BOP | Security Level | Medical and Programming Availability

 

“Making Good Neighbors,” BOP Director Peters

BOP Programming Resources

 

BOP First Step Act (FSA) Approved Program Guide, 2021(BOP.Gov)

BOP FSA EBRR Programs and PA Structured Activities

BOP COVID Modified Operational Levels as of 11/27/2022

BOP DELIVERS NEW EARNED-TIME CREDIT RESTRICTIONS – UPDATE FOR SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

Habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, challenge the ETC pursuant to FSA of 2018, P.L. No.115-391, 132 Stat. 5194 (2018) is granted.

BOP Healthcare Resources

 

BOP Medical CARE LEVELS I-IV

BOP Mental Healthcare  CARE LEVELS I-IV

BOP Security Levels(OIG.Gov)

The Security Level custody differences are based in part on limiting freedom of movement.

Minimum

Minimum security institutions known as Camps have dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing. These institutions are work- and program-oriented, and many are located adjacent to larger institutions or on military bases, where inmates help serve the labor needs of the larger institution or base.

This video looks at BOP Federal Prison Camps (FPC) vs. Satellite Camps are attached to higher security facilities. Brief Overview: Satellite Camps usually have more FSA programs, and FPCs have overall less stress as the guards do not have to deal with the adjacent higher security facility.

There are two types of Minimum Camps;

  • Federal Prison Camps (FPC): These are free-standing with limited fencing and more freedom of movement.
  • Satellite Camps: These are associated with higher security institutions. A number of BOP institutions have a small, minimum-security camp adjacent to the main facility. These camps, often called Satellite Prison Camps (SPC), provide inmate labor to the main institution and off-site work programs. FCI Memphis has a non-adjacent camp that serves similar needs.

Low

Low-security Federal Correctional Institutions (FCI) have double-fenced perimeters, mostly dormitory or cubicle housing, and strong work and program components. The staff-to-inmate ratio in these institutions is higher than in minimum-security facilities.

Medium

Medium security FCI (and USP designated to house medium-security inmates) have strengthened perimeters (often double fences with electronic detection systems), mostly cell-type housing, a wide variety of work and treatment programs, and even higher staff-to-inmate ratio than low-security FCI, and even greater internal controls.

High

High-security institutions, also known as United States Penitentiaries (USP), have highly secured perimeters (featuring walls or reinforced fences), multiple- and single-occupant cell housing, the highest staff-to-inmate ratio, and close control of inmate movement.

Federal Correctional Complexes (FCC)

Correctional Complexes: A number of BOP institutions belong to Federal Correctional Complexes (FCC). At FCC, institutions with different missions and security levels are located in close proximity to one another. FCC increases efficiency through the sharing of services, enables staff to gain experience at institutions of many security levels, and enhances emergency preparedness by having additional resources within close proximity.

Administrative

Administrative facilities are institutions with special missions, such as the detention of pretrial offenders, the treatment of inmates with serious or chronic medical problems, or the containment of extremely dangerous, violent, or escape-prone inmates. Administrative facilities include:

  • Metropolitan Correctional Centers (MCC),
  • Metropolitan Detention Centers (MDC),
  • Federal Detention Centers (FDC), and
  • Federal Medical Centers (FMC):
    • Butner FMC,
      •  9/23/2023: 1 IN 4 INMATE DEATHS HAPPENED IN THE SAME PRISON. WHY?
        • Angela Beck, a 47-year-old at the time with a family history of breast cancer, discovered lumps in her left breast while in federal prison in Aliceville, Ala., and asked to see a doctor. After receiving imaging results “‘highly suggestive’ of cancer,” she waited more than eight months for a biopsy, which confirmed the cancer. Another two months passed before surgery, during which doctors confirmed the disease had spread to her lymph nodes. Beck then waited another five months before she saw an oncologist. By that time, it was too late to start chemotherapy or radiation. A federal judge granted her release in June 2019.
        • Michael Derentz, a 70-year-old inmate at the Fort Dix federal prison in New Jersey, was granted compassionate release in 2022 after a federal judge found the BOP’s repeated delays in care “disturbing.” “Delays in securing urgently needed follow-up appointments contributed to Derentz becoming blind in his left eye,” the judge wrote.
        • Joseph Guadagnoli died of cancer while in custody at the federal prison in McDowell County, W.Va., in July 2022, after complaining of a litany of ailments. By the time doctors diagnosed his cancer in May of that year, it was too late for treatment, his brother Michael Guadagnoli said. On Sept. 7, 2020, records show, Joseph wrote a sick call request to staff: “My conditions are getting worse. I need to be seen soon.” On Oct. 10: “This is taking a psychological toll on me — what do I have to do to be seen — to get attention?” On Dec. 1: “I cannot breathe. … I have been asking for seven months.”
        • In April 2020, Turhan Law began having nosebleeds several times a day at the federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania. According to a compassionate release motion filed by his lawyer, that bleeding continued for months before prison officials took him to a hospital. In the summer of 2020, a biopsy confirmed squamous cell carcinoma, a type of cancer. But by the time Law arrived at Butner in November of that year, no treatment plan had been started, according to a supplemental motion filed in support of Law’s release request. In December 2020, a month after the BOP sent Law to Butner, a federal judge granted his request for release, citing in part the delays in care Law experienced.
        • Michael Boughner, a federal prisoner at the U.S. penitentiary in Florence, Colo., complained of horrible headaches for at least five weeks before he saw a doctor, his mother, Linda Renta, said. “He fainted four or five times, and the guards were convinced he was faking it,” Renta said. “They found that he had a tumor in his brain the size of an egg.” The BOP sent Boughner to Butner, where he lived for about five months before, prison records show, he died of cancer at age 50 in March 2019.
    • Carswell FMC,
    • Devens FMC,
    • Fort Worth FMC,
    • Lexington FMC,
    • Rochester FMC, 
  • Federal Transfer Center (FTC), the
  • Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP), and the
  • Administrative-Maximum (ADX) U.S. Penitentiary.

Administrative facilities, except the ADX, are capable of holding inmates in all security categories.

Federal Satellite Low

Federal Satellite Low Security: FCI Elkton and FCI Jesup each have a small Federal Satellite Low Security (FSL) facility adjacent to the main institution. FCI La Tuna has a low-security facility affiliated with, but not adjacent to, the main institution.

Secure Female

Secure Female Facility: Currently, the BOP has one Secure Female Facility (SFF) unit (located at USP Hazelton, WV) designed to house female inmates. Programming at the SFF promotes personal growth by addressing the unique needs of this population.