Introduction

The Detention Standards and Compliance Division (DS&C) is responsible for establishing annual schedules for conducting Quality Assurance Reviews (QARs) utilizing Federal Performance-Based Detention Standards (FPBDS) to ensure the adequacy and sufficiency of services provided in non-federal detention facilities that house federal detainees.

All private facilities under contract to the United States Marshal Service or the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee, and those state and local facilities with Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) with an average daily population of 500 or more federal detainees, receive reviews annually. Other select facilities, such as those requested by an agency, also receive QARs.

To conduct QARs, OFDT contracts with companies for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who must possess extensive levels of experience. SMEs conducting QARs must have a minimum of 10 years experience in their area of expertise. The team is lead by Senior Project Managers (SPMs) who have a minimum of 25 years correctional experience.

The Office of the Federal Detention Trustee QAR team consists of one SPM and 4 SMEs with expertise in Administration and Management, Healthcare, Security & Control, Food Service, Staff/Detainee Communication, Safety and Sanitation, Services and Programs, and Workforce Integrity and Detainee Discrimination. SMEs conduct QARs utilizing a Facility Review Management System (FRMS), an automated web-based system to record/document and produce a comprehensive Quality Assurance Report.

Upon completion of the QAR report, DS&C reviews the report and issues on of five ratings to the facility: Excellent, Good, Acceptable, Deficient or At Risk. This information is entered into the DSNetwork to provide consolidated facility information and historic data.

QARs began Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, in which 21 QARs were conducted in 12 states. Nineteen facilities met with the minimum FPBDS. In FY 2007, 24 QARs were conducted in 13 states and in the District of Columbia. Twenty-three facilities have met the minimum FPBDS. In FY 2008, 26 QARs are planned in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

Performance-Based Detention Standards

In January 2000, the Department of Justice (through the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and the Civil Rights Division issued a set of core detention standards that apply to all detention facilities contracted by the Department of Justice. The standards sought to ensure that detainees housed in these facilities are safe, secure, and such facilities provide the basic services needed by federal detainees. The purpose for detention varies across agencies; accordingly, the standards adopted addressed only the most basic and critical elements common to all agencies. The standards are intended to supplement policies, procedures, and practices that were specific to the needs of each agency.

Following the establishment of the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee (OFDT), OFDT initiated a working group comprised of OFDT, BOP, USMS, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) -- formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service -- to address federal detention policies and procedures. As part of this working group, agency representatives reviewed and refined the core detention standards previously approved.

The Quality Assurance Review (QAR) will be conducted based upon criteria listed in the Federal Performance Based Detention Standards Review Book. Initially, the reviews will be conducted at all private contract facilities that house federal detainees to ensure these facilities are safe, humane, and protect detainees' statutory and constitutional rights. The PBDS have been divided into nine functional areas that fully meet or exceed the requirements of the American Correctional Association Adult Local Detention Facility Standards.

Additionally there are nineteen Key Functional Areas that address the minimal requirements necessary to ensure a safe, secure, and humane environment. At the request of ICE, five ICE specific Standards have been incorporated into the FPBDS in their entirety. Each Standard contains a title and a defining statement followed by a series of items designed to assist the Reviewer in asking questions and seeking pertinent information for making assessments.

In addition, a checklist of review criteria has been developed to ensure review procedures are clear and concise, scalable and flexible, consistent and efficient. While a facilities compliance with each of the functional Areas will be evaluated, failure to comply with any Key Functional Areas will be considered a material deficiency in the operation of the facility, use of the facilities that fail to develop and implement a corrective action plan to ensure the facility can attain and maintain compliance with the Key Functional Areas may be discontinued, or if under contract, administrative fee deductions may be assessed.

Last Updated:
April 09, 2009