicians at prisons isn't always cost-efficient and should be studied more carefully. It noted that inmates wait an average of 6.4 days to see contract physicians for nonemergency medical problems, compared to 2.7 days for state-employed physicians.

Some corrections institutions are having a hard time filling openings for dentists. The Deerfield Correctional Center had one un-filled opening for at least 12 months, resulting in a backlog of 140 dental appointments. The Bland Correctional Center had one dental vacancy for at least nine months, forcing inmates to wait two to six weeks for treatment of simple toothaches.

One issue may be that the state pays just $43,661 to $68,166 for prison dentists, the report concluded. It recommended studying the problem further.

Noting shortages in other areas, the report recommended adding four commissary positions, one food service position and three nursing positions.

Also addressed was a state law requiring prisons to offer inmates 40 hours a week of education, treatment and work by July 1, 1998.

The report concluded that the goal isn't feasible, especially considering that the Department of Corrections provided only 23 hours a week in 1995-96. It proposed requiring 31 hours a week instead.

Angelone told the commission that the typical inmate day allows, at best, 6 hours for such activity, and then only when the day goes perfectly, without lockdowns or other problems.

He said 28 hours a week of programming would be more realistic.

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