Press Release  Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Releases Inaugural Report by Restrictive Housing Oversight Committee

Boston — The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security has released the inaugural report by the Restrictive Housing Oversight Committee (RHOC), marking a key milestone required by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA). This comprehensive report analyzes Restrictive Housing (RH) practices at state and county correctional facilities from 2019 to 2021. While the report’s scope does not extend beyond 2021, it serves as a baseline resource for understanding policy changes that have since occurred, including the phased elimination of Restrictive Housing at the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC), which began in 2021 and was successfully completed in 2023.

The RHOC was established in April 2018, following the landmark CJRA legislation enacted to modernize the state’s criminal justice system. Committee members represent the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the Department of Public Health, Disability Law Center, Prisoners’ Legal Services, Department of Correction, Massachusetts Sheriff’s Association, the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union and the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts. The Committee was tasked with gathering and analyzing data regarding the use of RH to assess its impact on the incarcerated population and institutional conditions. The RHOC’s objective was to recommend strategies to minimize the use of RH and improve outcomes for incarcerated individuals and correctional facility safety.

“I would like to thank the Restrictive Housing Oversight Committee members for their work on this inaugural report. The Committee, led by Undersecretary Andrew Peck, provided a detailed review of Restrictive Housing practices and their impact on incarcerated individuals, staff, and security in the Commonwealth, nationally, and internationally,” said Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy. “This baseline report provides stakeholders with a solid foundation to better understand Restrictive Housing and advance correctional practices that improve outcomes and promote a more safe, equitable, and effective criminal justice system.”

To inform its report, the RHOC conducted an in-depth review of RH practices from 2019 to 2021, prior to the Department of Correction’s elimination of restrictive housing. The Committee was granted full access to RH units, general population units, and, in many cases, medical and mental health units or other specialized units. The inaugural report focuses on both county facilities, and the DOC’s former restrictive housing units.

The RHOC’s baseline report identifies progress and challenges in the use of Restrictive Housing. Notable findings included substantial evidence that the DOC had been meeting CJRA requirements prior to the elimination of restrictive housing. The report also noted variations in RH practices and discrepancies in data reporting among counties. Furthermore, the report stressed the importance of specialized training for staff and the need for consistent data collection.

The report states that the DOC’s reliance on Restrictive Housing declined from 2.9% of its custody population in January 2019 to 1.9% in December 2021. The absolute numbers fell dramatically during that period, from 244 to 116, as the DOC’s total custody population dropped by 29%.

The report noted that the proportion of DOC people held in the Department Disciplinary Unit (DDU) decreased from 1.11% in January 2019 to 0.60 % in December 2021. In absolute terms, it fell from 94 in January 2019 to 36 in December 2021, a 61.7% reduction, as the DOC population declined by just under 30%.

The report also noted that during the first quarter of 2020, Hispanic individuals represented 6.7% of the population in DOC RH units, while White and Black individuals represented, 4.18% and .55%, respectively. In 2021, Black individuals represented 9.7% of the population in DOC RH units during the first quarter of 2021 and Hispanic individuals represented 6.8% during the first quarter of 2021.

“The DOC is dedicated to changing correctional policies and classification systems that exacerbate injustices in our criminal justice system. We are currently collaborating with UMass Chan Medical School on a first-in-the-nation study funded by the National Institute of Justice to identify any racial and gender inequities within the state’s correctional system to identify changes that support the advancement of equity internally and in correctional classification systems nationwide,” said Massachusetts Department of Correction Commissioner Shawn Jenkins.  

According to the report, “There was strong evidence that the requirements of [the Criminal Justice Reform Act] were being met in the DOC’s Restrictive Housing Units.” Moreover, the Committee recognized that the DOC, on its own initiative, ended the use of Restrictive Housing, including the DDU, in June 2023, a widely welcomed move. 

In consultation with nationally renowned criminal justice reform experts from Falcon, Inc., the DOC has since implemented the Behavior Assessment Units (BAU) and Secure Adjustment Units (SAU) as a more positive and effective response to behavior necessitating an individual’s removal from the general population in the interest of their safety, the safety of other incarcerated individuals and staff.  

Looking ahead, the RHOC intends to continue to review data and conduct interviews with incarcerated individuals and staff impacted by the DOC’s new housing model. This ongoing work will inform future reports, aiming to enhance the understanding and functioning of these units.
“I wish to express my gratitude to the correctional staff and administrators for graciously welcoming the Committee into many DOC facilities to conduct site visits and interviews with staff and incarcerated individuals,” said RHOC Chair and Undersecretary of Criminal Justice Andrew Peck. “Although the DOC has left the restrictive housing policy behind, I look forward to continuing to work with The RHOC to ensure that correctional housing practices evolve to better serve the needs of incarcerated individuals and the broader community.” 
 

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