Don’t worry, we’ll just privatize that, or maybe not so
fast. On Monday, eleven organizations sent letters to Gov. McDonnell outlining
their opposition to privatizing a state facility[1]
that holds violent sex offenders for treatment after their sentences are
completed.[2]
The rationale behind the consideration for privatizing the
Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation (VCBR)[3]
in Burkeville surrounds, not surprisingly, money. The state is considering
privatization as a way to “control costs” of Virginia’s civil commitment
program.
According to the Richmond
Times-Dispatch, Virginia (i.e. taxpayers) spends close to $97,000 a year to
“treat” every sex offender at the rehabilitation facility.[4]
Moreover, the program’s budget has gone up tenfold since it began in 2004.
Even more worrying to Virginia’s lawmakers is the projected
number of offenders who could need treatment by 2016 unless the program’s
growth is reduced.
In turn, the coalition of civil rights, labor, and religious
and criminal justice reform organizations who sent its letter to Gov. McDonnell
argued that “What is currently an overcrowded situation at VCBR could become
dramatically worse if run by a company that increases its profits at the
expense of programs and operations, including security.”[5]
Thus, the coalition’s argument hinges upon the belief that a
private company would exploit the market in sex offenders, so to speak, to turn
a greater profit, instead of attempting to reduce the amount of sex offenders.
The coalition has also argued that the private companies that submitted
proposals have had problems managing other facilities.
The first argument made by the coalition is a logical
conclusion given the tenets of capitalism. Why, that is, would a private
company put itself out of business by fixing the problem that makes it money?
More than likely, it wouldn’t, and that’s why the state has to fill this
important role.
Secondly, leaving the rehabilitative services of violent sex
offenders to companies with checkered pasts is like leaving a wounded lion to
be healed by a poacher. If you want to heal someone, leave the job to someone
whose interests are to heal.
Privatization appears at first glance like an attractive
short and long-term solution with few negative repercussions attached.
Unfortunately, some services do belong in the state’s hands, and the
rehabilitation of violent sex offenders is one. The price to Virginians may be
high, but the price for the alternative will be higher.
[1] http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/virginia-politics/2012/jul/31/privatization-va-sex-offender-program-opposed-ar-2096318/
[2] http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/sex-offender-forever
[3] http://www.vcbr.dbhds.virginia.gov/
[4] http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/virginia-politics/2012/jul/31/privatization-va-sex-offender-program-opposed-ar-2096318/
[5] http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/virginia-politics/2012/jul/31/privatization-va-sex-offender-program-opposed-ar-2096318/
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