Prisoners offered programs to improve their lives | News, sports, jobs

The legal system has changed since the days when prisoners were sentenced to hard labor until their time was served and they could return to society. Today, incarceration is often viewed as a time for rehabilitating those who have committed a crime so that they have the skills to manage their lives outside of prison and possibly avoid a return to criminal activity.

President Judge Nancy Butts commented during a Prison Board meeting about the “positively supportive” programs offered at the Lycoming County Jail and the Pre-Release Center (PRC).

“When people think that people in jail, whether it’s the county jail or the Pre-Release Center, are just sitting around watching TV, that’s actually not the case. They are trying to better themselves, so when they are released, hopefully they will have some new tools that will keep them from finding their way back into the criminal justice system.” Butts said.

She commended the counselors at the prison and the PRC for the work they do and the way they provide insights about the prisoners through their interactions with them.

“Programs like this cannot happen without the support of prison supervisors. They are the unsung heroes behind the scenes who do so much work for the individual prisoners.” Butts said.

“I deal with the majority of them through the treatment court because they often give us some extra information to know if this person will be suitable; what their strengths are and how we can best help them when we bring them to the treatment court,” she added.

Currently, the prison offers Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous programs to inmates, as well as two programs through the West Branch Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission – one for women on life after trauma, which helps them cope with all the trauma that they may have experienced. contributed to their prison sentence and a drug and alcohol program for both men and women. This fall, Penn College began offering a course for prisoners. There are also opportunities for inmates to obtain their General Equivalency Diploma (GED), as well as a GEO Reentry program.

“Internally – our employees run it – we have a life skills (program) for men and women, a mental health education group, which someone from Joinder just started. And then we have the MAT (Medication-Assisted Treatment) program that is also coordinated with West Branch,” said Chloe Perrin, counselor at the County Prison.

Similar programs are also available to residents of the People’s Republic of China, in addition to other programs specifically offered there.

Crossroads Counseling comes in and they provide individual and group therapy for drugs and alcohol. During what they call Power Hour, the local YWCA runs a domestic violence group with the women. The GED program at PRC has weekly classes and monthly tests. Tutoring is also available for the GED and college courses. Religious programs such as church services and Bible study are also available.

A special guest, Ludo, the courthouse dog, began visiting the People’s Republic of China in July.

“We try to get him in once a month for one-on-one visits with the residents,” said Karey Snook, a consultant at PRC.

“Another thing that I think is probably not talked about enough is our new tablets. We have programs available on the tablets that are really great. There are hundreds of things they can learn about that, from parenting to mental health issues.” said Pike.

Once the resident completes a session, they will receive a print certificate stating they have completed the course.

“It’s free and it’s a really good opportunity for them to use it in their spare time,” she added.

In most cases, taking advantage of the opportunities offered is the decision of the detainee or resident of the People’s Republic of China.

“Every now and then we have a court order that comes straight from the court saying why they are in jail, they have to do this and this,” said Deputy Director of Correctional Services Chris Ebner.

“A lot of them are based on the individual signing up and going,” he said, adding that there is a protocol for removing someone from a group if he or she signs up and is absent too often.

Residents of the People’s Republic of China have been sentenced to the minimum security facility, while provincial prison inmates, on the other hand, are awaiting sentencing and by law they cannot be forced to attend programs. PRC residents usually participate in a work release program, so there is a good chance they will be away during the day. So programming supplements their time at work.

“We don’t do that very often in prison, because we deal with a lot of people in pre-trial detention, and they have not yet been convicted. In the state of Pennsylvania, with people awaiting trial, you can’t even make a living. They haven’t been convicted yet, so you can’t make them work. So that’s what makes PRC a little bit different. Moreover, it is a minimum security facility and there are no bars,” Ebner said.

He noted that while participation in programs is not mandatory, officials “strongly encourage” It.

“The only things required at PRC are drugs and alcohol. So we have two counselors, me and another counselor. If we put them into drugs and alcohol, they are required to attend. But the other programs are voluntary, but we demand that they continue. When you sign up, we basically try to talk to them about the involvement. If you make a promise, you have to keep it.” said Pike.

Some programs, such as college course offerings, have limited class sizes, so if someone signs up and doesn’t take it until the course is over, that deprives another person of the opportunity to take the class.

“We always talk to them beforehand and say, listen, this is voluntary, but since you’re volunteering for it, you should know that this is an obligation. It’s not something where you take one class and decide you’re done with it. You’re going to commit to it and you’re going to complete it.” said Pike.

“I really think they like being kept to their promises because it forces them to be committed and whole, when sometimes they probably wouldn’t be, and push themselves to the limit. And then when they’re done, and then they get a certificate, like a real black and white piece of paper, they say, ‘This is the first certificate I’ve ever received.’ Then they feel that sense of accomplishment that they might not have had if they didn’t have to make sure they finished it. she said.

When inmates first come to prison, Perrin says they are asked what they want to sign up for.

“We line them all up, NAA, drugs and alcohol, all the religious programs, and it’s their own willingness to sign up for that, and most of the time they do. I see more people signing up for programs than not. But we also have people who sign up and don’t go, but the programs like life skills, life after trauma, the mental health group, we have a cutoff for them, and usually they are committed every week that they go,” said Perrin.

“Life after trauma is eight weeks, our mental health group is six weeks, life skills four weeks, and there is a success, like they complete the whole four weeks… and at the end of my life skills group I give them a certificate, and let them give a little speech about the past four weeks. They clap and sometimes they tell me no one did this,’ said Perrin.

Most of them don’t have a GED or diploma, so this may be the first time they’re told they did a good job.

“That’s something I’m looking forward to,”said Perrin.

Of course, there are opponents who think that offering programs to those who have committed crimes coddles them. For them, prison should be punitive, not rehabilitative.

“I hear a lot of people say, they don’t deserve that, or, you know, they shouldn’t be able to do that. Why should they get a free college class? Well, what do you want them to do in there? said Perrin.

“I thought part of prison life was to better themselves, not just punish them. And everyone, I mean, everyone in my facility (PRC), I can’t say that about prison, but almost everyone we deal with is going to get out, and they will be your neighbor, they will be your colleague. Why don’t we want them to become better people? And if they are willing to put in the work. Why wouldn’t we want to offer this stuff to them?’ said Perrin.

For those in the county jail, Snook agreed with Perrin.

“If they just sit in jail for whatever their sentence is, or if they wait until they can go to court and just sit there and do nothing, they don’t get better. They just stand still,” said Perrin.

“My biggest thing is I want to give you the tools that will help you get better when you go out because they may be your neighbor and they may never have the resources to go to college to get help with their addictions or whatever also. So if they’re not recovering or trying to get better, they’ll just keep doing the same things over and over again because that’s what they’re used to. I feel like we’re going to have more adversity in prison because why are we helping them? But I love what I do because I like seeing the end result and then getting help and helping them when they go to court,” Perrin said.

“I think studies have shown that when the inmate population across the country engages in good, pro-social activities, programming and the like, it appears that it makes overall prison/PRC operations run more smoothly. People busy doing things are not a safety problem for prisons. That has been proven, Ebner said.

In addition to reducing security concerns, county jails are required by law to offer programs.

“You have to offer these things, and you have to have programming. So it’s not an annual or bi-annual thing, it’s all part of what we do.” he added.