Statement on behalf of the
American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia
before the D.C. Council Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety
Hearing on Bill 25-0112 – “Food Regulation Ensures Safety and Hospitality Specialty Training Aids Re-entry Transition and Success (FRESH STARTS) Act of 2023”
by
Melissa Wasser, Policy Counsel
Good afternoon, Chair Pinto and committee members. My name is Melissa Wasser and I am the Policy Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia (ACLU-D.C.). I present the following testimony on behalf of our more than 14,000 members and supporters across the District.
The ACLU-D.C. is committed to working to dismantle systemic racism, safeguard fundamental liberties, and advocate for sensible, evidence-based criminal justice policies. The ACLU-D.C. has a long history of advocating for improved jail conditions and are not alone in our efforts. We are excited to testify in support of Bill 25-0112, the “Food Regulation Ensures Safety and Hospitality Specialty Training Aids Re-entry Transition and Success (FRESH STARTS) Act of 2023,” which would transform the food service program for Washington, D.C.’s Department of Corrections (DOC) facilities, including the Central Detention Facility (CDF), Correctional Treatment Facility (CTF), and Central Cell Block (CCB). We ask the Council to implement legislative changes before markup to strengthen the legislation and ensure that all incarcerated residents working are compensated fairly for their labor.
Introduced by Chair Pinto and seven Council colleagues, Bill 25-0112, the FRESH STARTS Act of 2023, would set requirements for nutrient-dense food served in correctional facilities, require DOC to adopt the Good Food Purchasing Program, strengthen oversight of food and nutrition in correctional facilities, and establish a task force to explore and propose additional long-term improvements.
Passing this legislation would help address a longstanding problem that DOC has yet to satisfactorily address on its own. Passage is also critical to moving the D.C. Jail away from a carceral approach to one that focuses on prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation. We urge the D.C. Council to follow the lead of other jurisdictions, like Philadelphia and the state of Maine, to implement nutrition standards and improve the longstanding issues with food and conditions at the D.C. Jail.
I. Lack of safe, healthy, and edible food impacts safety within the DOC system and is an issue of racial justice.
Access to healthy and edible food plays a key role in ensuring safety within DOC. Edible food is also a fundamental basic need that DOC has a constitutional duty to provide to people in their facilities. The lack of access to healthy and edible food at the D.C. Jail is not only a food safety issue, but an issue impacting District costs, health of residents, and racial justice.
Feeding incarcerated people unhealthy food leads to more prevalent and severe health problems, ensuring the facility and the community will have to pay more in healthcare costs later. Meals in the DOC tend to be high in salt, sugar, and refined carbs and low in nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, and quality protein. DOC is feeding incarcerated residents the very diet that public health professionals at the highest levels have been advising against for decades. Nutritious food acts as preventive medicine, keeping incarcerated persons well and saving the government and taxpayers significant amounts of money in the long run. Research shows that just one month of unhealthy meals can result in long-term increases in cholesterol and body fat, which leads to an increased risk of diet-related chronic health issues like heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension.
Food safety is also a racial justice issue. D.C. has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country with approximately 1,500 DOC residents living and eating behind bars. 92.9% of those residents are Black. Black people and other people of color are disproportionately incarcerated and are also more likely to experience food insecurity before, during, and after incarceration. Ward 7, where the jails are located, and Ward 8 are where 75% of the food deserts in D.C. are located. The wards that see the most over-policing are also the most underserved in public and community safety and accessible and affordable nutritious food.
II. Issues with food at the D.C. Jail are exacerbated by the lack of oversight at DOC.
While the bill has an important aim to improve oversight of food services and quality within DOC, this should not be the only issue regarding improved oversight. Food is one of many DOC issues that needs greater oversight and has been a problem as old as the jail itself. As the ACLU-D.C. testified during both performance oversight and budget oversight hearings, the same issues with food and conditions at the D.C. Jail still remain: residents inside the D.C. Jail facilities are still being subjected to inhumane living conditions, even after the U.S. Marshals found “systemic failures” at the Jail, including unsanitary living conditions and punitive denial of food and water. Residents lack running water, are being served inedible food in unsanitary conditions, and are experiencing flooding in their showers.
Residents housed at the D.C. Jail deserve healthy, nutritious meals. However, we are concerned with DOC’s ability to provide these meals given recent reports about the lack of medical care at the jail. A recent class action lawsuit alleges that people with serious medical conditions incarcerated at DOC routinely miss doses of medication and are forced to wait months or sometimes years for urgent medical care. This is consistent with our oversight testimony: either directly or through partner organizations who regularly visit the Jail, ACLU-D.C. has learned of numerous residents at the Jail who have serious medical needs that are not being met because of months-long delays in providing necessary medications, necessary equipment, or in taking individuals to doctors’ appointments after medical staff have identified the need for these measures. How can we ensure that DOC will comply with the nutritional standards in this legislation if they cannot provide incarcerated residents with their necessary medications and equipment?
One way to ensure compliance with the FRESH STARTS standards is to improve oversight at DOC. Unfortunately, the Mayor and the Council’s failure to fund the Corrections Oversight Improvement Omnibus Amendment Act of 2022, which had a fiscal impact of just $2.4 million over four years, means that there is no higher standard for oversight at DOC. We urge this Committee to fully fund the Corrections Oversight Improvement Omnibus Amendment Act of 2022 to ensure that proper data is collected on the contracting and provisions of food services. The Committee should also ensure that DOC provides timely, unrestricted access to locations where food is prepared, consumed, or disposed of for oversight purposes.
III. The Committee should update language to ensure that all incarcerated residents working are compensated fairly for their labor.
We urge the Committee to update language in the legislation to reflect a true living wage for all residents engaged in labor within the DOC. In a recent ACLU survey, 70% of incarcerated residents from across the country said they were not able to afford basic necessities with their wages. This is because incarcerated workers typically earn “little to no pay at all, with many making just pennies an hour. They earn, on average, between 13 cents and 52 cents per hour nationwide.” Some even make $0.
Language should be updated to ensure incarcerated workers are paid prevailing wages no less than the D.C. minimum wage. Wages should be increased starting with a wage of no less than half of the D.C. minimum wage, increased until incarcerated workers are paid the D.C. minimum wage. Language should also be included in the bill to eliminate or limit wage deductions to no more than 20 percent of incarcerated workers’ wages, solely to be used to cover legal obligations.
IV. Conclusion
This is not the first and is likely not the last time that the community is advocating for change at the D.C. Jail. In its oversight and legislative role, the Council has the power and responsibility to step in and improve conditions at the D.C. Jail, including addressing the ongoing food crisis for the residents living and eating behind bars. The ACLU-D.C. is ready to work with you and alongside partners to improve oversight at DOC and fight for the right of everyone held at the jail to be treated humanely.