{"id":862,"date":"2026-05-30T17:06:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T17:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=862"},"modified":"2026-05-30T17:06:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T17:06:04","slug":"prison-agency-turned-tax-funded-rehab-program-into-unaccountable-slush-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=862","title":{"rendered":"Prison Agency Turned Tax-Funded Rehab Program Into Unaccountable Slush Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/p>\n

Federal prison officials cost taxpayers millions of dollars and prematurely freed inmates through faulty enforcement of a criminal reform program, a federal probe found.<\/p>\n

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The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) overcharged by $106 million for inmate phone calls and failed to provide reentry programs to 9,819 early-release inmates between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday. The mistakes stemmed from the implementation of the bipartisan First Step Act, which President Donald Trump passed in 2018, the investigation found. However, the BOP is complying with the watchdog agency\u2019s suggestions for fixing the deficiencies, according to the report. (RELATED: Seven-Man Commission Riddled With Liberals Could Throw Wrench In Trump\u2019s DC Crime Cleanup)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The BOP \u201ccontinues to evaluate the resources necessary to sustain implementation of this policy, as well as proposals to expand incentives for inmates\u201d to complete reentry programs, a BOP spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The White House declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s law lets eligible inmates earn toward early release if they complete educational \u201cRecidivism Reduction\u201d coursework or \u201cProductive Activities\u201d programs such as group therapy or exercise sessions. Inmates may also earn free telephone minutes for participating in First Step Act programs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trump and the law\u2019s other supporters advertised it as a way to reduce recidivism through leniency and rehabilitation for criminals. Trump has championed a more pro-incarceration approach in his second term, calling out \u201cpro-crime politicians\u201d who release \u201cdangerous repeat offenders,\u201d flooding liberal cities with more law enforcement agents and moving to strip funds from jurisdictions with cashless bail policies.<\/p>\n

The Biden-Harris administration\u2019s efforts to implement the First Step Act over a two-year period spun out of control, according to the DOJ inspector general.<\/p>\n

Its missteps included \u201creimbursing itself more than $100 million over what it calculated to be the cost of providing the telephone calls and moving appropriations that were tied to a specific year into a revolving fund with no time limits on spending,\u201d the inspector general\u2019s office wrote. \u201cCollectively, these actions raise potential appropriations law issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The BOP also gave the free phone minutes regardless of whether inmates partook of reentry programs, nullifying the supposed incentive for participating in the programs, according to the inspector general. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Old Dominion Shooter Far From The Only ISIS Lover Courts Let Off Easy)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\n
\n\"President\n<\/div>\n

President Donald Trump is awarded the Bipartisan Justice Award by Matthew Charles, who was released from federal prison through the First Step Act, prior to delivering remarks at the 2019 Second Step Presidential Justice Forum in Columbia, South Carolina on October 25, 2019. (Photo by Jim Watson\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cNearly one-quarter of the over 41,000 inmates who were released using applied [First Step Act] time credits between FYs 2022 and 2024 had not completed a single FSA program,\u201d the report found. The BOP\u2019s failure to staff roughly half of the roles authorized to implement the law by July 2024 also hurt its efficiency, the document says.<\/p>\n

Not all hope is lost for the First Step Act\u2019s implementation, the inspector general\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

The BOP is in the process of implementing seven recommendations from the inspector general to clarify its spending processes and verify that inmates are taking the required reentry programs, according to the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on historical data, BOP projects that in FY 2026, the free phone calls provided as an incentive under [the law] will total approximately 25,557,248 calls, at an estimated cost of $21,127,658,\u201d the BOP spokesperson told the DCNF. \u201cExpansion of incentives for inmates has centered primarily on increasing preferred housing opportunities and transfer opportunities closer to home. Current proposals under consideration have not identified a need for additional appropriated resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter\u2019s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact\u00a0licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.<\/p>\n

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Prison officials cost taxpayers millions of dollars and prematurely freed inmates through faulty enforcement of a reform program, a federal probe found.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1267,510,1268,106,31,1269,1270],"class_list":["post-862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-bureau-of-prisons","tag-congress","tag-criminal-justice","tag-department-of-justice","tag-donald-trump","tag-government-waste","tag-prisons"],"yoast_head":"\nPrison Agency Turned Tax-Funded Rehab Program Into Unaccountable Slush Fund - Home Transfer Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=862\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prison Agency Turned Tax-Funded Rehab Program Into Unaccountable Slush Fund - 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