Friday, May 29, 2015
YOUNGSTOWN
Some 103 employees at the Corrections Corp. of America’s prison at 2240 Hubbard Road are expected to be laid off this weekend due to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons’ nonrenewal of its contract to house inmates there.
All U.S. Bureau of Prisons inmates have been transferred out of Nashville, Tenn.-based Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in advance of Sunday’s contract expiration, Steven Owen, CCA’s managing director of communications, said Thursday.
“We have worked closely with affected employees to assist them with this transition, including sharing transfer and promotion opportunities” at other CCA facilities, Owen said.
So far, more than 30 employees who worked at NEOCC have either transferred permanently or are working on temporary assignment at other CCA facilities, he said. “We continue to meet with affected employees about transfer opportunities,” he added.
The corporation expects to keep about 181 employees at the Hubbard Road prison, which will continue to house about 580 U.S. Marshals Service inmates under a contract that expires Dec. 31, 2018.
“It’s unfortunate that the federal Bureau of Prisons has brought us to this day, but we are committed to working with CCA to help find another government entity that can house inmates at the CCA facility,” Mayor John A. McNally said Thursday night.
When he received CCA’s layoff warning notice in March, the mayor said the job losses accompanying the departure of some 1,400 BOP inmates did not surprise him.
He also said the city had made budget adjustments to account for the loss of city income-tax revenue that will result from the layoffs.
The U.S. Marshals Service population, consisting of those awaiting trial, sentencing or federal prison placement, will now be the only group of inmates at the 2,016-bed NEOCC.
Owen said CCA will continue to market available beds at NEOCC to other government agencies that might house prisoners there.
The BOP inmates at the prison consisted of federally convicted and sentenced undocumented immigrants.
Despite an aggressive letter-writing campaign to U.S. representatives and senators and BOP officials, which was promoted by CCA, BOP awarded inmate-housing contracts to two other prisons and, without any public explanation, did not renew its contract with CCA to house inmates at NEOCC.
Under the expiring contract, CCA charged BOP $69.72 a day per inmate housed at NEOCC.
This compares to the $65.22 BOP is paying at Moshannon Valley Correctional Center in Phillipsburg, Pa., under a contract that will expire April 1, 2016.
BOP awarded new contracts to Moshannon Valley and to the Great Plains Correctional Facility in Hinton, Okla.