Baseline S!udy on the Philippine Penal Conditions: Nurturing a Human Rights Based Approach to Penal Management . ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ii. Making it work: Inmate Housing in Detention Centers The success of Detention Centers on inmate housing will rely primarily on how well they maintain the cells. At the very least, this is what they can provide to inmates. Detention Centers must strive to have a decent living cell space, with proper humidity, ventilation, and lighting. Basic material needs like water, food, medicines, and toiletries must be regularly provided. There must also be decent areas for toilet and baths. Cells must be tidy and cleaned regularly. A decent visiting area for family members and lawyers that is separate from the cell s must a lso be provided. It is quite a challenge for the PNP, NBI, PDEA, Bl, and AFP to fully implement a housing assignment and segregation scheme for its inmates. Not only are there limited number of cells to use for segregation, there are also small number of inmates where segregation becomes unfeasible. Having said such qualifiers, these facilities must still aspire to segregate inmates based on sex, age, and medical condition. Male inmates must be separated from female inmates, minors must be transferred to institutions managed by the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD), and inmates with communicable diseases or those who cannot psychologically deal with the rigors of incarceration in the inmate general population must be designated in special care cells. Additionally, Detention Centers must ensure the safe custody of inmates. Cell rules and regulations must be properly specified and contrabands must be listed and strictly prohibited. Disciplinary procedures must also be properly spelled. An inventory of inmate belongings and surprise shakedowns must be regularly initiated. The behaviors of the inmates must be documented and a certification of good behavior must be attached to the inmates' carpeta which can be utilized by the Jails as basis for awarding Good Conduct Time Allowances. iii. Making it work: Inmate housing in Jails and Prisons Inmate housing in jails and prisons is more elaborate. Jails and prisons must deal with the large scale provision of food, medicines, clothing, toiletries, garbage services, plumbing and electrical needs, and other administrative and maintenance concerns. Jails and prisons must aspire to follow industry standards in the storage, preparation, and distribution o f food. Jails and prisons must likewise check compliance on fire safety and other emergencies . . On top of this, housing assignment and segregation plays a more prominent role. In bigger facilities, the exposure of low risk inmates to high risk inmates may result to negative influence of inmate behavior. As such, inmates must be properly segregated. For jails and prisons with a population of more than 100 inmates, housing units can be categorized in three security levels. These levels will correspond to varying levels of supervision and control, inmate movement, and privileges. For jails and prison with less than 100 inmates, most cells will be general population cells; however, special cells must be designated for the use of special need inmates. iv. Level Ill housing (Maximum Security) Level Ill ho using is designed for inmates with higher levels of risk and needs. The level of control on inmate activities must be more restrictive. Intensive surveillance must be in place. Inmates must have a restricted movement and privileges must be minimal. For example, Level Ill inmates may be accorded limited hours of daily free time and reduced access to conjugal visitations. They may a lso have limited 28