The State Department of Corrections has announced it will close two facilities, transferring the inmates and some employees to other locations, including SCI Pine Grove in Indiana County. SCI Rockview in Centre County and the Quehanna Motivational Boot Camp in Clearfield County will undergo phased closures over the next four months. Inmate populations have already begun the process.
DOC estimates the moves will save the state $100 million, although it does not say that that is the primary reason for the closures, citing the overall decline in prison populations in Pennsylvania and the need to align resources with current needs.
In addition to moving inmates to new facilities, which is not based on where they are from, a 12,000-page report on the closures also includes an analysis of the employees’ home addresses, and their relocation could be affected by where they live. The report finds that at the Clearfield County site and even in Centre County “there are some whose home addresses” are closer to other facilities, including SCI Pine Grove in Indiana County. Those employees would be offered a position within 67 miles of where they currently work.
Some legislators and union leadership vow to fight the closures, claiming the Shapiro Administration is more concerned with protecting the bottom line than protecting the jobs of the workers at the two DOC locations.
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