Title page
Contents
Highlights 2
Letter 6
Background 11
BOP Organization 12
Types of BOP Restrictive Housing 12
BOP's Mental Health Policy 15
BOP Program Review Process 15
Administrative Remedy Program 16
BOP Has Not Fully Implemented Prior Recommendations to Improve Oversight of Restrictive Housing 17
BOP Fully Addressed 33 of the 87 Recommendations 17
BOP Partially Addressed 42 of the 87 Recommendations 18
BOP Has Not Addressed 12 of the 87 Recommendations 24
BOP Has Not Developed an Approach to Fully Address Remaining Recommendations 24
BOP is Not Fully Leveraging Facility Information to Ensure Restrictive Housing Policy Compliance and Enhance Operations 28
BOP's Program Review Process Does Not Ensure Timely Resolution of Deficiencies 28
BOP Does Not Identify or Address Common Causes of Recurring Deficiencies 31
BOP Does Not Monitor Key Aspects of SMU Operations 32
BOP Does Not Routinely Analyze Administrative Remedy Program Data to Identify Potential Patterns of Policy Noncompliance 38
BOP Used Restrictive Housing for Medical Isolation During the COVID-19 Pandemic Due to Space Constraints 40
Conclusions 42
Recommendations for Executive Action 43
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 44
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 47
Appendix II: Restricted Housing Unit Types 53
Appendix III: Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) Actions to Implement Prior Restrictive Housing Reports' Recommendations 58
Appendix IV: Illustrative Examples from Interviews with Incarcerated Individuals 72
Appendix V: Comments from the Department of Justice 74
Appendix VI: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 78
Table 1. Number and Percent of Recommendations, by Implementation Status, as of September 2023 17
Table 2. Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) Total Incarcerated Population and the Rate of Restrictive Housing Placements Relative to the Total BOP Population by... 26
Table 3. Number and Types of Deficiencies the Bureau of Prisons Identified in Quarterly Summary Reports for all Facilities, Fiscal Years 2018-2022 29
Table 4. Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) Special Management Unit (SMU) Population by SMU Program Enrollment Status, Fiscal Years 2018-2022 36
Table 5. Illustrative Examples from GAO Interviews with Incarcerated individuals in Special Housing Units (SHU) that May Indicate Possible Patterns of... 72
Figure 1. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Regions, Facilities, and Restrictive Housing Locations, as of September 2023 14
Figure 2. Restrictive Housing Placements for Bureau of Prisons' Incarcerated individuals, by Mental Health Care Level, Fiscal Years 2018-2022 23
Figure 3. Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) Total Population and Restrictive Housing Placements, by Race, Fiscal Years 2018-2022 34