Thankfully, the city’s most recent budget allocates $463 million to upgrade the jail. Even so, that doesn’t mean some of the worst conditions will be fixed soon. In fact, the current plan puts the needs of only a small portion of those held at the D.C. jail ahead of the rest.
Local officials agree on replacing the current facility. The main building, which opened in 1976, has been the site of 10 deaths in the past 17 months. Five of these deaths occurred this year. The jail’s rigorous covid-19 policy confined detainees to their cells for 23 hours a day during the pandemic. A surprise inspection by the U.S. Marshals Service in 2021 further fueled outrage, finding instances of food withholding and a strong smell of backed-up sewage.
But agreement in principle has not yet led to shovels in the ground. Official discussions about a new jail in D.C. began 14 years ago, when the Department of Corrections requested $420 million for a new facility. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and corrections officials have consistently argued that the new jail and renovated treatment facility are urgent needs. But, because of concerns over a clear execution strategy, anytime money for the jail was included in the budget, it was promptly pushed out again. Until this latest round.
Money now in hand, city officials have to figure out how to spend it to do the most good for the most detainees. Disagreements persist on how to do that — and the city’s current plan has it wrong. The D.C. Department of Corrections released a new timeline this month for the facility’s transformation. Under the plan, renovating the deficient primary holding space would not be complete until 2034 at best. The plan splits the construction project into two phases. The city would start by constructing a small administrative and behavioral health facility, then move to upgrading the existing housing for the general population.
The idea is that the jail has bigger problems than the deterioration of the facility’s physical structure. Broader investment in the DOC, along with enhanced programming, educational opportunities and treatment for detainees’ physical and mental ailments, is necessary to change the current culture of the D.C. jail so that its inhabitants can more easily reintegrate into society. And that requires building the behavioral health facility.
But, while accommodating special needs and services is undoubtedly important, D.C. officials should focus on general housing first. Of course, rehabilitation is important for transitioning to life after detention. But the main facility’s current dilapidated state is not a safe and rehabilitative environment for any of the more than 1,300 people locked up. By swapping the two phases and putting general housing ahead of specialized services, officials could provide these people with better living conditions and programming opportunities sooner, rather than leaving them to languish for another decade after so many years of neglect.
That doesn’t mean D.C. should set aside its plans for the behavioral health facility — quite the contrary. The city has an opportunity to join others in the nation committing to comprehensive services for those behind bars, designed not merely to improve their living conditions but also to increase their chances of successfully reentering society. Maryland public safety officials, for instance, are pushing ahead with plans for a $1 billion jail, hospital, and mental health and substance-use disorder treatment facility in Baltimore at the site of the previous detention center. The complex is set to open in 2029. By allocating funding promptly as well as responsibly, D.C. can start down the same path to providing all in its jail a safe, clean and truly rehabilitative environment.
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