Norton's Eye Opening Visit To Rivers Correctional Institution (8/14/07)

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), in the first visit by a D.C. elected official to Rivers Correctional Institution, assured D.C. inmates that with the change in the control of Congress, oversight has begun and that she is working to make sure that Rivers inmates have access to the same programs as others at Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities around the country. With clear signs of increase in crime in D.C., Norton told Warden George E. Snyder and Rivers and BOP personnel that her first priority is increasing substance abuse treatment. A limited, non-certified program is available only to 60 of the 1,355 inmates, although 50 to 80 percent have substance abuse problems. "The reported 65% recidivism rate can be traced back largely to putting men on the streets with no money, no plan for the future, and an unresolved drug habit," Norton said. Inmates in many BOP facilities get early release incentives upon completion of a 500 hour drug treatment program, which is unavailable at Rivers. Thus, D.C. prisoners have less encouragement to enroll in the program (although the Rivers program has a waiting list), and get far less effective drug treatment, if any, before coming back to D.C. "I told the inmates that providing substance abuse treatment that works is my first priority," she said, "to assure that they break the habit that got most of them there and to relieve the burden none of them wants to put on their family, friends and the city."

Norton toured the health and dental care units, GED and life skills classes, the cafeteria, kitchen, commissary, and programs that included woodworking with a focus on cabinet making and computer classes. She had access to all parts of the facility and spoke with individuals and groups of inmates at will in the yard, in their living quarters, and in the halls of the institution. Many felt free to stop Norton and have discussions or air complaints that ranged from the size of the gratuity once released to the need for the same programs at Rivers as at other BOP facilities.

A Rivers official told the Congresswoman and her staff that the level of education for many D.C. inmates at Rivers is high and often above high school level, but there are no higher education programs for these individuals. Norton will seek discussions with the University of the District of Columbia concerning providing college correspondence courses. The D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education also provides a federally financed program for inmates aged 19 to 26 to receive Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) training through the local community college, Roanoke-Chowan Community College.

The Norton visit begins a much longer investigation and oversight of D.C. inmates and facilities. Because law enforcement agencies, including prisons and courts, are now 100% federally funded, D.C. no longer has jurisdiction to do the requisite oversight to make improvements. "The buck literally has been passed to the federal government, and with it, the responsibility. It is time Congress assumed the oversight responsibility that goes with the funding." However, Norton is concerned to get more formal D.C. involvement, especially in seeking untapped available federal funding, and with reentry.

Norton has said that D.C. inmates are treated as second class citizens by BOP, but she says the major blame belongs with Congress, which has provided no oversight since the transfer in 1997 and inadequate funding. Norton told the inmates she visited with yesterday, "I am here to do my part to get the necessary funds so that inmates from the District of Columbia receive the same services prisoners across the country receive from the Bureau of Prisons." However, she also told the inmates that the city wants them to do their part to stay clean and out of jail.

The Congresswoman will hold a series of hearings focused on Rivers. The first will be a teleconference between the Black Men and Boys Commission and Rivers inmates, and an official hearing to be held September 18th will focus on transition services and community supervision. Norton will continue to pursue equal treatment of District inmates as she looks into how the 7,000 D.C. residents scattered across the country are housed and how to bring them closer to home. She also will visit BOP prisons in the coming month. She is concerned that lack of family contacts and difficulty accessing services in the community, coupled with lack of substance abuse treatment, exacerbates the difficulties the District and the inmates have in effectively integrating these residents back into the community.

Rivers, originally built as a 1,200 bed facility, currently houses 1,355 inmates and has an expanded inmate capacity of 1,380 inmates as of August 13, 2007. District of Columbia residents make up approximately 65% of the total inmate population, with the other 35% comprised of criminal immigrants from various areas. No other citizen inmates are housed in private facilities. The average incarceration time in this low security facility is less than two years. The average age of the inmates is 40 years old, necessitating more health care than normal. A healthcare lawsuit is being brought by the Washington Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs' D.C. Prisoners' Project.