Introduction

This report is being submitted to the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia in accordance with provisions of House Joint Resolution No. 18 of the 1978 General Assembly. It is aimed primarily at studying the relationship of the Rehabilitative School Authority to the Department of Corrections.

Considerations were given in the study process to the delivery of educational programming, both academic and vocational, to the Department of Corrections by the Rehabilitative School Authority as well as examining the relationship of the Rehabilitative School Authority to the Department of Corrections. The end result of this study would be to assure that the best possible service delivery system for educational programming would be in place for the Commonwealth.

Recommendations by the Governor

Two options were developed by the Task Force to be considered relative to the placement in State government of the Rehabilitative School Authority. Simply stated, these options are (1) to leave the Rehabilitative School Authority in its present location and (2) to place the Rehabilitative School Authority back under the Department of Corrections' umbrella with sanctions to insure its autonomy as an educational entity. The Task Force has recommended that Option 2 be selected.

Following the review of the Task Force report by my office, it is my recommendation that the General Assembly leave the Rehabilitative School Authority in its present location within State government. The rationale for making this recommendation. over the option selected by the Task Force is that great strides have been made in the educational process since the Rehabilitative School Authority was established in 1974. These accomplishments are acknowledged in the Task Force report. The problem areas identified in the report do not appear to be overriding ones, but are primarily related to the individual localities and individual personalities involved. Whether or not the Rehabilitative School Authority remains a separate State agency or falls under the Department of Corrections' umbrella, this type of problem would still exist. It is also necessary to take into consideration that the primary duty of the Rehabilitative School Authority is quality education, whereas the primary responsibilities of the Department of Corrections lie in other areas. As directed by the General Assembly in House Joint Resolution No. 81, the Secretary of Public Safety and the Secretary of Education have secured provisional certification from the State Department of Education for the Rehabilitative School Authority. This provisional certification will greatly aid in the transfer of educational credits from the schools operated by the Rehabilitative School Authority to the public school system. This certification had been sought for several years prior to the establishment of the Rehabilitative School Authority and could be placed in jeopardy should the Rehabilitative School Authority come back under the purview of the Department of Corrections. To merge these two agencies at this time would create another upheaval in the service delivery system of the Rehabilitative School Authority which has begun to function on a high level of stability in personnel and programming at this time.

The Department of Corrections has recently completed a major reorganization into a regional configuration and should be given an opportunity to embed the new management structure and procedures before assuming a major new responsibility.

The focus of the primary functions of the Rehabilitative School Authority and Department of Corrections supports a division of effort. The Task Force felt very strongly on this point and stated " ... the integrity of the educational component for incarcerated persons must be maintained while recognizing that the overall responsibility for these persons lies with the Department of Corrections." To add a new division to the Department before the reorganization is fully operational would make it difficult to maintain the integrity of the educational component.

For these reasons, it is my recommendation that the Rehabilitative School Authority be retained as a separate agency for the. time being. Ultimately, however, it should be merged into the Department of Corrections.