Program to help former inmates

State grants will pay for the program.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A new program aimed at keeping people from going back to jail is being hailed as the missing link in Lawrence County's criminal justice system.
"It's a necessary component to allow the people [to get] the tools to attempt to be successful. As long as we have these tools, we will [in the long term] save tax dollars," said Bill Mancino, director of Lawrence County Adult Probation.
The six-piece program is spearheaded by Lawrence County Social Services. Among its components are housing, job training, life skills, mentoring and drug and alcohol abuse treatment for people just released from jail or prison.
Organizers say it should get off the ground this fall after it secures grants.
Those involved are seeking about $1 million in state and federal grants, and some services will be donated. The entire program's value will be about $1.6 million.
Debbie Hennon of Lawrence County Social Services said the state is looking at it as a pilot program.
Mancino said his office is already involved in a much smaller program aimed at reducing recidivism and run by Community Alternatives in Lawrence County. That program will be folded into the new one, he said.
Housing
Hennon said one of the key components is providing housing.
LCSS will find individual homes throughout the county where program participants can live.
Mike Occhibone, county court administrator, said the current prisoner re-entry program is missing the housing component.
"There is repeated drug abuse and recidivism happening because they don't change the people, places and things around them," he said. "Sometimes all a person needs is a place to stay that will keep them away from the people who lead them back to the drugs."
Hennon said drug and alcohol abuse treatment will be a program requirement.
Often, she said, the courts have a hard time enforcing such treatment, but the new program will take away a person's housing if they don't participate.
She said there also will be a life skills component to teach things such as balancing a checkbook and budgeting.
Those who are not working will be required to volunteer 25 to 30 hours a week at something that will increase their marketable skills, Hennon said.
She said they are looking into having program participants work with local builders where they can learn skills such as drywall installation and plumbing.
She noted that finding a job can be difficult for former inmates, but that the construction industry does hire them.
Former inmates initially will get free housing as part of the program, and once they are employed they must pay 30 percent of their income toward housing costs, she added.
cioffi@vindy.com