Director Terry Collins said Ohio's 51,000 inmates "are going to get plenty to eat" under the plan, which is a small piece of the department's response to an $87 million cut in its budget over the next two years. The fiscal 2009 Corrections budget was $1.8 billion. Collins said officials also are considering merging administrative roles in neighboring prisons and some human resources functions.
The brunch plan involves same amount of food as the three-meal system. Inmates with special dietary needs will still be able to get a morning snack.
Currently, weekend breakfast starts about 6 a.m., lunch about 11:30 a.m. and dinner about 4:30 p.m. Starting next weekend, brunch will start about 11 a.m. Dinner time is unchanged.
The initial reaction among inmates is mixed, Collins said, and some family members have expressed concern. But the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association union thinks the plan should work smoothly.
"I'm not a soothsayer, but I don't foresee any problems," said the OCSEA's Charlie Williamson, a Lucasville corrections officer who served on the labor-management committee that designed the brunch plan. "A lot of inmates don’t get up on weekends to eat breakfast. They're like a lot of people in the community: They don't necessarily have jobs to go to on weekends and they like to sleep in."
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