Downstate

Downstate is the corrections version of customs at a busy border crossing. Officers check and double-check passenger lists, making sure that incoming and outgoing inmates are identified with certainty. Commitment orders and other papers, like visas and pass- ports, must be in order. Inmates' persons and property are meticulously inspected for weapons and other contraband articles.

Volume is high. On a typical weekday, some 225 inmates pass through Downstate's draft processing area. Last year, 56,000 inmates were processed, 28,000 coming in and 28,000 going out. Turnover is not only high-volume, but fast. Except for 288 cadre cooking and. cleaning, the population is extraordinarily transient. Most arrivals are gone within several weeks.

Downstate, a maximum-security prison that opened 23 years ago in Dutchess County, is one of DOCS' four receiving and classification centers. Inmates newly sentenced to state prison terms, as well as parole violators, are officially received into the state system- they are accepted into custody, given Department Identification Numbers (DINs) and state-issue greens and then "classified" or sorted by their custody, program and medical needs. The classification process generally takes five days, after which the inmates are sent to the appropriate general confinement facility as determined by classification.

But new inmates account for only about a quarter of the traffic through the draft processing area. For the other three quarters Downstate is just a one-night layover. These inmates are "in transit," in the middle of a long bus ride from, say, Clinton to Sing Sing. They will continue their journey the next morning.

Draft processing

Draft processing begins with departures, both in-transit and just-classified inmates, who are leaving Downstate for other DOCS facilities. Early in the morning, processing officers collect and box the records of the day's outgoing inmates, taping tying any special medical instructions to the outside of the box. The officers then go to the cell-blocks to pick up the inmate. Most are taken to Dining Room One for breakfast.

The inmates are called out in groups depending on their destination; the first group might be getting on a bus bound for facilities in the Great Meadow and Clinton hubs, for example. Incoming inmates, brought by sheriffs' deputies, begin to arrive after the departure of the last outgoing group. As the incoming inmates emerge from buses and vans, they are searched, unshackled and placed in holding pens. Before they are accepted into DOCS custody, three last checks are made: (1)commitment orders are sent upstairs to the admissions office for verification; (2)fingerprints are taken on a DigiScan machine and relayed electronically to Albany for verification by the Division of Criminal Justice Services (a process that takes just seconds); and (3)they are examined by a Downstate nurse for unreported injuries or other medical problems. With completion of these three checks, the new inmates are officially in DOCS custody. Receipts are signed and the sheriffs' deputies can go home.

The new inmates are now showered (using a lice shampoo) and issued state clothing. They cut their fingernails, if necessary, using clippers on a chain. A cadre barber gives them regulation haircuts. ID photos are run, usually with new passengers. These are in-transit inmates, an average of 70 per day, who will stay overnight (or, if they arrive on a Friday, over the weekend) before resuming their journey to another DOCS facility.

Starting around 11 a.m. and continuing throught the afternoon, buses begin returning from the morning run, usually with new passengers. These are in-transit inmates, an average of 70 per day, who will stay overnight (or, if they arrive on a Friday, over the weekend) before resuming their journey to another DOCS facility.

First new max in a generation

Downstate was built with rush hour traffic in mind. It was the first institution in New York specifically designed as a classification center.

In 1971, the state combined its prison and parole agencies to create a new Department of Correctional Services. The new department had ambitious plans to organize the inmates into sub- groups for specialized programming in a system of diversified institutions. This would require a sophisticated classification scheme. Since the inmate population was on the upswing and a new prison would be needed anyway, why not build the new facility to order for classification?

An 80-acre site on the grounds of Fishkill was selected. The meadow on the north side of Interstate 84 which since its construction in the mid-1960's had divided the Fish kill property in two -had been part of the old Matteawan State Hospital farm. It was now unused, except as the site of a large staff residence with a circular drive and wrought iron gates, called the Big House. The High House was torn down, and construction of the new institution commenced in 1975.

Downstate was the first new maximum-security prison built in New York in 30 years, since Green Haven opened in 1945 Downstate did not follow the classic "big house" max design though. Instead of long, multi-tiered cell-blocks, it was de signed on the "pod" plan for breaking up large institutions into smaller units. Housing is in four distinct complexes, each consisting of a core building with offices and interview, rooms surrounded by eight small housing units of 3 cells apiece. Another difference from the tradition~ max design is the absence of educational and vocational space, unnecessary in a classification institution.

Instead of a dam-like wall, the entire institution is contained within an earthen berm, a man-made crate rim a mile around, with road for patrol vehicles on top.

A two-story main building, called simply "Building Five," contains the draft processing area, the kitchen and four dinning rooms, the health services complex and administration offices. Ranging round Building Five in a semicircle are four housing complexes.

Double about-face

Though designed specifically for reception, Downstate opened as a separation center: instead of housing inmates at the front end of the system, it would take inmates at the back end.

Pre-release programming was an idea that was taking hold in corrections. Promising beginnings had been made by creative counselors in several facilities, chiefly in medium and minimum-security institutions. Corrections Commissioner Benjamin Ward wanted the program operated in a maximum setting so that it could include maximum-security inmate Downstate, only 60 miles from New York City, was geographically suited, as it could utilize city-based service providers. The design was satisfactory: a pre-release center has no more need of educational and industrial facilities than a reception center And most importantly, it was available. The first 20 cadre inmates arrived on Feb. 20, 1979. Separation program inmate began to arrive in April.

The separation program operated for less than a year, but in that short space of time, the Downstate staff established an innovative program. In addition to standard items in the pre-release curriculum, such as obtaining social security cards and driver's licenses, the program featured participation by government agencies, schools and private foundations. Marist College ran a Life Skills program (how to use an ATM, for example) and a module on Survivor Education. To avoid delay when inmates hit the city streets, the New York City Welfare Department worked with counselors to "pre-register" eligible inmates for public assistance. The state Labor Department and private agencies such as the Fortune Society and Wildcat introduced job development programs.

But another reversal was in the making. The fact was that more inmates were entering the system than leaving. Downstate had empty cells. Meanwhile, the classification unit at Clinton was not only poorly located (transportation costs from Rikers Island were excessive) but too small. By the summer, Clinton was sending classified inmates to Downstate to await transfer to their intended facilities. The Department went back to its first idea. The separation program closed in January 1980. Classification staff from Clinton were relocated to Downstate. New commitments started to arrive in May and, for the last 22 years; Downstate has functioned according to the original plan.

Classification: from Elmira to Downstate

The Department's first full-time classification center opened in 1945. The Elmira Reception Center received new male commitments between the ages of 16 and 21 from all counties of the state. During the eight- to 10-week classification process, new inmates were examined and interviewed by an array of clinicians: the physician, psychiatrist and psychologist; academic, vocational and physical education teachers; and the chaplaincy staff. At the final case conference, recommendations for institution placement and program assignments were prepared for submission to the Commissioner.

Sentencing courts sent males 21 years old and over to designated receiving prisons with geographic catchment areas (females of all ages and from all parts of the state were sent to Bedford Hills ). Each of the receiving prisons (Attica, Sing Sing and Clinton) had a classification, unit which sorted inmates by custody and program needs using procedures similar to those developed at Elmira.

In 1975, additional space became available in Clinton. The Attica and Sing Sing units were consolidated at Clinton as an interim measure until Downstate, already under construction, was completed. A new approach to classification.

At the start of the 1970's, about 12,500 inmates were in New York's correctional system. Eighty-five percent were concentrated in 10 maximum-security prisons. The population started to climb in 1973, and in the remainder of the decade DOCS opened 14 new facilities. Until Downstate (the 14th), every one the new facilities was either medium or minimum security. The move toward reduced security would hold as system expansion continued into the 1990's.

Traditionally, classification decisions were made using the clinical model as developed in the human service professions. The clinical model assumes that each case is new and even unique, behooving the practitioner (doctor, social worker or classification analyst) to wipe the slate clean every time, consider every available fact and then make a decision based on his or her best professional judgment.

But the shift in the custody mix, combined with the pressure to speed intake, illuminated drawbacks to the classical clinical approach. Assessing risk, which is what classification analysts do, is a risky business. On the "better safe than sorry" principle, analysts tended to default to max in borderline cases, even though "over-classifying" was at odds with the imperative to fill the new medium beds.

To overcome these obstacles, a task force of analysts and supervisors led by Jack Alexander (now DOCS Director of Classification and Movement) developed a quantifiable, objective system. Factors critical in the majority of classification decisions were identified and assigned numerical values. The objective system, embodied today as DOCS Security Classification Guidelines, is not subject to "nerves" and it is consistent, yielding the same result for the same inmate every time. It is also more efficient than the subjective method. Routine cases that clearly fell within the guidelines were quickly processed, allowing counselors to concentrate on cases that presented special circumstances.

Classification decisions were not delegated to a machine. The "human factor" was structured and organized, but never eliminated. Analysts still read probation reports, they still interview and evaluate inmates, and they retain the right -and responsibility -to override scores that fail to account for special circumstances.

The new system was implemented at Downstate and had a critical impact. Without it, the Department's capacity expansion program of the 1980's and early '90's, based on prototype T mediums, would probably not have succeeded. Under the old system, about 70 percent of new commitments were classified has requiring maximum-security housing. The new objective in classification system resulted in a classic Bell curve: 20 percent minimum, 60 percent medium and 20 percent maximum.

Classification today

In calendar 2000, Downstate classified 7,417 inmates, an average of 143 a week. About 80 percent are classified and sent to other DOCS facilities with several weeks. The other 20 percent are inmates identified as falling into one of seven "special a needs" categories: intellectually limited, victim prone, physically disabled, developmentally disabled, sensorially impaired, or psychologically or psychiatrically unstable, or aggressive/assaultive. To assure that they are properly diagnosed and appropriate treatment arranged, these inmates are placed in "extended classification."

After preliminary intake on the day of arrival (Day One), in- a depth processing begins the next morning, before breakfast, with blood work. During the remainder of the day, medical and dental exams are conducted. Admissions clerks conduct "booking" interviews to obtain basic facts about inmates' families, emergency contacts, religion and other demographic information. The clerks also do time computations to determine parole eligibility, conditional release and maximum expiration dates. Counselors screen probation reports and assess inmates' eligibility for temporary release, CASAT, shock and other special programs. Referrals are made to the psychologist or Office of Mental Health (OMH) Forensic Diagnostic Unit staff. Foreign- born inmates are referred to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (about 30 federal personnel are stationed at Downstate).

Over the next three days, the fact-finding and diagnostic effort probes deeper. Inmates are tested for IQ, math and reading levels, and indications of alcoholism and drug addiction. Results are analyzed and programming recommendations are reached. Potential cadre participants are referred to the Deputy Superintendent for selection.

Days Three to Five also include a series of activities serving as orientation to DOCS. These include interviews by the chaplaincy staff and explanations of details of prison like such as telephone and visiting procedures, inmate accounts and standards of behavior.

By the end of Day Five, the new inmates' custody levels and programming requirements have been determined. In most cases, the inmates are on their way to their assigned facilities in a few days. If beds are not immediately available, however, inmates must be held over. If possible, these inmates are moved to one of the dormitory units.

Technological advances

Over the last two decades of operation, Downstate has enhanced efficiency and capacity by developing and implementing a variety of sophisticated technological and systems advances.

When Downstate staff began using the new objective classification system, they did it with old technology. All operations were performed manually, a complicated and time-consuming process. With assistance from MIS, classification staff were able to computerize many of the steps in the procedure. Codes were devised for facility characteristics (such as security, mental health programs and health services) and inmate characteristics (time to release, criminal record, mental and physical health and other factors that might influence placement). The automated program matches inmate and facility codes to quickly determine appropriate placements; later refinements linked the initial placement program with other programs such as enemy separation.

Computerization and other refinements have gradually reduced the standard processing time from 28 days in 1980 to five.

Another system refinement was specialization. Downstate now concentrates on maximum-security and extended classification inmates, an efficiency made possible by the opening of a new classification center at Ulster. Starting in 1991, DOCS classification staff stationed at Rikers Island began screening state readies to cull out those likely to be classified as maximum-security or in need of extended classification. These inmates were sent to Downstate, the others to Ulster. The procedure worked well, but only for state readies from the five counties that make up New York City. A few years ago, Downstate staff initiated a similar pre-screening process -though without the presence of the inmates -for the other 19 counties in its catchment area. Pertinent documents are reviewed by Downstate staff who then advise the counties where new commitments should be taken.

And in common with nearly every other facility in the DOCS system, Downstate has taken steps to increase its bed capacity. In 1981, 22-bed dormitories were built on the top floor of the core buildings of housing complexes one, two and three, increasing reception and classification beds from 864 to 930.

In 1995, every third cell in Complex Four was doubled, increasing the number of cadre inmates from 216 to 288.

That's 1,218 beds. Let's add the 16 hospital beds for a grand total of - would you believe? - 1,234.

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