are watching live coverage on c- span3. in recent years more than 300 people have died of unnatural causes in custody of the presence. does have too often been the result of this management and operational failures. investigation by the marshall project and national public radio three years ago found that the thompson federal prison in my home state of illinois has become one of the deadliest prisons in america because of

the defunct a special management unit. i was shaken by the allegations in the article and asked inspector general ha'aretz to examine them. we will discuss the results today. after media reports late last year alleged that some adults in custody died while awaiting for necessary medical care, i called on bop to change its procedures, staff and supply medical units so incarcerated individuals could receive the care they needed. it is evident that many of the issues the committee has highlighted over the years included understaffing, overuse of restrictive housing and employee misconduct that will continue to have deadly consequences if they go unaddressed. the inspector general report identified 344 nonmedical deaths of adults in custody and it's reviewed period, 2014 to 2021 but the number that demonstrate increased risk to safety of individuals with bop care.

bop continues to struggle with contraband interdiction and lacks adequate treatment for thousands of individuals fighting addiction. understaffing, in particular in health and psychology services, strains their ability to provide quality care. violations of bop policy by staff present significant barriers to the bop's ability to ensure institutional safety. my colleague senator booker of the criminal justice subcommittee will hold a hearing on staffing crisis but i thank him for his leadership. the lengthy and ineffective discipline process fails to bring economy from staff misconduct. b.o.p. fails to use post death reviews and proper recordkeeping to identify corrective actions. this failure to learn from past mistakes is most troubling when examining the role of restrictive housing and custodial deaths.

suicides accounted for just over half of the 344 deaths cig reviewed but only half of those suicides occurred in restrictive housing, which is more known as solitary confinement. we have a stark reality when it comes to solitary confinement. this is cruel and unusual punishment that has been the normal in the united states for way too long. in 2012 i held the first ever congressional hearing on solitary confinement. at the time 8% of federal incarcerated individuals were intersected housing. after some progress under president obama, we have returned to the same percentage of people in solitary today. we know that overuse of solitary confinement causes lasting, irreparable, physical, emotional and mental harm to incarcerated people. it threatens public safety and strains prison budgets. i want to add a parenthetical,

i understand that some of the intimates we are talking are dangerous people who need to be isolated under certain circumstances. i am a realist about that. this consistent reference of 8% is unacceptable. earlier this month, the general accounting office released a report which i requested was senator . it found they have failed to implement 54 of the 87 recommendations from two prior studies unrestricted housing. the failure to decrease overreliance unrestricted housing is debbie. debbie. that is why we have the dangers the spring. director peters, i understand many issues have been problems for years. before you arrive. it is time for solutions and change the lives of hundred americans are at risk. my colleague is under the rather today and will not be able to join us. senator grassley will be here

momentarily to acknowledge of the opening of this committee meeting. he has another conflict in his schedule as well. i want to proceed. we will swear and the witnesses. each will have five minutes provide an opening statement and then round of questions from each. i asked individuals to please stand and raise your right hand. you say that testimony will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god. let the record reflect both have entered in the affirmative. we will start with inspector general horowitz. you may proceed . >> i could not hear. >> i am sorry. >> are you calling on me first? >> yes. thank you. >> thank you, chairman durbin. i also wanted to acknowledge with me are the team that work on the desks and custody report print and visited sites

including the present you mentioned in your opening statement. i have been inspector general for almost 12 years. every year i have included the b.o.p. in my annual report of the top management and performance challenges facing the department of justice. with some notable exceptions, the problems at the b.o.p. seem to only increase. last year the b.o.p. was added to the gao high risk list . to be clear that these are not new problems. yesterday we released a compendium of over 100 publicly issued oig report sends 2002 reflecting the systemic challenges of the b.o.p. that we have identified over the past two decades. many of the 344 deaths that you mentioned that we found were due to suicide, homicide, drug overdose or other unknown factors. we reviewed the deaths in custody report have a direct connection to the challenges.

by the way, as we referenced in our report so did the high- profile death of inmate jeffrey epstein in 2019 and james woody bulger in 2018 as we detailed in those public reports that were issued. when the public wonders whether the treatment of those two high profile inmates was unique, the answers, sadly, from our desk in custody report is that it was not. many of the desk we discussed in the report were the result of similarly serious management and operational failures. these include long-standing management and operational challenges that involve serious staffing shortages including correctional and healthcare positions. single selling of inmates, inappropriate mental healthcare designations of inmates. ineffective contraband interdiction and outdated camera security systems. staff failure to follow b.o.p. policies and procedures for and and ineffective untimely staff disciplinary process.

indeed, one or more of these challenges was a contributing factor in many of the inmate deaths. and these long-standing challenges continue to present eccentric and critical threat to the b.o.p. safe and humane management of inmates in its care and custody. for example, we found that in nearly one third of the inmate deaths within our scope, contraband, drugs or weapons contribute or appear to contribute to the death the rampant perforation of contraband is a major challenge for the b.o.p.. resulting in the b.o.p. partially closing its federal penitentiary in atlanta in 2021. with honesty and integrity. ta

the oig dedicates significant resources to investigate alleged criminal wrongdoing and b.o.p. facility, tickly sexual assault and smuggling as we have seen through our ongoing criminal investigation where the warden, chaplet and several other inmates have been convicted of sexual assault charges, failing to identify and address criminal wrongdoing can spiral and poison institutions culture . relatedly, our ongoing use with our audit of the use of restraints was prompted, by allegations that inmates at usp thompson, which you reference. they were routinely placing four-point restraints for extended periods of time and inmates were mistreated while restrained. this unit was closed by director peters in response to these and other concerns. let me turn to suicide, which

comprise, as you noted, the majority of the desk we reviewed her that half of those indicted by suicide were in single cell confinement despite policy that strongly disfavored the use of single selling. almost half the suicides occurred in restrictive housing units. over 60% of inmates who died by suicide had been designated at the lowest mental health treatment level. none of these are new issues. they had repeated identified them in our prior reports and the gao has also raised them. we made 12 new recommendations in our death and custody report. and the b.o.p. agreed with all of them and we will carefully monitor the b.o.p.'s limitation of them. effectively addressing these widespread systemic issues at the b.o.p. requires a long-term vision and strategy from b.o.p.

and department leadership with support from the office of management and budget, congress and other important stakeholders but the problems we have identified in our oversight work over the past 20 years will not be solved overnight but they must be addressed with urgency to protect the health, safety and security of b.o.p. staff and inmates . and to enable inmates to successfully return to our communities upon the release from prison. towards that end, i appreciated my quarterly meetings with director peters and her desire to meet with me regularly. it is the first time in my 12 years as ig that has occurred. i think we have made some important progress working together. thank you and i would be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have. >> director peters. >> good morning, chairman durbin. and members of the committee. i am pleased to be here with you and inspector general

horowitz to discuss this report. >> will you pull the microphone closer to you. >> we welcome, agree with and are implementing the reports recommendations print and have plans to go even further and taken additional steps to mitigate unexpected deaths in custody. i have spent my entire professional career working in the public safety field, including as a victim advocate working with victims who lost loved ones. i know any unexpected death of an adult in our care and custody is tragic. it changes the lives of that person's family and loved ones forever. we also experienced these deaths as a heavy blow. i have been in our institution in the days following unexpected deaths and i've seen are in place suffering due to the loss. our core mission always is to care for those in our custody in hopes that they leave our facilities prepared to be good neighbors.

when our best efforts are not successful and that does occur, we initiate review processes to understand the cause of the desk so we can prevent similar desks going forward. we can do better here and must ensure that our reviews go deep enough and our documentation is clear enough to support the reviews. our psychological assessments conclude that many individuals who come to us come with mental illness and substance use disorders making them more susceptible to suicide, overdose and homicide. to combat these deaths we work on root causes and have coordinate evidence-based treatments. we train our employees to recognize those attempting suicide and refer at risk people for help and respond to attempts. and also train on the appropriate use of cpr, aed's, the locks zone and cutdown tools. insert are in place have access to those tools in the workplace. the report notes that suicides occurred when people were single celled are interested in

housing. that is why we revote special training to those who work interested in housing and limit the use of single celling. we have housing reforms underway now that will reduce the amount of time adults and custody spend in restrictive housing for disciplinary violations. we are creating a special post in restrictive housing to help those in custody transition from that restrictive housing environment to the general population. we are going to add employees in restrictive housing during overnight shift. we continuously work to combat contraband to reduce homicides and overdoses. this includes heightened screening of mail, detecting and instructing drones and terminating cellular communications. and continually monitoring intelligence and gang activity. to harness all of this intelligence, we are creating a new chief inspector position to

identify systemwide patterns and problems, including that that would prevent deaths in our custody. on a departmental level, the deputy attorney general has formed a working group of experts to better prevent suicides. i want to be perfectly clear, our employees are our everything and fully staffed institutions and well trained employees save lives. it is no secret that our agency is in crisis as a relates to recruitment and retention. we are recruiting and utilizing incentives to maintain the employees that we have while our efforts over this past year have clean results, we are still faced with an inability to compete with the private sector and other agencies. a correctional officer recently quit his job for a better offer with better pay. the better offer, working at the local grocery store. on the law enforcement side, an

ad running on the new york city subway is advertising that city correctional officers to make around $130,000 after a few years on the job. in the same amount of time, our officers, after we have implemented the 35% retention bonus, would be making about $90,000. the story is the same throughout the country. we need more resources to carry out our mission. we need to implement our vision and reach our goals. chairman durbiin and members of the committee, thank you once again for this opportunity to speak in behalf of the federal bureau of prisons. i welcome your questions. >> thank you very much. my interest in this issue started years ago when i read an article in the atlantic magazine by a doctor in boston about the impact of isolation and solitary confinement on the human mind. not just in this correctional setting, but prisoners of war.

he referenced our former colleague, john mccain, and what he went through after five years of that type of treatment, what impact it had on him. the doctor, who now works for the usaid, reminded us the majority of prisoners will ultimately be released. if they are damaged in the process of serving time in prison, they will take that damage out into open society and others may suffer. so this has been a long time issue. it has been 12 years since the first hearing under my leadership on this committee. i have voiced concerns over solitary confinement, pleaded with the directors now and before you to do something about it. i will be reintroduce my legislation, solitary isolation reform act. the latest statistics show that despite the decrease in bureau of prisons total population since you were sworn in as director in august 2022, the

percentage of total number of individuals in restrictive housing is actually higher than it was at that time. as of this month, approximately 7.9% or 11,179 people, are currently held in some form of restrictive housing. that is an increase of 0.6% since september 2022. director peters you previously pointed to your contract with the national institute of justice. when asked about your plans to address restrictive housing, what is the status of that study? >> thank you, senator. the study is underway. the contract has been issue. the individual studying restrictive housing are on-site and visiting facilities looking at policies, practices and interviewing employees. were also not just waiting for the results of that report. we are beginning to implement restrictive housing reform.

currently we have plans to approve a new policy that will actually reduce the amount of time an individual can be sanctioned to restrictive housing for disciplinary purposes but as i mentioned in my opening comments, we are adding additional resources to solve this problem. and in the short term, as you well know in your own state, we shut down the special management unit in quick order last year. >> here is my concern. since my first hearing on this issue in 2012, there have been multiple reviews of b.o.p. policy. the latest came out earlier this month when the gao published a report. according to their report, b.o.p. has not fully implemented 54 of the 87 recommendations from two prior studies on improving restrictive housing practices. one of the studies for 2014 was conducted by an external consultant. it made 34 recommendations, only 16 that happened fully

implement a. in a 2016 evaluation completed by the department of justice under the obama administration, which president biden ordered the attorney general to implement in 2022, made 53 recommendations and only 17 implemented. the time for studies is over. the deaths, the death rate in our prisons is unacceptable. my question to you is, what steps can you commit to today to immediately reduce restrictive housing populations? >> thank you, senator. i think there are a variety of things we're doing today, including improving the policy that has been long-standing and negotiated with the national union. that will decrease the amount of time that individuals can aptly be sanctioned to restrictive housing for disciplinary purposes. the data also reveals that many of the individuals that are in restrictive housing are in there are many times at their own choice because they fear

the ability to walk in the general population. so we are working on creating cultures and environments that are more normal and humane so those individuals actually feel comfortable in general population. as i mentioned in my opening remarks, we are creating positions who will work in restrictive housing, and their sole responsibility will be working with those individuals who don't want to leave restrictive housing, and help them transition into general population. we did this in the state of oregon, and it was very successful. we are looking forward to rolling that out this year. we're also looking at best practices across the country and around the globe to implement changes. as i shared with you the last time we met, this last year has been filled with strategic planning for the department. we have rebooted our mission, our vision and values. many of the goals that we are working on all tie into restrictive housing. both a strong plan around restrictive housing reform and building morale and working on our recruitment and retention issues, which are at the core

of many of the issues, as the inspector general pointed out. >> what percentage of people in restrictive housing volunteer to be in that housing? >> that number is almost 40%. we are looking at the data as we get closer into the data, it might be higher than that because we have individuals categorized as pc status, which falls into the 40%, but also individuals on transition status, and those too could fit into that category. >> aside from that category and those incarcerated because they are a danger to others, other prisoners, i would like to ask if you accept the premise that those were put in restrictive housing involuntarily run the real risk of serious mental illness or worse. >> senator, i would argue that everyone who is in restrictive housing has the -- will suffer from some sort that form of mental or physical damage. i think even those that are wanting to be in restrictive housing need to be educated on

the fact that that is not where they belong, and we need to be able to safely house them in gp. is because they volunteer to be there doesn't mean the physical and mental wear and tear isn't happening for them as well. i think that is the position we want to create to put into restrictive housing. that will help combat that. we also have reintegration units for individuals where we have stepped down programs and units that help people get out of restrictive housing. we need to do better there as well. >> thank you. senator blackburn. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good to see you again. always appreciate our conversations with you. i know the hearing today is focused on the deaths of the incarcerated, but i want to change the topic just a little bit and look at the treatment of our b.o.p. officers and focus on what is happening with some of the assaults.

assaults against b.o.p. staff. not only the physical, but the ptsd. some of those issues that occur. yesterday i introduced the safer prisons act, which would double the maximum term of imprisonment for assaulting a b.o.p. correctional officer. director peters, for you, i know you would agree that these assaults present a real danger for the bureau of prisons. i would like to have your support on the safer prisons act and have you support doubling that maximum term. >> thank you, senator. you know there are processes with the department of justice

in terms of component heads being able to support legislation, but i will tell you that the safety and security of our employees is essential. they are on our everything. if they don't feel safe in our institutions, we have lost the core of our mission. >> let me ask you this. you mentioned hiring and retention as an issue. do you think the safety or lack of safety and protection plays into that difficulty in hiring and retention? >> i think we do our best through augmentation and over time and over to -- in order to ensure the posts are filled. but we have talked before. augmentation is a great resource in the short term. we have been using it in the long term to solve a long-term recruitment and retention problem. it is making our people exhausted. they are riveted with overtime. augmentation impacts fsa programming and operations. visiting is sometimes canceled because we don't have the people to support those posts. so we have a lot of work to do in this area.

we have thrown every incentive and direct hire authority and everything, but we need to go further. >> okay. you when i have previously discussed jeffrey epstein. the chairman knows i have been trying to subpoena his flight logs in the little black book. i think it is essential as we look to break apart the sex trafficking rings that not only are here in the u.s., but have grown to be global entities. 150 billion dutch $150 billion a year business globally trafficking human beings, primarily women and girls. so while epstein was in b.o.p. custody, did you ever have access to his unredacted flight logs or to ghislaine maxwell's little black book? >> as a former victims advocate, i know you and i share values around combating sex trafficking. the epstein situation happened before my tenure at the federal bureau of prisons. i was not a part of any of that

evaluation and return to the inspector general for any of those questions. >> okay. >> senator, i don't know the answer as i sit here. we can make an inquiry. i would like to have the answer in writing. >> okay. we will ask the b.o.p.. we don't have the information you are looking for. >> absolutely. i appreciate that. i would like a response. director peters, we have heard that b.o.p. is helping to transport migrants from the southern border into the country. the bureau has confirmed it is providing transportation for migrants since cbp has been inundated with the surge at the southern border. we have talked before about the extensive staffing challenges at b.o.p. and the negative consequences that come with that.

are you comfortable with having to dedicate your resources that are already stressed to alleviate president biden's border surge? >> so as fellow law enforcement agency inside the departments, we, of course, support other components in helping with the crisis . it is one of the things we do well. >> let me ask you this, have you ever transported an individual on the terrorist watchlist? >> senator, i don't know the answer to that question. >> good you look into that and respond in writing? >> i will have my team look into it and get back to you with information available. >> excellent. my time is up. as always, i will mention the memphis facility. you and i have such an ongoing conversation around that. i do look forward to getting an

update on that from you. >> thank you, senator. i checked this morning, and it looks like the timelines we have provided the last time we checked are on target. >> excellent. thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal. >> thanks for having this hearing. correctional officers, as i know from having been a united states attorney and attorney general of our state and connecticut, are among the hardest working and least appreciated, whether at the state level or federal level. they have to deal with dangerous situations every day. their work is out of public site for good reason, because obviously, they are in a confinement situation. and so, i am very sympathetic to the points you make, director peters, about the need for retention, recruitment and appreciation of the working conditions and compensation

that they deserve. i wonder, short of additional compensation, whether there are working conditions, issues that can be addressed over time and other kinds of demands placed on them that may be can be mitigated through better scheduling, better accommodations for them in their leisure moments during the job? maybe you can comment. >> thank you, senator. i appreciate those comments greatly. i think you're right. their unsung heroes, people that don't get lifted up. i will say to any other law enforcement agency, i think correctional officers have the toughest beat in public safety. the wear and tear, you know the date it, one third have ptsd. many are exhausted with overtime and augmentation.

yes, we have to change the cultures inside our institutions. we are working on creating more normalized and humanized environment so they feel less institutional. are maintenance and repair backlog is about $3 billion. when i visit our institutions, the wardens are just as excited to show me the new fsa programming and treatment as they are the walls that are crumbling and stairwells that are crumbling. that type of environment is no place for anyone to live or work. we have a lot to do to change the environment for our correctional officers. the federal bureau of prisons is the worst place to work in the federal government according to surveys. we have a lot of work to do to support her correctional officers who are exhausted. >> correctional officers work behind bars. >> that's right. >> they work eight hours a day, sometimes more, with people, let's be blunt, who have often committed very violent acts that put them behind bars. and so, the more we can do to

improve those institutional settings, the more we can change the environment for them, and perhaps the way they react to the challenges they face, would you agree? >> thank you, senator. i agree wholeheartedly. while we have issued every authority in our power -- we have increased the base salary by 2000. we have recruitment and retention incentives across the country. we have direct hire authority. the bottom line is that we need to pay them more. the retention incentive, recruitment incentives are band- aids. we have to figure out how to increase the base salary so we can hire the best and brightest and keep them. >> mr. horowitz, in 2014 i led an effort called the death in custody reporting act. congress passed it and the president signed it. and included, among other things, a requirement for a study. we are here 10 years after the

passage of that measure. there has been no study of the data with respect to arrests related and in custody deaths. i agree wholeheartedly with the chairman that the time for studies is over, we need action. but study sometimes can be informative. they can guide action in the right direction. would you agree that study should be done? >> absolutely, senator. in fact, one of the reasons we undertook this work was because there wasn't a set of data out there. we shouldn't have to be the first line of defense on these issues. should be the department itself. should be the component itself but does that. it is not happening as it should. >> you point out, i think, and i think director peters make a point as well, half of the 344 deaths by suicide have occurred with respect to prisoners who are in single cell housing or solitary confinement.

now, i recognize that there are significant mental health components to the reasons for the suicides, but the correlation between that fact, isolation, and death by suicide may be ought to give us reason to change some of those policies. would you agree? >> absolutely, senator. i think there are several figures that jump out here. one is the fact that half of the folks are, roughly half, were in single cells. the one i mentioned in my opening, which is that of your -- over 60% of the suicide, of the individuals who died by suicide, were in the lowest mental health category. of the four categories, they were deemed to not need mental

health treatment. that is over 60% of people. that is very concerning. that is something that needs to be addressed. it is something, frankly, we've highlighted before as a problem. >> thank you. i want to thank the chairman for having this hearing. i want to thank you both for your public service. correctional policy isn't the most glamorous, but it is among the most important of what we do in criminal justice. thank you both for your work. >> thank you, senator. senator . >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to both of the witnesses for your testimony. director peters, you have inherited leadership of a deeply troubled institution. i suspect you some days feel like your job is more akin to trying to change the direction of an aircraft carrier then lead an agile and well resourced organization because

b.o.p. is, frankly, neither. i appreciate the determination, openness and vigor with which you have approached this task. to inspector general horwitz, it was very encouraging to hear that the two of you are working together responsibly . instead of viewing the ig as a hostile party, you are engaging around these issues. nonetheless, as the chairman pointed out to him and went to thank you chairman durbin for your engagement and determination on this issue over many years, there are lots of recommendations that have not yet been fully implemented. lots of important policy work to do here. as senator blumenthal just said, federal corrections is a really important part of our criminal justice system. it doesn't get the attention it needs and deserves. i have long been concerned with the overuse of solitary confinement. i have appreciated the chance to work with chairman durbin in support of his federal solitary confinement reform act.

director peters, i want to say that i appreciate your leadership in establishing an internal task force and partnering with the national institute of justice to develop further recommendations on this issue, but we have lots of recommendations over many years of work. inspector general, let's put aside, for the moment, the issue of policy implementation and focus first on the need to have policies to implement. can you briefly elaborate on what is lacking at an overall policy level now in terms of addressing restrictive housing? >> thank you, senator. that is one of the significant recommendations we made in the past. many years ago, the 2017 report about the lack of an overall policy guide for when people should be put in restrictive housing and when they should be single celled. we worked alone. the b.o.p. it's all put together a 2021 task force. they listed 11 recommendations.

one of them was implement the oig earlier recommendation and put in place this policy. that is still an open recommendation. there needs to be an understanding among all the wardens and all 121 institutions that when and how single celling be used. if i could, let me give you a sense during covid . a directive went out from b.o.p. leadership to not use single celling as a quarantine method. that is, unless there is an extraordinary reason to do so. seven of the suicides were quarantined individuals during covid, not because they were acting up, but because of covid quarantine. by the way, five of the seven had not had the review done before they were single celled to see if they had mental health illness potential, and after action reviews indicated maybe all seven did. >> striking.

director peters, can you respond to that particular question about having a policy in order to be able to implement it? >> absolutely. here is what we have done. first i want to say, thank you for the comments about the partnership with the inspector general. i would love to say publicly the partnership has been exceptional. i am the former inspector general of the state of oregon. i know very much to respect is very hard job. we are working on implementing all the recommendations. here is what we have done as it relates to the question. we have policy, and restrictive housing policy, that has been under review and negotiation with the national union for a very long time. we are so close to finalizing that policy, which will implement a lot of the inspector general and gao's recommendations. furthermore, we have an exceptional relationship with the national union and the incoming president is working with us directly. we are going to come up with a plan to streamline policy adoption so we don't have significant delays and have

this be a barrier to implementation of the inspector general and gao's recommendations. we also have a future state and plan on how these policy negotiations will happen going forward. >> good. that's encouraging. i would hate to see the clock run out on your opportunity to resolve these long-standing issues and to have the union at the table and b.o.p. leadership at the table and implement some of the recommendations on this critical area. it is encouraging to me. i will be following this. i know the chairman will legislate it. can i ask one more question, mr. chairman? when a federal defendant is found mentally incompetent to stand trial, my understanding is that if they are released on bail, there then required to be returned to custody to see if their competency can be restored in a b.o.p. facility. but there are few facilities

with this capacity. they have very long wait times. that means that mentally ill, but presumed innocent, people can end up in in terminal -- interminable current incarceration before the justice process proceeds. this has led to charges being dropped in some cases due to speedy trial issues. director peters, can you speak about what b.o.p. has been doing about this? will you work with me on identifying ways that congress can help specifically on this issue? >> yes, thank you, senator. this is another long-standing issue the department has had around lack of resources that are resulting in this backlog of these reviews. here is what we have done in the last year. we have added additional beds, 40 additional beds, at our facility in chicago to help us peel back the backlog. we're looking at adding additional beds this year at another facility that we have yet to determine, but are working on a plan. we have also worked to create a psychology review team, a

traveling team, that will travel across the country to help work on this backlog. and then, further, we're working on a program where we can hire individuals who have their phd, but have not yet completed their dissertation. they would be able to come and help with these reviews as well. this is a long-standing issue we are trying to fix. it is a conversation i've had with the u.s. attorneys on many occasions. it is certainly in our sites. >> thank you. >> as we mentioned earlier, the senator -- senator booker macklin -- booker's committee is here. >> thank you very much for this hearing. i'm grateful for the two

witnesses being here. before i get to a question on staffing in general, i want to talk about mental health and the well-being of both people that are incarcerated, as well as the mental health of a lot of our incredible correctional officers. suicide rates for both groups are alarming to me. nationally, according to this society for suicide prevention, it is about 14 out of every 100,000 americans die of suicide annually. that number should cause concern for all americans. but people in custody die at rates that are much higher. according to the bureau of justice statistics, in 2019 it was up to 20 out of 100,000 persons. i am wondering, first perhaps, director, for the people who are incarcerated, what steps is the b.o.p. taking to curb this extraordinary rate of individuals committing suicide

in custody? >> thank you, senator. we have done a variety of things. while one suicide on our watch is one too many, i think the things we have implemented at the bureau are represented in the data. our suicide rate is less than the general population and less than state corrections. i think it has a lot to do with the psychology resources we do have. i will argue for more and better pay for those doctoral level psychologists, but they do do incredible work in terms of finding individuals that need resources and we wrap resources around them. we have more work to do. we are looking at our after action reports, looking to see if these need to be more substantive. are we sharing data across the country will be fine issues that need to be resolved i personally read every reconstruction report and meet with a multidisciplinary team to talk about what we have learned and how we're going to implement changes going forward. >> sticking with inmates, and

an oig report, there was a discussion of the inmate companion program in which institutions may utilize individuals who are in b.o.p. custody in lieu of b.o.p. staff. it seemed to have some promising success. the report indicates that both detain individuals and staff found several benefits. participants were more effective than b.o.p. staff at suicide watch because he interacted more frequently than staff. i'm just wondering, can you provide the committee with additional information on this program, and is it promising in something you may want to expand? >> yes, thank you, senator. as i have traveled to more than 40 of our institutions in the last year, i have had the privilege of meeting some of these companions. not only does the data bear that it is a productive program, but does hearing the anecdotal stories about their ability to connect better with

a peer, if you will, that maybe corrections professionals would be able to do has been quite profound. and they take their job so seriously. we train them. we don't just select random adults in custody. we have a really clear selection process. we train them like we train our staff on looking for those predictive characteristics we are looking for. >> just to jump in, sorry for interrupting. law enforcement in general has a real challenge with mental health and the suicide rates of law enforcement, in general, are difficult. can you talk about the bop personnel really quick? on the staffing issues for

correctional officers, can you provide the committee with an update on some of the financial incentives you have talked about before? i still find it astonishing that correctional officers are the very bottom of all federal law enforcement. the amount of money they make, to me, it would be better to be a tsa agent or jobs like that then for -- in terms of compensation. can you address both mental health and wellness steps you are taking for correctional officers, and then those financial incentives, which are urgently needed? frankly, i think they need to be paid more. >> thank you, senator. appreciate your passion around the mental health of our corrections professionals were often unsung heroes in the toughest law enforcement beat. the data is startling. one third have symptoms of ptsd. that means more anxiety, more depression. that means more reliance on substance abuse and higher levels of divorce. over 90% are obese or in the overweight category.

over 90% have hypertension or pre-hypertension. that means there on the track for cardiac disease. and so, the data is staggering. what we're fighting across the country, in some places the federal bureau of prisons, they can leave and make 2 to 3 times more. let alone the bonuses we are battling against at fast food organizations. it is incredibly difficult. we have thrown every incentive we can at this problem. every recruitment incentive, every retention incentive. we have increased the base salary by 2000 for correctional officers. that is the amount of authority i have. but the bottom line, as i said in my opening comments, is that we need to increase the base salary. we need to pay more. when we compare to other law enforcement, i want to remind the committee that the average onboarding for law enforcement in this country is 21 weeks. and our officers receive about six. >> it is truly unfortunate.

i'm hoping the answer for the record about my -- i appreciate the indulgence. >> senator cardin, you are next. would you like a minute? senator ossoff. >> thank you, mr. chairman -- and thank you both for being here. pleasure to see you both again. director peters, following up on senator booker's question about retention incentives, at usp atlanta, as at so many facilities, there are severe staffing issues, a real difficulty recruiting and retaining staff. i sent you a letter asking that b.o.p. undertake what efforts it could to add retention incentives, take steps to ensure that those correctional officers are well- paid and can be retained. you have replied, which i appreciate, your commitment to work it -- working with my

office to make sure we pay them properly retain their services. >> thank you, senator. i am certainly committed to that. we have thrown every incentive we can in our authority . recruitment incentives, retention incentives. at the core of many of the issues the inspector general reveals is a lack of staffing. this is incredibly important to us. as i said in my opening comments, while the incentives have been a band-aid effect, we need to increase the base salary for these correctional officers so we can hire the best and brightest and keep them. >> i hope we can work together to identify additional tools that may be available for the team at usp atlanta. let's remain on the subject of staffing. 2021 b.o.p. hired a contractor to develop a tool intended to help the bureau determine necessary staffing levels for safety at b.o.p. facilities, correct? >> that's correct. >> in march 2023, so a year ago, b.o.p.

reported the tool was still being tested in three of the six regions and said it would be rolled out to all six b.o.p. regions by june 2023. did that happen? >> senator, i am not sure exactly when it was rolled out, but we have completed the initial data analysis as it relates to those employees in the correctional services program division. they are recommending an additional 3500 positions in that category going forward. >> how many regions is that tool currently being used? is it being used for usp atlanta, for example? >> it is important to understand the tool is to help us plan for future budget planning and requests. that tool won't help me with the crisis today because i already cannot fill the positions you have paid for today. >> and how many regions? >> the 3500 is all six. senator, the next category they are working on right now is health services, which we have

difficulty maintaining and recruiting staff in that category as well. >> my office, several offices on this committee, have asked for a demonstration of this tool and been told that b.o.p. will provide it because it is still being refined. can you make sure we are able to view and observe and participate a demonstration of that tool within the next several weeks? >> senator, i will work my team and see the availability and where we are with the tool and the ability to share it with you. >> we can't understand why we can't see it. it doesn't make any sense. we should be able to come and see the tool. >> thank you, senator partner will work with my team and see what we can do. >> i hope we can come and see it in short order. i understand b.o.p. conducted an inspection of sp -- alderson earlier this year. we have requested a copy of that report. i have a commitment to get that was probably? >> thank you, senator. you have my commitment to get

it to you as quickly as we can. >> thank you very much. inspector general, your report has detailed how b.o.p. staff , or in some cases, they're not carrying out key duties including required mental health assessments, counts and rounds, and trainings, among others. found these failures contributed to death in custody. how significant did the role of understaffing play in those failures? >> i think it is a very significant problem. it has been ape challenge we see not only insets, but as we have inspected prisons. the problems ago both for correctional officers who are substantially understaffed ultimately being asked to work, sometimes mandatory overtime. we have augmentation, which is potentially pulling healthcare, education and facilities staff to cover the duties of correctional officers, which has a cascading effect.

there are long waits. healthcare shortages are exacerbated and things like that. it is a big challenge. >> thank you, inspector general. with my marini time, director peters, i want to follow up on usp atlanta. a psi investigation i led several years ago found very substantial flow of contraband into the facility, including weapons and narcotics. ig found that contraband drugs or weapons contributed to nearly 1/3 of deaths in custody at b.o.p.. what steps have you taken to address the flow of contraband and the threat that poses two facilities , and in particular, usp atlanta? >> the usp atlanta issues that were uncovered still fall into these two categories, lack of staffing and our maintenance and repair backlog. as we were able to show you during your visit, that facility structure was crumbling and allowed for hiding contraband inside the institution.

where working to maintain our facilities in a way they are safe and secure, but we are also working every day to interdict contraband in her constitutions through the use of detecting and stopping drone activity. looking at the mail and looking at ways to stop drugs from coming in via mail. we work diligently to ensure that anyone entering our institution has a background check and is physically screened before they come inside. this is something that is absolutely top of mind, as you well know. contraband is a significant issue and can lead to lost lives or even impact the safety and security of our employees. >> can i to speak to the contraband issue? it is such a significant issue. it is connected to, we found, one third of the deaths in our review and in the report. we have been on inspections.

we were in tallahassee, for example. what you saw there in terms of challenges with contraband with inmates smuggling contraband, inmates working near the fence lines could easily have something thrown over the fence to them. inmates who went out to collect garbage were not being checked as they brought back into the facility. some basic stuff. it is not sophisticated to figure out how to try to interdict those kinds of contraband. not surprisingly, by the way, the prison with the highest number of deaths in our report was usp atlanta, which had been closed in 2021 precisely because of the hundreds, the dozens of cell phones, and the drugs found in the prison. and so, this is a major problem. we have had a staff surge policy recommendation open for years that has not been implemented. a basic search policy for staff

coming in to the facility. that hasn't happened either. there are a lot of challenges on the contraband issue that are very significant. we are concerned it is contributing to inmate deaths, both from homemade weapons and from drugs being brought into the facility. >> thank you both. >> senator cotton. >> director peters, the inspector general noted in his statement for today's hearing that solving the bureau staffing shortage is "one of the building blocks to begin to address the chronic challenges facing the b.o.p.." he also said that significant staffing shortages have had a "cascading effect" on facilities. when he testified six months

ago, i asked how many correctional officer positions were filled. you did not have an answer at the time. last month he did an interview with 60 minutes and also didn't have an answer. you have an answer today for how many officers you currently have on payroll? >> yes, senator. we have almost 40,000 authorized positions across the organization and 14,899 of those are correctional officers. we are going to 100% fund those positions. they are only 82% filled at this time. >> 14,899 are correctional officers. >> yes. the individuals you would think in your mind are on the units safeguarding. >> and you said 40,000, that is the total personnel? >> that is the total personnel. >> what are you funded for by congress for correctional officers? >> we are authorized at the 14,899 number and it is 100% funded. >> are you sure you're not

authorized for 20,000? >> 20,000 is a correctional officer series position. that is 20,466. that includes officers, lieutenants, correctional services officers, which are in the receiving and discharging unit, and also the number includes correctional counselors. >> okay. 40,899 is what you have today. do you know what you had six months ago? >> no, i don't have that number. >> do know how many new officers have been hired over the last six months? >> i know we have made progress in the last year. we have moved to the overall recruitment and retention from 87% last year to 97 -- to 90%. we moved correctional officer sold from the 70s to about 82% now. >> okay. 2022 congress passed a law requiring your employees spend 90% of their time on their primary responsibilities. so if an officer spends 90% of

his time being a correctional officer, the hvac technician spends his time doing hvac work. the bureau hasn't complied with that law to my knowledge. six months ago when you were here i asked how much time your employees are spending on average on their primary responsibility. do you have an answer for that today? >> i do. it is different in every institution. in some of our institutions, we will take usp thompson right now, because we have been able to lower the number, lower the mission, we needed fewer employees. we are not relying on augmentation and overtime. when you look at brooklyn, we are relying on it substantially because of the lack of staffing. many of my officers are working 16 hours regularly, and we are having to engage in augmentation on a daily basis at that institution, which as

you well know, wall those psychologists or teachers, whoever is being augmented, is fully trained and prepared to do that work, it also means they're not able to do their current job, as you allude to. >> i take your point that you could average across all of your facilities, but the average is not particularly meaningful because each facility is its own world and a facility that is well-balanced will have everyone doing 90% of their job, and another facility might be unbalanced and rely heavily on augmentation and overtime. >> that's correct, senator. in those facilities where we are fully staffed, we have just given clear direction to those wardens to begin over hiring so if they are in an economy where we are actually able to bring in correctional officers, we will hire them and bring them to other institutions in more dire straits. >> based on your answer, i assume you know the answer on a facility by facility basis. you have that data available? >> that's correct. >> is that data public?

>> i will have to check on that and see. >> if it is, please send us the link. if not, can we get that data? >> we will work with your staffed to see what we can share. >> i want to talk briefly about challenges to staffing. your correctional officers start at $48,000 per year. my understanding is they can top out at $74,000 per year by contrast, border patrol officers can start as high as $68,000 and top out at $113,000, even without becoming a supervisor. does the bureau have trouble competing with the pay of other federal law enforcement agencies? >> it is great trouble competing with other agencies. i will pick up brooklyn again. as a look at state corrections in new york, individuals can make two or three times more working for the new york city corrections department than the federal bureau of prisons. even after we issued a 35% retention bonus at brooklyn, that allows someone after a few years to be making $90,000 a year. for state corrections in the same time period, you would be

making about $130,000. >> in the last major appropriations bill that congress passed in december 2022, congress asked the bureau to consider increasing pay to match those other agencies and asked for a review to be submitted no later than last year. has that been submitted yet? >> senator, i don't know. i contract. i will tell you this year i was able to increase the base salary of correctional officers by $2000. i didn't have the authority to go beyond that. >> okay. please do and get back to us. one final point since you both raised the issue of contraband in prisons. i think maybe the most dangerous kind of contraband in prisons as cell phones. they won't tell anyone themselves, but they enable the commission of many other heinous crimes in prison. that is why i introduced the cell phone jamming reform act, which would make it clear to state prisons that they can use targeted jamming to block cell

phone signals in prison housing units. we've had some resistance from the telecom industry. i wish they would come to their senses on this issue, but have you conducted pilot programs in your facilities on micro jamming and managing access systems? >> we have at a variety of institutions, both in terms of detection and jamming. both prove very successful. what my employees are telling me is that the detection versus the jamming is the most helpful because we can then investigate and figure out who actually has it, who brought in, and solve the greater flow of the contraband problem. >> okay. mr. horowitz, would you like to make any comment on cell phones? >> senator, i could not agree more. i often say the cell phone in a prison is a deadly weapon. we investigated a murder for hire carried out on a federal correction officer in puerto

rico where the hit was put on by someone in the prison. one of the things i've asked for, and i would be happy to work with you on this, smuggling a cell phone into a prison is a federal misdemeanor. it is not a felony. i was surprised by that, frankly. having been for many years, i assumed it had to a felony. it isn't. what we found, by the way, i will tie contraband to sexual assault. as you know, we have a major problem with sexual assault in prison, not just of female inmates, but also on male inmates. one of the things we found is that contraband is used to groom inmates. it is the way to gain favor by a correctional officer or b.o.p. employee . we prosecuted a chaplain in a federal facility in new hampshire for bringing in contraband cell phones and other items.

we shouldn't have to make the bribery case, which is what we have to do to bring the felony charge. that is what we strive to do. but finding the person with the contraband is a lot easier to make those cases. we get a lot more prosecuting and get a lot of the very small fraction of b.o.p. staff engaged in this conduct out . the other thing, i met with the president the other day, i know this for my time as a prosecutor in new york. there is not a single b.o.p. employee who wants to work next to a corrupt employee or dangerous and may. -- inmates. we all have to focus on that. >> thank you both. >> thank you. >> thank you, senator kahn. those are valuable suggestions for legislation. happy to work on a bipartisan basis to see if we can move those forward. i would like to ask more

specifically, we have talked about staffing in so many different respects. i am sure senator brooker will address many this afternoon. i would like to zero in on the health of the staff because it appears this is one of the real deficiencies. what we have identified is that identifying potentially suicidal individuals, which takes some expertise in mental health, managing medication, mental health treatment, will call for certain specialties, training or education. let me asked director peters, what has been your luck in recruiting people in those categories? >> it is been a challenge. as we have discussed before, we have to consider ourselves a healthcare organization. so many of our people come to us with severe mental health issues, and they are 10 years older biologically than their chronological age based on the lack of preventative healthcare

and lifestyle choices. we have a sick population. recruiting and retaining medical professionals is incredibly difficult. i have visited some of our institutions were health services was half filled. were having to td why people across the country. regiment a variety of things. were leaning into telehealth in order to ensure more quality care. the recruitment for medical professionals, we just approved a 25% recruitment incentive. we have individual incentives across the country for doctors that said they would leave. psychologists that said they were going to leave. and so, we are doing everything in our authority. but i will tell you that doctors in our care can leave and make almost double what they are making for us in the community. this is something that we are working on. this is something that is very troubling, but we have to

figure out, again, like i said with correctional officers, how to increase the base pay for medical professionals so we can provide the quality care we need to. >> you family with the national health service corps? >> yes. >> are there applicants for jobs in the bureau of prisons who will have an opportunity for loan forgiveness if they take those jobs? >> senator, i don't know the answer to that. i'm happy to look into it and get back to. >> i want to look into it as well. general horwitz, do you have any thoughts? >> i don't know the answer. but i think it is important to look into. we've also noted the importance of the public health service professionals and considering how to bring more of those perspective we're looking for incentives to bring in healthcare professionals, they are certainly needed, they are needed in so many different places, but they are needed in the bureau of prisons, the incentive of loan forgiveness may make a difference. at least we ought to try. i also want to say i would go out on a limb and believe at the federal level we have so many areas where we need healthcare professionals. we ought to think more seriously about some type of program that is federally

inspired that results in a workforce that is absolutely needed at this point. senator welch, do you need a moment to adjust to the circumstances? are you ready? >> thank you. >> i am recognizing you. >> i appreciate that. thank you very much. director peters, it is good to see you. we talked about the situation in vermont where we don't have a residential reentry facility. it is a really serious issue. as you know, individuals with 12 months or less on their sentence are eligible to transfer to that residential facility. it really makes a big difference. they can receive assistance with housing, treatment, and employment. it has been proven, as you know, to reduce recidivism. vermont, this is pretty shocking to me, and to senator

sanders, vermont is one of only two states that does not have the benefit of that facility. hawaii being the other one. when we spoke about this, you had indicated we would get one, but you clarified you misspoke. it was going to be a reporting facility instead. reporting facility is not worth it. reporting would mean the people have to go to providence, rhode island, a long way from burlington but they would have to go to manchester, new hampshire, a long way. maybe boston. it doesn't do the job. i think, after you clarified that, indicated if the vermont delegation researched and determined a residential facility was necessary, you might change course. we did our research.

most prominently among them, we checked with the attorneys, most importantly, with our federal judges. chairman durbin, i ask unanimous consent to be able to smit a letter to director peters into the record. >> without objection. >> we were surprised, this is the delegation, when we got a letter from the bureau of prisons on friday the indicated you plan to proceed against our consensus. not provide this residential treatment facility. as i mentioned, our office did speak to the stakeholders, including chief judge crawford. he wrote to you in december expressing his strong belief that vermont absolutely needs a reentry center. chairman durbin, i request permission to submit his letter into the record. >> without objection. >> in his letter he wrote, the chief judge, that the lack of a

facility in vermont interferes with every prosocial activity necessary to return to normal life, including the long-term employment connecting with family, and locating housing. chief justice crawford added, our judges all believe that opening a residential reentry center in vermont is a significant step towards the improvement of public safety and rehabilitation. the chief judge attached a report from the chief probation officer further outlining the need for a center. we've heard this from our attorneys, both the defense and prosecution side. i understand you have received this letter. so what is the deal? how do we get our residential reentry program in vermont so

we are not essentially the only state in the country that doesn't have the opportunity to provide the benefit of the services to people who really need them? >> thank you, senator. first off, thank you for the conversations we've had around this table and individually one- on-one around this issue. i am always happy to take in new information. >> let's get to the point. >> i will get to the point, senator. our market analysis determined that since there are so few individuals releasing back to vermont that it is not financially feasible for a residential reentry center. we're actually really optimistic about the day reporting center. that will provide all of the wraparound services. >> i do think you provided the study to us to take a look at. >> senator, i can work with your team and mind to see what we can share with you around that study. >> i don't understand about the market study. we have the probation officers, the judges in the district saying we need this. why is it that vermont would be the only one state in the entire nation, along with

hawaii temporarily, that doesn't have it? we have defendants, we have judges, we have the need. >> senator, again, it is all about resources and trying to balance those. >> that is a different question. if you're say the market study says we don't need it as much as new york city, maybe that is right, but we need it in vermont. that is what i am saying. every other state has it, and we don't. >> senator, again, i'm happy to take any new information you have and look at it. of course, we do feel confident in our decision around the day reporting center that it will be helpful to more people. >> we have got to work on this more. they are two totally different things. a reentry center provides resources. you don't get the resources. it is astonishing that the market study said that vermont is unique that we don't need or deserve or should have the benefit of the same services that are provided in ev ery treatment is astonishing to senator sanders, congresswoman

ballard, and me that somehow this market study says vermont is unique in that we don't need, deserve, or should have the benefit of the same services provided in every other state in this great country of ours. >> senator, again, happy to further conversation. >> just to be clear, i will talk to you, but what we want is a reentry center. that is what our chief judge is saying we need. >> thank you, senator welch. >> with the bureau of prisons let correctional officers supervising adult inmates if the officer had not successfully cleared an fbi national crime information center background and fingerprint check? >> senator, it is my understanding that our policies and practices require that background check prior to employment. >> well, if that is the case, i would like to say something, not just for you, but my

colleagues for folks who have not passed an fbi background check aren't allowed to supervise the adults, we should not give them custody of unaccompanied alien children. however, the office of refugee resettlement does not require background checks for all sponsors and refuses to give law enforcement information on the sponsors, even if the child's well-being is in question. it seems to me, this would have to stop and i hope this committee brings in more references and brings up more meaningful legislation to protect our kids. mr. horowitz, i am going to take advantage of you being here to ask a follow-up question . i wrote you november 2nd of last year about your review of the justice department obtaining phone records of members of congress and staff. in response, you said, your report would likely cover most,

if not all of the eight categories of information that i asked for. it has been said that the justice department obtained these records to investigate alleged leaks related to the discredit crossfire hurricane investigation, but i am concerned that the justice department use this as an excuse to keep tabs on congress we conducted as an oversight department relating to the crossfire hurricane. can you provide an update on the scope of your review and when you expect to issue your findings? second question related to this is, did the justice department apply the same investigative standards to its agents and staff, or other officials in the executive branch who may have leaked the information, as did members of congress on our staff? >> thank you, senator. i will give you an update on timing and where we are. we are

planning to cover, as i said in my letter to you, the issues you referenced in the categories we spoke about. we are actually in the process of drafting the report. so, we will hopefully be able to get out in a reasonable amount of time. i will just add, because so much of these issues to cover highly classified information, as you know from our prior reviews, we have to go through the department and various intelligence community processes to get to a point where we can issue it. i always put that caveat in the reports we have about that information. we are working to get it done. we've made good progress. the second question you raised, was one that we are also assessing. we are going to leave this taped grandeur as defense secretary lloyd alston, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, general charles cq