If we were to perform tests on everyone coming in initially, it would take probably several days to get back the results of any of the tests that we would take. If there's someone specifically coming in that has a problem, we deal directly with that individual as a priority coming in. If there's no complaints, if there's no deviant behavior. Again, they go through a number of processes when they're first admitted, including medical screening and a physical where they were physical upon admission.
What's the average length of stay for the average person that gets popped by the system? 998 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.)
An average person gets arrested, what's their average length of stay?
Our average length of stay is probably around three months, something like that, around three months.
You're telling me that from the time they're arrested during the course of three months, we don't have time to figure out whether that person has a substance problem and to give them some kind of test?
Well, 50 percent are out within the first two weeks, Mr. Nutter.
I understand that, but you said it would take three to six days to get a test back.
I don't know how long it would take to get the various tests back, but it certainly takes several days. If someone's coming in, they would get immediate attention and immediate screening.
All right, fine. Let's forget about the folks who just kind of come 999 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) in, maybe they're out in a couple days. Let's talk about the people who are going to extend their stay with us for a little while. Are all of those people drug tested?
They're not drug tested, but they're tested for any problem that they have, any medical problems that they have.
Well, substance abuse might be a medical problem, right?
Press Grooms, Deputy Commission. What we have, your Honor, is a screening process and each and every inmate that come in is seen by a nurse or medical person and there's a list of questions that we ask: Have you ever been arrested before? Have you ever used drugs? What type of drugs do you use? And 80 percent of them answer "yes" to those questions. Once we do that, if we determine that that person is on some type of drugs, say, heroin and they're going to be going through detox, that person is seen by the doctor immediately and given medication for detox. 1000 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.)
We are not giving methadone as of yet. But there are other medications that we give instead of methadone to those individuals that are withdrawing for drugs. So we do know the number of inmates that come in that are utilizing drugs because of the screening process that we do and because most of them are honest in terms of, "have you been using drugs?"
Roughly about 80 percent of those people that are incarcerated have drugs or drug-related or alcohol-related charges, yes.
And is that number now consistent across the population of -- so you're now telling me that out of 7,162 people housed in a facility, on average on any day 80 percent of them have a drug problem?
Have either a substance abuse or an alcohol problem, some type of substance abuse problem.
What are we doing to 1001 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) help them?
As far as, as I said, probably 50 percent of those coming into the system that are here for the first couple of weeks are discharged. There is medications that are given to them if they need to be detoxed. Although we do not have a methadone program, we do have other medications that we administer if they are suffering from that type of problem. We do have for others whatever programming that is available for those that are amenable to treatment. For example, we have quite an extension options program which is our in-house substance abuse treatment program. We have several slots that available for them if they are amenable to treatment.
If they're not, then we're not going to treat them unless they're absolutely amenable to it.
Well, how do you 1002 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) deal with a substance abuse problem when you're in prison and you're not in treatment?
Through education, through therapy. Mr. Appel, did you want to step in here? This is Deputy for all treatment programs and runs the substance abuse treatment programs within the system.
Hello, Mr. Nutter. Alan Appel, Director of inmate services. We have approximately 900 inmates that are in your drug treatment program per month.
No. There's a rapid changing of that number as inmates are released and new inmates are admitted and then enrolled. That number for the Fiscal Year '01, approximately 2300 -- no, no. If you can give me one minute, please.
Approximately 20,900 inmates went through group treatment through the options program. 1003 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.)
And how many people actually came through the system during that same time period.
We had during the same time period about 35,000 admissions.
Let me try to understand this. You presently have 7,162 housed in the facility.
80 percent of whom have some kind of substance abuse problem.
Let me just say this, Councilman. Our priority for our substance abuse treatment is for the sentenced inmates, inmates that are sentenced to the system that are going to be with us for a while. Our priority is that population, which is probably around 2700 of the 1004 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) total that you're speaking of. Of that 2700, probably about 50 percent are amenable to treatment. About 50 percent are willing -- you know, there are individuals that will admit they have a drug and alcohol problem, but I would say probably professionally about 50 percent are actually amenable to treatment and are willing to take treatment of the sentenced inmates, which would probably be around 1400 of the sentenced.
Right. And then since we know that only about 80 percent of those inmates have drug problems, that brings the number down to about 1200. We have approximately 400 of our sentenced inmates are housed in the Delaware County Prison.
We already eliminated them from the population for this discussion. They're not in the 7,162.
But they're a good part of the sentenced population. So there has to be some portion of that population that we can attribute to not receiving --
Commissioner, let me go back to something, though, that you said. Maybe 1005 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) that's a part of the issue. What you said earlier was if 7,162 people, and then I thought I heard you say only 2700 of whom are basically your sentenced individuals and that they were your priority. I'm sure you did not mean to convey, though, that the other people who came through your system for some amount of time are not your priority because you had them for some period of time, you know they have some kind of substance abuse problem, you've got an 81 percent recidivism rate probably driven by the fact that most of those same people have a drug problem for which they were either robbing, stealing, shooting, or doing something else which caused them to be re-arrested. But they never got any real treatment, so they keep coming back and they keep coming back and they keep coming back. At what point in time does that group, the non-long-stay people, who treats them and who deals with them and their issues?
There are many, many community treatment programs that are available to them that are provided throughout the City. The City spends millions of dollars upward to maybe a billion dollars on those programs throughout the 1006 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) entire City. The priority for the prison system, as I said --
Well, Commissioner, with every respect, and I know you don't run the whole social service system, if they were working, you wouldn't see 81 percent of the people back. So obviously that's not the answer.
Well, we do have some of the other un-tried, although they're not the priority for the system, there are un-tried, some of those who are un-tried who do participate in the programs. We don't have a program that's large enough to deal with the entire prison population sentenced and un-sentenced.
The inmates who are committed to serve a sentence where we know that they'll be with us for a certain amount of time and who are kind of beyond denial of the problem since they've been convicted, are the ones who are most likely to be successful. If you enroll someone and three days later they get bailed out, you've kind of not had a chance to allow your program to work.
Okay. Let me ask with reference to the same population of my last 1007 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) question. Who works with either the sentenced or the non-sentenced people on issues around post-incarceration employment and trying to help people get either their lives back on track or if they were never on track, on a track? Because, one, I'm sure it must be very difficult to get any kind of employment if you have even a little bit of a record. Who works directly with this population to help them start to point their lives in the right direction, not only on the substance abuse side if that's an issue, but on the kind of work side getting your life together program?
Our vocational training staff work along with certain programs that we have that try to help a certain percentage, obviously, in getting jobs and employment.
We also had the work release program that's working to ensure that those have jobs that are committed to work release that do not have employment.
I actually don't know what that means. 1008 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.)
If someone is committed to the prison system with a work release program, we have to find them a job and work with them to get a job.
In our last Fiscal Year, 1914 inmates went through one of our vocational training programs.
I don't have the answer, sir. But what I can say is that in our new Fiscal '03 contract with our vocational training provider, we have greatly reemphasized that the primary outcome that we expect from them will be placement upon parole. Rather than simply providing job training, we will expect to provide them with actual work when they are paroled.
All right. Do me a favor. If you would get information to the Chair responding to the question of -- if you're telling 1009 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) me that last year 1914 inmates came through the vocational training program, I'd like to know how many of that number actually found employment and sustained that employment for at least six months.
Mr. Costello, do we have a contract with physicians at the prison? I see that the inmate medical services is something like $28 million. Do we have physicians that are under contract and how many physicians do we have at the prison? Are they there hours a day? Are they there just on certain 17 days, certain hours? 18
Please identify yourself for the record. 1010 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.)
My name is Press Grooms, Deputy Commissioner. I can't give you the exact number of physicians that we have, but I can tell you this, that there's a physician on duty hours, 7 days a 7 week in one of our major institutions. And there 8 are physicians on at the other four institutions for 9 16 hours a day -- correction, three of the four 10 institutions for 16 hours a day. 11
There are physicians on 14 duty at one institution 24 hours a day. There's a 15 physician on duty at three of the four other 16 institution for at least 16 hours a day. But in 17 terms of a number, I cannot give you the number of 18 physicians that are employed by the contractor. But 19 I can find that out for you. 20
Are there any 24 other questions from Members of the Committee? Gentlemen, thank you very much. 1011 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) Mr. Costello, is there something you wanted to clarify or the Managing Director wants to clarify.
The contract for PHS is $28 million for the entire which contains the salaries for the physicians that are employed with that company.
I'm sure for medication and -- I realize that. I was just wondering if we had a contract with physicians. We do not?
Again, I don't have the exact number. But there are physicians on duty.
Oh, I didn't think that the doctors got $28 million. I realize full well that that is for many of the medical services. I was just curious to know about the 1012 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) physicians and the type of coverage. Thank you. Department of Records is next. (Witnesses come forward.)
Good evening. I will be very brief. Good evening Council President Verna and Councilmembers. My name is Joan Decker, I'm the Records Commissioner and I have with me today Jeanne Reedy, Administrative Services Director; and Virginia Martinez, Payroll Assistant; and Dave Werbo, Budget Assistant. For Fiscal Year '03, the Records Department is requesting a General Fund Operating Budget of $5,424,009, which represents a net increase of $48,513 from the '02 estimated obligations. Just a few points in FY '01. We collected $95.6 million comprised of recording fees and realty transfer taxes. And this marks the fourth year that we do not have a document recording backlog. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
I, for one, 1013 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) think that you and your department have done a really fantastic job. And I congratulate you.
Thank you. I wanted to echo the statements of the president. We thank you. You've done a great job since you've been Commissioner and we thank you for your service.
Thank you very much. We want to continue that, and I will convey that to the staff.
Did I understand you to say you have absolutely no 16 backlog?
Amazing. Amazing. Councilman Nutter, I'm sure want to say a word.
Absolutely, Madam President. Commissioner Decker and her staff, we do remember not too many years ago how tough it was for 1014 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) you. And you came here and told us that with some additional support you would be able to turn things around. You have clearly done that. I wish to continue to commend you and also thank you for a great response whenever we've called the office. Things have shown up instantaneously. I read the real estate section in Sunday's newspaper just to kind of keep track of different transactions. I noticed the other day that there was a listing about sales in the City that had taken place in early January, and this was about a week or so ago in relatively early February. Those listings used to show sales of maybe six to nine months previous. And the fact you're almost at a real-time basis is really quite amazing. And I want to thank you for the great service. We are paying attention out there. Thank you very much. Keep up the good job.
Thank you all for your support. We appreciate Council support. Thank you.
For you to be up there and testifying for all of six minutes you must pat yourself on the back and tell yourself how wonderful you and your staff are. Because I think 1015 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) the Managing Director was up there for how many hours today?
At least four. Congratulations. Thank you so much. We appreciate your patience.
This Committee will stand in recess until tomorrow, Wednesday, February 27 at 9:30 a.m. Thank you. (Council adjourned at 5:30 p.m.) - - - 1016 2/26/02 COMM. OF THE WHOLE - BILL 020001 (cont'd.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of February 20, 2002, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. RE: COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE ___________________________ Josephine Cardillo, RPR and Notary Public ___________________________ Lisa C. Bradley, RPR and Notary Public