Because the aim is to free up money to spend on rehabilitating the prisoners. If there is not enough money being made in profit then converting to a non-profit

Because the aim is to free up money to spend on rehabilitating the prisoners. If there is not enough money being made in profit then converting to a non-profit structure would not help much. Having said this I actually think a for profit model with the right incentives might be the best way to go. The current incentive structure for private prisons basically encourages a revolving door since they are paid per prisoner per day. What we need is smarter incentives that encourage prisons to help ex-prisioners to not reoffend. The problem is not the small share of spend going towards private profits, by a system that encourages the prisons to always be full.