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Idaho Department of Correction |
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Planning for Long-Term Facility Maintenance and Renewal |
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The Idaho Department of Correction manages a population of more than 19,000 offenders across the state. Its facility portfolio comprises nearly 3 million square feet across more than 160 buildings, including nine correction institutions, four work centers, 22 probation/parole district and satellite offices, and a central administrative office.
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The growth in Idaho's inmate population, coupled with the aging infrastructure of many of its buildings, strained the state's ability to effectively manage facility maintenance and renewal, resulting in a deferred maintenance backlog for DOC facilities totaling $36 million. However, the DOC was not confident this total was an accurate estimate of true repair and renewal requirements, since the state lacked a consistent method for gathering information about facility needs and determining associated costs. The DOC wanted an accurate baseline of current building conditions and requirements as a benchmark as it worked to reduce the deferred maintenance backlog and plan for future needs.
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The DOC implemented VFA's Capital Planning and Management Solution, encompassing both facility assessment services and VFA.facility capital asset management and planning software. VFA completed detailed condition assessments of all correctional institutions and work centers, documenting all requirements and estimated related costs using VFA.facility. Once the data was collected, and requirements and recommended actions documented, VFA.facility made this information readily accessible to both facility management staff at the department level and individual maintenance supervisors and wardens. The software also provided them with sophisticated tools for prioritizing projects, creating long-term plans, and understanding the impact of different funding decisions.
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The Idaho DOC now has a foundation of accurate, detailed information about its facilities to use in managing improvements and making the case for capital funding. With complete visibility into current maintenance and renewal requirements, the department can effectively bundle projects together – saving time and money. For example, by bundling the replacement of fire detection systems in four institutions into one project, the DOC estimates it reduced the design and construction phase by up to six months.
Using VFA.facility, the DOC has cut in half the time needed to prepare capital budgets. The department can now identify the most critical projects to be completed within the next 12 months or the next five years. And funding scenarios in VFA.facility enable them to demonstrate the impact of underfunding facility improvements as well as the results of additional funding.
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