2010-5706. Agency Information Collection Activities: Existing Collection; Comments Requested

ACTION:

30-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review: Extension of a Currently Approved Collection; Annual Survey of Jails.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics, will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The proposed information collection is published to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for “thirty days” until April 15, 2010. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.10.

If you have comments especially on the estimated public burden or associated response time, suggestions, or need a copy of the proposed information collection instrument with instructions or additional information, please contact Todd D. Minton, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 Seventh Street, NW., Washington, DC 20531 (phone: [phone]).

Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of information are encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of the following four points:

—Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, including whether the information will have practical utility;

—Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies' estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

—Evaluate whether and if so how the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected can be enhanced; and

—Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

(1) Type of Information Collection: Revisions of a currently approved collection.

(2) Title of the Form/Collection: The Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ). The collection includes the forms: Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ), which includes the regular form and the certainty jurisdiction form; the Survey of Large Jails (SLJ); and the Survey of Jails in Indian Country (SJIC), which includes the regular SJIC form and an addendum.

(3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the Department of Justice sponsoring the collection: Form numbers include:

• Annual Survey of Jails: This collection consists of four forms:

○ CJ-5 and CJ-5A, the ASJ regular forms: These forms go to jail jurisdictions in the ASJ sample that are not selected with certainty. The CJ-5 form goes to jail jurisdictions operated by the county or city and the CJ-5A goes to privately owned or operated confinement facilities;

○ CJ-5D and CJ-5DA, the ASJ certainty jurisdiction forms: The forms go to jail jurisdictions in the ASJ sample that are selected with certainty. The CJ-5D and CJ-5DA request additional information about the distribution of time served, staffing, and inmate misconduct that are not requested on the CJ-5 and CJ-5A. The CJ-5D goes to jurisdictions operated by the county or city; the CJ-5DA goes to confinement facilities administered by two or more governments and privately owned or operated confinement facilities.

• The Survey of Large Jails (SLJ) has one form, the CJ-5C. This form goes to confinement facilities in jail jurisdictions with an average daily population (ADP) of 1,000 or more inmates or a rated capacity of 1,000 beds or more.
• Survey of Jails in Indian Country (SJIC): This collection consists of two forms, the CJ-5B (the SJIC regular form) and the CJ-5B Addendum (a one-time addendum to the SJIC). All respondents receive both forms.

The applicable component of the Department of Justice sponsoring the collection is the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which is within the Office of Justice Programs.

(4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as well as a brief abstract: The affected public that will be asked to respond include approximately 1,000 county, city, and Tribal jail authorities (936 respondents to the ASJ and 88 to the SJIC). As community institutions that book an estimated 13 million inmates per year, local jails are an integral part of the justice system, operating at the front end (that is, following arrest or referral) as well as the back end (discharging inmates and holding those sentenced to jail). Their broad functions include handling inmates who are awaiting trial or sentencing, holding inmates for other authorities, detaining inmates with special needs such as mental health holds or alcohol detoxifications, transferring inmates to court appearances and bringing them back to detention, discharging inmates at the behest of the court or other entities, and holding inmates who have been sentenced to terms in jail. The set of collections in this package provides BJS with the capacity to track and analyze changes in the jail inmate population that might signal changes in the kinds of cases coming into or leaving the criminal justice system, and to analyze how the volatility of jail inmate populations affects the workload of jails and their capacities to provide services. In combination with the SLJ, the ASJ provides BJS with these capacities to study local jails nationwide. The parallel structure of the SJIC collection (the regular form with the addendum) provides BJS with this capacity for Indian country jails.

In its entirety, this collection is the only national effort devoted to describing and understanding annual changes in jail populations as well as assessing programs and capacities to provide services. The collection enables BJS, other federal agencies, and state, local, and Tribal corrections authorities and administrators, as well as legislators, researchers, and jail planners to track growth in the number of jails and their capacities nationally; as well as, track changes in the demographics and supervision status of jail population and the prevalence of crowding. Information collected in the certainty jurisdiction form and survey addendums provide critical data on jail population movements and inmate mental and medical health services and other programs available to confined inmates.

The forms and information content for this collection are outlined next in the following order: First, the components of the Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ), which include the CJ-5, CJ-5A, CJ-5D, and CJ-5DA. Second, the Survey of Large Jails (SLJ), which is a one-time survey of large jails to obtain supplementary information about jail programs, which are described in the CJ-5C. Third, the Survey of Jails in Indian Country (SJIC), which has a regular form to be administered annually (CJ-5B) and a one-time addendum on programs and practices (CJ-5B Addendum).

The two components of the Annual Survey of Jails include the CJ-5/5A and CJ-5D/5DA forms. The CJ-5/5A forms are to be administered to ASJ sample elements that are selected with a probability of less than 1. The CJ-5D/5DA forms are to be administered to ASJ sample elements selected with certainty.

CJ-5 and CJ-5A

For these forms, 561 respondents from sampled county and city jails will be asked to provide information for the following categories:

(a) At midyear (last weekday in the month of June), the number of inmates confined in jail facilities including; male and female adult and juvenile inmates; persons under age 18 held as adults; race categories; held for Federal authorities, State prison authorities and other local jail jurisdictions.

(b) At midyear, the number of convicted inmates that are unsentenced or sentenced and the number of unconvicted inmates awaiting trial/arraignment, or transfers/holds for other authorities. The breakout into sentenced and unsentenced inmates is newly proposed for this collection.

(c) At midyear, the number of persons under jail supervision who were not U.S. citizens.

(d) Whether the jail facilities has a weekend incarceration program prior to midyear and the number of inmates participating.

(e) The number of new admissions into and final discharges from jail facilities during the last week in June.

(f) The date and count for the greatest number of confined inmates during the 30-day period in June.

(g) The average daily population of jail facilities from July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current collection year.

(h) Jail capacity, measured three ways: rated capacity, operating capacity, and design capacity. The information on operating and design capacities are newly proposed for this collection.

(i) At midyear, the number of persons under jail supervision but not confined (e.g., electronic monitoring, day reporting, etc.)

CJ-5D and CJ-5DA

These forms will be administered to the certainty jurisdictions in the ASJ sample; in addition to the information collected in the regular ASJ forms (the CJ-5/5A), the 373 respondents that are included with certainty in the ASJ sample survey will be asked to provide additional information on the flow of inmates going through jails and the distribution of time served, staff characteristics and assaults on staff resulting in death, and inmate misconduct. More specifically, these include:

(a) The distribution of time served by inmates discharged during the final week of June, broken out by whether the inmates were convicted or unconvicted.

(b) At midyear, the number of correctional officers and other staff employed by jail facilities;

(c) From July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current collection year: the number of inmate-inflicted physical assaults (and counts) on correctional officers and other staff and the number of staff deaths as a result.

(d) From July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current collection year: the number of inmates, by category, who were written up or found guilty of a rule violation.

The Survey of Large Jails (SLJ), form CJ-5C, is conceived of as a one-time collection to be administered in 2011, pending final OMB approval. The survey complements the ASJ by collecting detailed data from large jail jurisdictions (those housing an average of 1,000 or more inmates or a rated capacity of 1,000 beds or more) on mental health, medical, and substance abuse treatment services.

CJ-5C (SLJ)

Information on mental and medical health and substance abuse treatment services issues will be requested. Based upon the SLJ administered in 2004, the following categories of information will be requested. However, BJS is currently undertaking efforts to revise this form to capture more detailed information on the processes used by jails to screen and treat offenders. This effort is integrated into a project that BJS has with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). As part of the NCHS project, BJS and NCHS are convening meetings of experts to provide facts and information related to measuring services in jails, and based on the information obtained from these meetings, BJS will revise the SLJ form and submit to OMB a separate package for clearance of this form.

Mental Health Treatment and Services

(a) During the 31-day period in (month of the reference year of administration), the number of new admissions to the jail facility that are male and female, adult and juvenile inmates;

(b) Whether the jail facility conducts mental health screening at intake, the type(s) of screening instruments, and when does the screening process occur (e.g., within 24 hours of booking, in an emergency or crisis situation, etc.);

(c) Who conducts the mental health screening (e.g., correctional staff, mental health professional, etc.);

(d) During the 31-day period in (month), the number of persons with new admissions to the jail facility that were screened at intake for mental health disorders or emotional problems and the number determined to have major depressive symptoms, major manic symptoms, major psychotic symptoms;

(e) What services to inmates are provided when the intake screening reveals a mental health disorder (e.g., referral for further testing/assessment, contacted a mental health professional, moved to a special housing facility and under special observation, etc.);

(f) During the 31-day period in (month), the number of inmates who received mental health treatment and the type(s) of treatment;

(g) Designated area with beds allocated under the authority of a physician with mental health services and 24 hour nursing coverage. How many beds are for inmates and the number of beds occupied;

(h) Jail facility discharge plan for inmates who needed mental health care. Who provides this service linkage? What agencies administer this service? What agency pays for this service?

Substance Abuse Treatment and Services and Other Programs

(i) Whether the jail facility conducts medical detoxification on confined persons and the number of persons who were being detoxified;

(j) During the 31-day period in (month), the number of persons with new admissions to the jail facility that:

(1) Were tested for the use of drugs at intake and how many tested positive;

(2) Participated in counseling or special programs (e.g., drug/alcohol counseling/awareness, domestic violence counseling, etc.);

(3) Participated in an education program (e.g., basic adult education (ABE), GED program, and college level classes, etc.).

The Survey of Jails in Indian Country consists of two forms, the annual survey form (CJ-5B) and a one-time addendum on programs and services (CJ-5B Addendum).

CJ-5B

Respondents from Indian country correctional facilities operated by tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) (currently there are 85) will be asked to provide information for the following categories:

(a) At midyear (last weekday in the month of June), the number of inmates confined in jail facilities including; male and female adult and juvenile inmates; persons under age 18 held as adults; convicted and unconvicted males and females; persons held for a felony, misdemeanor; their most serious offense (e.g., domestic violence offense, aggravated or simple assault, driving while intoxicated, etc.)

(b) The average daily population during the 30-day period in June;

(c) The date and count for the greatest number of confined inmates during the 30-day period in June;

(d) The number of new admissions into and final discharges during the month of June;

(e) From July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current collection year: the number of inmate deaths while confined and the number of deaths attributed to suicide and the number of confined inmates that attempted suicide;

(f) At midyear, the total rated capacity of jail facilities;

(g) At midyear, the inmate housing characteristics and the number held (e.g., single occupied cells or rooms, multiple occupied units originally designed for single occupancy; multiple occupied units designed for multiple occupancy, temporary holding areas, etc.)

(h) At midyear, whether or not the jail facility was under a Tribal, State, or Federal court order or consent decree to limit the number of persons it can house (and the count), and/or for conditions of confinement;

(i) At midyear, the number of male and female correctional staff employed by the facility and their occupation (e.g., administration, jail operations, educational staff, etc.)

(q) At midyear, how many jail operations employees had received the basic detention officer certification and how many had received 40 hours of in-service training;

(r) From July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current collection year: how many jail operation employees did the facility hire for employment; how many jail operation employees were separated from employment in the facility;

(s) At midyear, how many specific jail operation employee positions were vacant.

CJ-5B Addendum (SJIC)

This is to be a one-time collection between 2010 and 2012 will be administered to 85 respondents. Information for the following categories will be requested:

(a) How does the facility provide medical health services to inmates (e.g., on-site staff physicians, IHS, off-site medical services, etc.);

(b) At midyear, whether the jail facilities detoxify confined persons (and count) from drugs or alcohol;

(c) Policy for testing inmates for Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and C, and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes AIDS (e.g., at admission, at regular intervals, random sample, indication of need, etc.);

(d) How does the facility provide mental health services to inmates (e.g., screen inmates at intake, 24-hour mental health care; counseling by a trained mental health professional, monitor the use of psychotropic medications, assist released inmates to obtain community mental health services, etc.);

(e) Types of specific suicide prevention procedures (e.g., assessment of risk at intake, special inmate counseling or psychiatric services, monitoring of high risk inmates; suicide, etc.);

(a) From July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current collection year, whether facility has inmate work assignments and the types of assignments;

(b) From July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current collection year, counseling or special programs available to confined persons either on or off facility grounds (e.g., drug/alcohol counseling/awareness, domestic violence counseling, etc.);

(c) From July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current collection year, educational programs available to confined persons either on or off facility grounds.

(5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: Six hundred and forty-six respondents each taking an average 75 minutes to respond for collection forms CJ-5 and CJ-5A, and CJ-5B. Three hundred and seventy-three respondents each taking 120 minutes to respond for collection forms CJ-5D and CJ-5DA. Eighty-five respondents each taking an average of 30 minutes to respond for collection form CJ-5B Addendum. Two hundred and ten respondents each taking an average of 4 hours to respond for collection form CJ-5C.

(6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated with the collection: There are an estimated 2,436 total burden hours associated with this collection.

If additional information is required contact: Lynn Bryant, Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Justice, Justice Management Division, Policy and Planning Staff, Patrick Henry Building, Suite 1600, 601 D Street, NW., Washington, DC 20530.

Dated: March 11, 2010.

Lynn Bryant,

Department Clearance Officer, PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.