Reference no: EM132224453

Budget Constraints

Background: Fiscal management is one of the most important policy decisions that a top prison administrator must deal with in the course of employment. Fiscal management is a combination of budgeting skills, political acumen, and operational experience and understanding. The fiscal environment is very dynamic and altered by monetary realities, executive branch and legislative branch goals, judicial intervention, stakeholder pressure, operational realities, and operational (health and safety) necessities. The budget calendar is always in play and the prison chief executive's job often depends on fiscal outcomes. Although at first blush it may appear that there are few options in managing fiscal resources, this is far from the truth. Great administrators are extremely creative and resourceful. They recognize that all options are always in play. With this in mind, here is our scenario:

You are the director of a state department of corrections, responsible for operating the state prisons, parole and probation supervision, and a variety of community sanctions that are alternatives to incarceration. Your prison inmate count has increased by 25 percent over the past four years, the prisons are very overcrowded, and you are building new institutions to help with the overcrowding. However, your agency budget increases have not kept up with the demand, and you have a higher inmate to staff ratio, meaning that you have fewer staff available to manage the prisons. Legislative budget committees are asking you to reduce the cost of operation because they do not want to have a tax increase to fund the increasing corrections budget. How do you develop a proactive plan to reduce the increased budget needs yet still operate all of the state correctional functions in a safe and effective manner? Describe the plan that you would put into place over the next three years.