News Releases for September 2002
September 13, 2002
For further information, please Contact the Governor's Office
Governor Announces Plan For Women's Prison
State could save taxpayers more than $22 million and ensure quality service
BISMARCK, N.D. - Governor John Hoeven today announced a plan to share agency resources at the state hospital’s Jamestown campus in order to provide for a women’s prison and to assure quality services to the hospital’s population. The savings to state taxpayers could exceed $22 million. In order to take effect, the proposal must be included in the Governor’s budget request and must be approved by the 2003 Legislature.
The plan would use the LaHaug building at the Jamestown state hospital campus for a women’s prison, while ensuring that the facilities and services for the State Hospital population and the prison population are kept separate. The Jamestown campus was originally designed for a much larger population than it now accommodates, which provides the opportunity for better use of space.
“Department of Human Services Executive Director Carol Olson and Department of Corrections Director Elaine Little have come forward with a creative plan that will continue to provide quality services for people with mental illness and substance abuse problems. At the same time, the plan meets our need for a women’s prison with a substantial savings of taxpayer dollars,” Hoeven said. “This is the kind of approach state government needs to be taking. Maintaining our budget on a solid footing involves solutions that are both sensitive to the needs of our citizens and fiscally responsible to the public. We’re spending money on people rather than bricks.”
According to Olson and Little, the state hospital population will continue to receive excellent care in an appropriate setting. At the same time the corrections population will benefit from a facility that is well suited for a women’s prison.
The plan involves transferring some support services and several buildings from the Department of Human Services (DHS) to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR). The State Hospital will be able to transfer unused or under-used facilities and resources to Corrections, which has growing resource needs, according to Olson.
“This will reduce hospital operating expenses by $8 million in taxpayer dollars, but most importantly will allow the department to sustain specialized inpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment services,” Olson said.
Little explained the benefits to her agency. “If approved, this plan will create greater efficiencies in our overall corrections budget. Furthermore, we will save having to spend $11.5 million to build a new women’s prison. Instead, we will be able to use $1.2 million in federal funds to renovate the existing LaHaug building on the Jamestown campus.”
Olson and Little said that job opportunities on the Jamestown hospital campus should be mostly unchanged, if the plan is approved. Fifteen State Hospital positions would transfer to the correction department’s payroll, and a women’s correctional center in Jamestown, if approved, would provide additional jobs in the area. The new jobs would provide opportunities for state employees affected by the proposal.
“Clinical services and most clinical jobs will not be affected. People who work in support positions and who are affected by the proposal will be able to pursue other employment opportunities on the hospital campus,” said Alex Schweitzer, Superintendent of the State Hospital and Developmental Center.
The State Hospital’s average daily patient census has decreased from 300 a decade ago to about 160 people today,” Schweitzer said. He attributed the decline to the advent of new medications and the development of effective community-based treatment services.
“We avoid the one-time $11.5 million expense of building a new prison, and at the same time, we save a total of about $10.5 million - $8 million in DHS operating expenses and $2.5 million in DOCR operating expenses each biennium,” Hoeven said. “The total savings to North Dakota taxpayers will be about $22 million.”
For additional information, please contact:
Carol K. Olson, Executive Director, Department of Human Services, (701) 328-2538 Elaine Little, Executive Director, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, (701) 328-6390
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