BUDGET

Disclaimer*: While working towards this project, I discovered how difficult it is to find budgeting information for the United States from either the BOP or Department of Justice, so there wasn't really much for me to work within regards to the budget for the prisons (in contrast with the system itself).

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Because of the increased focus on educational and recreational programs (among other things such as counseling and nutrition) a prison in this model would be more expensive than a typical American prison. Because in the Federal Prison system, prisons are mainly funded by taxpayer dollars, an issue arises of where the additional funds would come from. I suggest that money is reallocated from existing areas inside of the BOP's budget. For example, in 2021 $5.2 million was used to counter the drone threat of prisons. While this might be necessary, nothing is more necessary in prisons than lowering the rate of recidivism and being more human. Therefore, these millions of dollars could be used in different ways.

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Another suggestion I have to make in regard to budgeting in the US Federal Prison system is that budgeting information should go more into depth about the things that affect the inmates so that the public have some clarity on what is happening.