New OIG report provides "Capstone Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Response to the Coronavirus Disease"

A helpful reader made such I did not miss a new big document released this week by US Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General. Specifically, this 100+-page report is a review of how the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) did during the COVID pandemic, and here are excerpts from the report's executive summary: 

Since April 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (Department, DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has conducted substantial oversight of the BOP’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting body of work, which the OIG previously publicly released, includes remote inspections of 16 facilities housing BOP inmates completed during the early months of the pandemic, multiple surveys of BOP staff conducted at different times, and a collection of interactive data dashboards containing up-to-date information about COVID-19 within BOP facilities.  The OIG is also completing analysis of its first survey of BOP inmates.

This capstone review summarizes our overall findings regarding the BOP’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the issues we identified through our pandemic oversight work, the topics that have emerged following that work, the challenges that the BOP will likely continue to face during and after the pandemic, and actions that the BOP should undertake to prepare for future potential healthcare emergencies.

We make 10 recommendations to assist the BOP in managing challenges during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and in mitigating the effects of future public health emergencies...

The BOP Should Improve and Retain Effective Practices for Protecting Staff and Inmate Health and Safety During Public Health Emergencies...

The BOP Should Provide Clear Guidance on the Use of Healthcare Protective Equipment and Compliance with Healthcare Safety Guidance...

The BOP Should Respond to Ongoing Pandemic Challenges and Prepare for Future Public Health Emergencies

The BOP Should Improve Its Communication of Essential Information to Stakeholders...

The BOP Should Take Appropriate Steps to Address Staffing Shortages and Staff Morale...