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An economic evaluation is presented on the use of prison inmate labor for performing maintenance on public housing developments, along with an examination of feasibility and implementation issues. The author concludes that inmate labor is a cost-effective, practical means of maintaining properties.

Local housing agencies (LHAs) can improve their maintenance management and other inventory control activities by developing and using computerized systems. The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development has come out with a number of documents that can help LHAs manage data processing in their maintenance management operations. These include A Maintenance Operations Manual, whose 11 chapters and many appendices offer basic information regarding LHA maintenance operations. The most interesting chapters are those that discuss work order systems (Chapter Four) and warehousing and inventory concepts (Chapter Nine). Another useful material is a copy of the student and instructor manuals from the course 'Managing Maintenance in Public Housing: A Supervisory Maintenance Course.' Finally, maintenance employees may also consider reading guidebooks dealing with seven types of maintenance activity.