Bureau of Prisons Needs to Implement Lessons Learned from Pandemic: Report
A new report looks at some of the mistakes the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) made during the Covid-19 pandemic and makes recommendations on what it can do better to prepare for a future pandemic.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) released a Capstone review of BOP’s pandemic response, with the aim of assisting BOP in managing remaining Covid challenges and “mitigating the effects of future public health emergencies.”
Staffing Shortages
BOP like many federal agencies and many workforces in general, grappled with staffing shortages during the pandemic. The report found that staff shortages “impeded the BOP’s ability to provide routine medical care at some facilities and to implement COVID-19 control measures at various facilities.”
The report said a lack of staff also led to increased work hours and hurt morale.
The OIG recommends that BOP better communicate support options available to staff working at facilities as the report says staff were confused about BOP’s leave and quarantine guidance, and other mental healthcare options.
Covid Protocols
The report found that BOP was often limited by infrastructure and population size in implementing quarantine and distancing measures.
It also found that some BOP facilities put inmates in single cells at the start of the pandemic, despite BOP guidance to avoid doing so to the greatest extent possible.
The OIG found that seven single-celled inmates died by suicide from March 2020 through April 2021 while in quarantine units and that in five of the seven suicide deaths psychology staff were not consulted, as required by guidance.
OIG recommends that BOP should explore modifying its facilities to deal with future outbreaks more easily.
In addition, the report found that facilities did not always follow policy in notifying families when an inmate develops a serious illness and that BOP failed to leverage home confinement authority to reduce prison populations during the pandemic.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Remote inspections by OIG found numerous issues with PPE, including perceived PPE shortages, and staff concerns and confusion about guidance on PPE and wearing masks.
The report recommends that BOP provide clear guidance on PPE use.
Data
The report stated BOP does not publish cumulative data on the total number of Covid-19 cases reported over the course of the pandemic.
It does provide numbers on active and recovered cases among inmates and staff currently in BOP custody, but it does not publish cumulative totals of cases involving inmates or staff who recovered, inmates or staff who die, inmates who were released, or staff who quit the BOP.
“These omissions mean that the BOP’s publicly posted data does not represent the full extent of cumulative COVID-19 cases among inmates and staff over the course of the pandemic,” the report said.
The report also had issues with testing data, as BOP only gives information on current inmates and vaccination data.
While data on vaccination numbers is published, BOP does not publish data to see the proportion of vaccinated individuals at a facility.
Unlike testing and Covid-19 cases, vaccination data includes inmates who have been released, which could “lead stakeholders to draw incorrect conclusions about the BOP’s vaccination data.”
Recommendations
OIG made ten recommendations to BOP.
BOP Director Colette Peters agreed with eight of the ten.
Director Peters did not explicit agree or disagree with the two recommendations on single-celling (thoroughly assess single-celling policies and ensure that any policy revisions on single-celling also apply to single-celling during quarantine and medical isolation.)