Comptroller Stringer Agency Watch List: Department of Correction

DOC on the Comptroller’s Watch List for the second consecutive year

Comptroller Stringer calls for more data transparency on staffing needs, mental health services, and programs for detainees

  Ahead of the New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice hearing on the Preliminary FY 2020 Budget, Comptroller Stringer today released an “Agency Watch List” report on the Department of Correction (DOC) – an agency which appears on the watch list for the second year in a row due to concerns about increased spending and meager measureable results. The trends spotlighted in the 2019 Watch List report show that even as the jail population has fallen by 20 percent in the last four years (FY 2015 to FY 2019), total agency spending is projected to rise 19 percent over the same period – while the agency’s performance remains troubling.

First announced in 2018, the Agency Watch List calls attention to city agencies that raise the most budgetary concerns. This year’s watch list will review trends at the Department of Correction (DOC), Department of Buildings (DOB), and multi-agency spending on homelessness – and recommend indicators that should be reported and monitored to evaluate the effectiveness of agency spending in achieving the Administration’s stated goals.

“Last year, when we introduced the Agency Watch List, we spotlighted agencies that were moving in the wrong direction – spending was soaring but results were failing to improve. But lagging results at the Department of Correction means lives are being put at risk – and that’s why we’re placing them on the Watch List for the second year,” said Comptroller Stringer. “Safety in our jails must be one of our highest criminal justice priorities because this is about more than officers and inmates – it’s about parents, siblings, friends and our communities. To reform our criminal justice system, and ensure that New Yorkers see real change, we need our programs to make a difference. That’s why we need to keep the pressure on at DOC for stronger results.”

This year’s watch list report on DOC shows:

• For three consecutive years, the DOC has employed more correction officers than the average daily jail population;
• In the first four months of FY 2019, the share of the jail population with a serious mental health diagnosis rose sharply to 17.0 percent, from 14.3 percent in FY 2018; and
• Across a range of indicators, rates of violence, including detainee-on-detainee incidents and assaults on staff, rose in the first four months of FY 2019.

To better track the performance of city jails, the report calls for improved transparency on staffing needs, the provision of mental health services, and detainee programming, including reporting on:

• The average number of fixed posts requiring coverage;
• The hours of required training per correction officer;
• The share of detainees with a mental health diagnosis who receives services;
• The percent of the jail population eligible for discharge planning who receives a plan;
• Detainees earning a GED;
• Post-release job placements and retention; and
• Readmissions and recidivism.