HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3140        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3518

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Steven Ultrino

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to correctional education data collection.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3140        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3518

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act relative to correctional education data collection.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 6A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 18V the following section:-

Section 18W. (a) The executive office of public safety and security shall establish a central electronic database of information regarding correctional education programs within the department of correction and the houses of correction. Inmates shall be assigned a unique prison identification number for use in the database. The data associated with this identification number shall be portable between state and county correctional systems and an inmate shall retain the unique prison identification number regardless of transfer or release.

The executive office shall collect data related to educational program data, including, but not limited to: (i) the title and a brief description of each educational program offered; (ii) enrollment and membership data; (iii) classification of each program into categories determined by the executive office including, but not limited to: high school equivalency preparation, substance abuse education, English language learner instruction, post-secondary instruction, and basic literacy and numeracy.

(b) The department of correction and the houses of correction shall submit the following information to the executive office for inclusion in the database not less than annually: (i) inmate identifying information, including name, date of birth, and the unique prison identification number; (ii) demographic information, including race, national origin, gender, and primary language; (iii) residence information; (iv) admittance date; (v) risk of recidivism rate assessment score using a standardized metric; (vi) highest level of educational achievement; (vii) if the inmate is under 22 year of age and does not have a high school diploma or equivalent, the status regarding the inmate’s individualized education program or the inmate’s plan pursuant to section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973; (viii) correctional education program enrollment and participation information; (ix) correctional education attendance data, if available; (x) correctional education program passage or completion data; (xi) the inmate’s release date, if applicable; and (xii) inmate recidivism data.

(c) The executive office shall promulgate regulations to implement the database, including regulations to describe the definitions, categories and metrics used to collect the data included in the database and any other data the executive office deems appropriate.

(d) The executive office shall not less than annually publish data in the aggregate regarding the educational programs of each department of correction and county correctional facility, including aggregated inmate data and educational program data.

SECTION 2. Within 1 year of the effective date of this act, the executive office of public safety and security shall publish the regulations required by subsection (c) of section 18W of chapter 6A of the General Laws.