EXECUTIVE BRANCH


parole, monitors compliance with deferred prosecution programs, and may make
recommenda-
tions for pardons or commutations of sentence when requested by the governor.
  Organization: The department is administered by a secretary who is appointed
by the gover-
nor with the advice and consent of the senate. The secretary appoints the
division administrators
from the classified service.
  Unit Functions: The Division of Adult Institutions supervises adult inmates
in a variety of
correctional settings. Inmates are assigned to one of 6 security classifications,
based on their
records and backgrounds and the risk they may pose to the public, correctional
officers and other
inmates.
  Security classifications include 2 levels each of maximum, medium and minimum
security.
These levels determine how closely inmates are guarded, how restricted their
movements are
within the institution and the programs in which they may participate. Although
prisons are clas-
sified by the highest level of security for which the facility is built and
administered, an individu-
al facility may contain several security levels.
  The prison program is designed to offer offenders opportunities to develop
skills necessary to
lead law-abiding lives upon release. Services include evaluation of an offender's
background
and needs and the provision of programs to meet those needs. Programs include
academic and
vocational education, alcohol and other drug abuse treatment, other clinical
treatment, work, and
religious observance. The division offers job training for inmates through
Badger State Indus-
tries, which produces various items, including furniture, textiles and linens,
license plates and
signs, and performs such services as printing and data entry.
   The Division of Community Corrections supervises persons released on parole
or sentenced
to probation. The supervision is community-based to strengthen the family
unit, encourage law-
ful behavior and provide local treatment programs. Probation and parole agents
hold offenders
accountable for their behavior, provide direct services and refer their clients
to community ser-
vice agencies. They also provide investigative services to the courts, the
Division of Adult Insti-
tutions and the Parole Commission to aid in sentencing, institutional programming
and parole
planning. Under limited circumstances, agents supervise juveniles released
to aftercare pro-
grams and persons conditionally released from mental health facilities.
   The division supervises adult felons under the Intensive Sanctions Program,
which focuses on
felons convicted of nonviolent, nondrug dealing property offenses, who would
ordinarily have
been incarcerated in a state prison. The courts usually sentence persons
to the program upon rec-
ommendation by the department. While persons on probation or parole cannot
be placed in in-
tensive sanctions, certain persons whose parole or probation have been revoked
may be eligible.
They are placed in the program by the department or the Parole Commission.
   The division is responsible for the administration of the Wisconsin Correctional
Center Sys-
 tem, which encompasses 17 minimum security Correctional Centers across the
state that collec-
 tively house over 1,700 inmates. Center staff work closely with probation
and parole agents to
 assist the transition of inmates back into the community. Center programming
includes basic
 education, alcohol and drug counseling, cognitive intervention, work experience
and work re-
 lease.
   The Division of Juvenile Corrections, created in Section 301.025, Wisconsin
Statutes, by 1995
 Wisconsin Act 27, administers programs to treat and rehabilitate delinquent
youth and protect
 the public from delinquent acts. It operates the state's juvenile corrections
institutions and com-
 munity corrections programs. Through its juvenile offender review program,
the division deter-
 mines whether offenders in the institutions are eligible for release, oversees
the aftercare services
 of those who are released and selects the participants for intensive surveillance
under the correc-
 tive sanctions program. The division also administers the Community Youth
and Family Aids
 Program that offers financial incentives to counties to divert juveniles
from state institutions and
 into less restrictive community rehabilitation programs, and it awards grants
to counties that par-
 ticipate in the Intensive Aftercare Program, which offers a wide range of
social, educational, em-
 ployment and social assistance.


391