By Brandon Stoker
The return rate of prisoners has decreased 9 percent in the Utah State Prison since the introduction of the Re-Entry Initiative 18 months ago, said state prison officials.
More than 60 percent of inmates released from Utah''s prisons return to the prison - and most return within the first year of parole, according to the Utah Department of Corrections Web site.
Jack Ford, spokesman for the Utah Department of Corrections, said he thinks the Re-Entry Initiative greatly benefits the parolees and the community by reducing the return percentage of inmates.
'We''ve been doing educational training for inmates for over 30 years,' Ford said. 'The difference with the Re-Entry Initiative is that we provide additional assistance once they leave prison.'
The program allows police officers to better track the parolees, visit them at home, help them fill out resumes and find jobs. The program gives more attention to the prisoner after his or her release to try to curb returns.
'It''s kind of an expansion of what had been done before but it now extends out onto the street after you leave prison,' Ford said.
The program helps inmates receive an education while in prison, then helps them reintegrate into society by staying in regular contact with them.
'We have a federal funded grant where 100 offenders are being tracked,' Ford said. 'We put them into the program when they enter the prison, we follow them through the prison, we make other programs available for them and then we follow them when they leave prison.'
Jerry Pope, Deputy Warden for the Utah State Prison, said he sees promise in the program.
'We''ve seen a drop in people coming back,' Pope said. 'We''re being able to keep them out on the streets longer.'
By keeping parolees out of prison and on the streets longer, taxpayers are saving money that would have been spent on the prison system. In addition, the parolees have more contact with law enforcement, thus reinforcing their lawful behavior.
Though the program has been successful, Ford said it lacks sufficient funds to help every prisoner released from prison.
'The problem with it is it''s expensive; we don''t have the budget to do that for every offender that leaves prison,' Ford said. 'We have 250 leave prison every month and we don''t have the budget to spend those kinds of resources and time on every inmate.'
The needs of the parolee determine the level of involvement in the program. Before their release, inmates have a 'Level of Service Inventory' performed. The LSI assists caseworkers in deciding how much time and energy each parolee needs.
'Armed robbers, kidnappers and sex offenders are more of a danger to the community and so we may direct more attention to them than we do to ... a car thief,' Ford said. 'Our agents have a case load of 120 offenders out on the street and you can''t go to 120 homes every night and see if every one of them is staying clean.'
Prison officials are optimistic about the Re-Entry Initiative.
'We''ve always had two priorities,' Ford said. 'One is public safety and one is rehabilitation. Through this program we are increasing both.'