Jail Industries Programs Carl Barker President JIA Association

Jail Industries Programs Carl Barker President - JIA Association 11093 S. W. Lewis Memorial Highway Bowling Green, VA 22427 pci@pcrj. org and Rod Miller National Jail Wok and Industry Center 925 Johnson Drive Gettysburg, PA 17325 rod@correction. org www. jailwork. com

Next Monday…. www. jailwork. com National Jail Work and Industries Center

A Quick Assignment… • Average daily population of our jail • % of inmates working 30+ hours/week • What is keeping you from working more inmates (list all you can think of) • Agency name, state • OPTIONAL, Name, email address

Stakeholders • Who has a “stake” in jail inmate labor?

BUSINESS COMMUNITY Chamber of Commerce Customers Suppliers Business Operators ORGANIZED LABOR Public Sector Private Sector EMPLOYMENT, WORKFORCE, ECONOMY Economic Development Employment, Job Service Small Business Admin. EDUCATION Vocational/Technical Higher Education Public Schools NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Sheltered Workshops United Way Non-Profit Services

GOVERNMENT County Commissioners County Administrator Municipal Officials State Legislators Finance, Procurement Facilities, Operations State Correctional Industries State Jail Inspector Community Group Cooperative Extension Human Services Conservation Corps

CRIMINAL JUSTICE Sheriff Judges/Courts Attorneys, BAR Association CJ Coordinating Groups Law Enforcement Probation/Parole • OTHER • Religious Community • Victim Advocates • Taxpayer Advocates

JAIL/ CORRECTIONS Administrators Supervisors Line Staff Security Classification Inmate Programs Vocational Education Inmate Re-entry Volunteers Offenders, Families Jail Industries Substance Abuse Other

Franklin Co. Jail Advisory Committee

Benefits? Arapahoe County, Colorado (famous for its acoustics)

The definition used by federal initiatives holds that a jail industry is: The use of inmate labor, to create a product or deliver a service that has value, and for which inmates receive some form of compensation.

Every Jail has at least one jail industry

• Under this definition, when an inmate works in the kitchen helping to serve food, and is given extra visits or additional commissary items, • That’s a jail industry at work.

Recycling Hangers (Arapahoe Co, Colo.

POSITION STATEMENT Correctional industry programs at the federal, state, and local levels contribute significantly to effective offender rehabilitation. .

Position, cont. • Correctional industries assist jails and correctional facilities that operate in a safe and secure manner

Jails are not as productive as prisons • Over ¾ of federal inmates work • Nearly half of the inmates in state prisons work • Less than 1/5 of jail inmates work 6 or more hours daily

But Jails still deliver more inmate labor hours than federal prisons • Jail inmates deliver over 200 million hours of labor annually • The potential for increasing jail productivity is much greater than prisons

Reducing Inmate Idleness; • Results in safer jail environments • Inmates engaged in and interesting activities are less likely to cause problems • Misconduct (on or off the job) results in inmate’s loss of job, giving us strong leverage to promote good behavior • Wages earned by inmates allow for payment of court-ordered fines and victim restitution, support for families and reduced cost to taxpayers

SHOE REPAIR

Reducing operating costs; • Wages paid to inmates resulted in deductions of over $26 million in FY 06 for court costs, victim restitution, room and board, income taxes, and inmate savings plans. • Jail Industries programs can cost you nothing. • With sales of good or services you could have (profit) retained earnings.

Jail Industries is the best program that government doesn’t pay for Most Jail Industries operate financially independently, generating their own operating revenue and capital improvement funds from the sale of goods and services

Miami-Dade Habitat for Humanity

Jail Industries Enhancing Successful Reentry • High percentage (90%) of inmates will eventually be released from jail and prison– almost 100% from jails. • Providing offenders with job skills training, and work experience • Ability to get a decent job with a living wage critical to successful reentry •

Jail Industries Enhancing Successful Reentry • Jobs teach vocational skills, or at least competencies and work habits, that are often directly applicable to outside jobs • Industries jobs help them become productive law-abiding citizens • Studies show ex-offenders with industries experience find better jobs, faster, and hold them longer than those without jail industries experience.

Jail Industries Reducing Recidivism • Jobs help inmates better cope with day-today issues. • Work experience help them make better choices and react to problems less severely. • Studies show that ex-offenders having JI experience exhibit significantly lower recidivism rates (as low as 8%).

Jail Industries Impact Recidivism • Reduced recidivism results in lower cost to taxpayers associated with incarceration. • A recidivism failure often results in a crime. • A lower recidivism results in lower crime and fewer crime victims.

Work Ethic • Inmates gain a positive work ethic while earning modest wages for their labor. • May be first real job for many inmates • Teaches responsibility • How to get up and go to work every day • Work as a team, follow directions from a supervisor and abide by shop rules.

Work Ethic • Gain work satisfaction and pride by producing something of value.

EMBROIDERY

Work Hours • In 2006, nearly 83, 000 inmates worked for correctional industries compiling over 126 million work hours.

Recycling computers in Clark County, Washington

Studies • Studies validate that released inmates having correctional industries experience secure better paying jobs, obtain work more quickly, and retain jobs longer than inmates without this experience. • Recent study by Dr. Cindy Smith, June 2006 • Other studies can be referenced from NCIA

GRAPHIC DESIGN

• Reduced recidivism results in lower crime rates, and save taxpayers the burden of paying the cost of incarcerating repeat offenders.

SILKSCREEN

TAXPAYERS • Correctional industries fund the salaries and benefits for over 8, 250 civilian staff. • 200 million hours of JAIL inmate labor annually nearly equal the number of hours worked by paid employees– imagine the cost of jails without that inmate labor!

TRASH CLEAN-UP

TAXPAYERS • In addition, each year over $1. 2 billion is spent by correctional industries purchasing raw materials, supplies, and services from local businesses. • JAILS in some counties are helping local business to expand their markets and sales.

PACKAGING

BELIEFS & VALUES We believe we are living in a time of historical change in correctional industries and corrections as a whole. – NCIA

Uniforms, Hampden Co. Mass.

BELIEFS & VALUES We value the commitment to professionalism and a continual learning environment. – NCIA

FURNITURE MAKING

BELIEFS & VALUES We value diverse, high quality, evolving education programs. – NCIA

PRINTING

BJA • The BJA Jail Work Industry Center was created to help jails move forward with the appropriate use of inmate labor.

Creative Ways • Many jails have found creative ways to involve more inmates, increase efficiency, and operate more responsibly.

Now We Have Proof! Inmates Who Work While Confined Do Much Better After Release Correctional Industries Preparing Inmates for Re-entry: Recidivism & Post-release Employment National Institute of Justice Cindy J. Smith, Jennifer Bechtel, Angie Patrick, Richard R. Smith and Laura Wilson-Gentry.

Economists Agree: Inmates Contribute to Economy Economics of Inmate Workforce Participation 4 Independent Papers– Harvard, Princeton, Chicago, Texas If 2 million inmates were available to the private sector, how would the economy be affected?

Define “Insanity” • U. S. Dept. of Justice— – National Institute of Corrections – National Institute of Justice – Bureau of Justice Assistance • • Resource documents Pilot programs Training, technical assistance Articles and Presentations

What’s Holding You Back?

Resources • • www. jailwork. com www. nationalcia. org www. nicic. org www. ncjrs. org

Jail Work and Industries www. jailwork. com presented by Carl Barker and Rod Miller