Prison Health Care Agency Paper Health care is a huge topic however it may be looked at, but looking at health care from the point of view of a person in prison, brings up a whole new view. People who are in prison have many state and federal laws which says that all prisons must provide medical facilities for all inmates’ health care needs. In this paper, will identify one governmental agency that regulates healthcare that is provided in prisons, jails, and juvenile confinement facilities in the United States, as well as the foundation of the agency, and who actually regulates the licenses, certifications, accreditations, and also authorizations for the employees who work in these facilities. A governmental agency that regulates prison health care is the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) which was created in the early and had been approved by the president then Herbert Hoover. The main headquarters is located in Washington D.C. and also branches throughout the United States. BOP is known as a subdivision of the United States justice department and is responsible for administration of federal prisons. Its main purpose is to provide more compassionate and open minded care to federal inmates in the United States prisons. In agreement with state and federal laws the federal bureau of prisons is responsible for insuring all medically needed health care is provided to each inmate. One negative aspect that the federal bureau of prisons is responsible for is going with all judicially mandated federal executions, which includes lethal injections to the inmates who had been sentenced to death for a certain crime they had committed (BOP, 2014). BOP helps to protect all of the public’s safety by assuring all federal offenders completely serve their full sentences of imprisonment in facilities that are cost efficient, safe, very secure and also humane. The agency also can help to reduce any more future criminal activity; this is by providing encouragement for the inmates to attend in a wide variety of programs that have been shown to help them implement a crime free routine upon their release into the community (BOP, 2014). Also the most important resource amongst the federal bureau of prisons is the employees. There are over 38,500 employees in the agency which provide security of all the federal prisons, they also provide the inmates with all the needed programs as well as services, and they also provide model mainstream values to each inmate. All of the BOP’s employees are there to meet all of the agencies obligations which is to protect the public’s safety and also provide security and safety to all of the employees as well as the inmates amongst the facility (BOP, 2014). Many of the challenges today that affect the federal bureau of prisons are related to the agency’s growth. The year that the BOP was created in 1930 was when the company had 14 facilities which provided care for over 10,000 prisoners, as the years went by 1940 the agency grew to 24 facilities with well over 24,300 prisoners (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014), with so many prisoners in the agency security was a major concern. The agency ensures security with a combination of many direct employee supervision, security technologies, physical features and also classifications of each inmate which is based off of risk factors. The agency operates each of their facilities with four security levels which include minimum, low, high and medium, this is to meet all of the various security needs of its major assorted inmate populations. BOP also has an administrative facility, which has specialized missions and also have each of the security levels put into place for various security reasons. Security measures are also put into place for the perimeter of the facilities this includes things such as the fences, towers and also patrol officers, staffing levels, controls which monitor all of the inmate’s movement and also keeps all in account for, as well as the living quarters of the inmates such as the cells (U.S. Justice Department, 2014).
All of the federal bureaus of prison facilities have been accredited by the joint commission, except by facilities at a level one because they have heavily severe health concerns with the inmates (Joint Commission, 2014). The joint commission is a public organization which recognizes and also endorses over 20,000 health care administrations and organizations of the United States. The joint commission’s certifications and accreditations have been recognized all over the world as a way of quality which reflects companies commitment to meet any certain standards of the company. The joint commission’s task is to improve all health care for the community, which collaborates with other investors, by assessing the health care establishments and also stimulating each of the to excel by providing more safe care of the most highest quality as well as value (Joint Commission, 2014). In conclusion, the federal bureau of prisons is an agency which mandates all federal and state laws which states that each inmate must be provided with all health care needs while completing their sentences. BOP provides their facilities with all of the proper security measures and assures all employees are well trained and ready to attend to each inmates of the facility. BOP has been through many of challenges which include the growth of population in each of its facilities which meant they needed to add more staffing and security features such as technology which keeps count of the inmate’s movements and their accountability to the facility.

References
• BOP. (2014). The Federal Bureau of prisons. Retrieved from http://www.bop.gov/about/agency/org_hsd.jsp
• Joint Commission. (2014). About the Joint Commission. Retrieved from http://www.jointcommission.org/about_us/about_the_joint_commission_main.aspx
• U.S. Department of Justice. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.bop.gov/resources/pdfs/ipaabout.pdf