Seniors appreciate inmate-labor program

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

Jail Inmates Clear Snow

Video

Trumbull County Jail inmates pitched in to clear snow at the homes of senior citizens.

WARREN — A popular program established by the Trumbull County Sheriff’s office three years ago, using the labor of county jail inmates to cut grass and clean up trash, has entered a new phase: clearing the snow from driveways and sidewalks.

So far, the snow removal seems to be a big hit with the senior citizens who have benefited.

“I’m all for it because I don’t get out in the winter at all. I don’t like the cold weather,” said Seymour Williams, 80, of East Liberty Street, Girard.

Williams, who is on oxygen, sat in his living room while three inmates cleared his sidewalk and driveway Thursday under the supervision of corrections officer Brian Stambaugh.

The service is free and provided to anyone who is homebound and doesn’t have family, neighbors or friends to help them, especially senior citizens. To be added to the list, call the Senior Citizens Neighboring Program at (330) 675-7096.

The inmates have cleared a dozen or so driveways per day the last couple of weeks in a variety of locations around the county. As of Wednesday, they had cleared about 85 driveways. They have a list so far of about 30 people asking for help. On Thursday, Stambaugh’s crew was in Niles and Girard.

“They are wonderful. They are great, a godsend,” said Sophie Gabrile, 86, of Girard as the inmates cleared her driveway and sidewalk for the second time this winter.

“It’s so expensive. I just live on Social Security, so it’s rough,” she said. “I wouldn’t be able to get out of my house if it weren’t for them,” she said, adding that it would be a problem if she couldn’t make it to her doctor appointments.

Gabrile’s neighbor, Rose Latanzi, said Stambaugh makes her feel at ease when the inmates are at her house.

“He’s terrific. He stands by the whole time,” she said, adding that she is “a little disabled” and “I appreciate it [the snow removal] so much.”

Stambaugh and the three inmates came to her house in the fall to clear away leaves as well, Latanzi said.

The leaf and snow assistance were added this year at the request of people in the community who liked the work being done by Stambaugh and the inmates during the warm weather in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Then, the focus was on mowing high grass on vacant lots, first in Warren and then in Niles, Newton Falls, Hubbard, Cortland, McDonald, Howland and several townships.

The program also has assisted with grass cutting at some homes where disabled people live, Warren Mayor Michael O’Brien and county Commissioner Frank Fuda said.

The organization Trumbull 100 and an individual donated $10,000 for lawn mowers, $2,800 for four snowblowers and other money for leaf blowers and equipment used by the inmates, said Don Guarino, chief deputy with the sheriff’s office.

Though GM Lordstown union leader Jim Graham first suggested the grass-cutting idea to Fuda and the sheriff’s office based on a Mahoning County program, Trumbull 100 and others suggested the leaf and snow removal, Guarino said.

Fuda and O’Brien, a former county commissioner, have been two of the biggest promoters of the inmate-labor concept, thanking the sheriff’s department several times at commissioners’ and council meetings in the last couple of years.

O’Brien said the grass cutting, tire pickups and trash cleanups have saved the city $25,000 to $35,000 each of the last three years and helped improve its appearance.

The city used to pay a contractor to cut grass on vacant properties, but finances in recent years would have made it difficult to continue that practice.

“The city is a lot neater than it was,” O’Brien said, adding that the program is a “win-win” because taxpayers get services, and the inmates get time reduced from their jail sentence.

Stambaugh said it is up to a judge, but most inmates get one to two days off of their sentence for every day they work.

Inmates participating in the program are nonviolent misdemeanor offenders. They are typically in jail for 30 to 90 days for offenses such as DUI, petty theft or driving without a license, Stambaugh said.

Stambaugh said he keeps the same inmates in his crew until they are released from jail, so he gets to know them pretty well. He also keeps a close watch over them while they work. “I’m very strict with them,” Stambaugh said.

Since 2007, Stambaugh has taken inmates out into the public 4,380 times without a single incident that put the public at risk, he said.

“They stand to lose too much,” Stambaugh said of inmates’ trying to flee or something like that.

Stambaugh said the inmates seem to appreciate the opportunity to get out of the jail for about seven hours per day.

“I’ve had inmates tell me they get a lot of pride out of it,” he said. “A lot of them told me, ‘I feel good. I did something for the community today.’”

Brian Turner of Warren, one of the men clearing snow Thursday, said he’d rather be outside in the snow than inside the jail.

“It helps time go by faster. Plus, it helps the elderly,” he said, noting that it’s obvious that the people they help appreciate it.

“She’s grateful. She waves and says hi,” he said of one of the elderly women, who was paying someone $25 each time someone cleared her driveway.

runyan@vindy.com

The savings

Based on a value of $25 per yard cut, the inmate labor program being run by the Trumbull County Sheriff’s office saved various Trumbull County communities around $80,000 in 2009. The communities assisted:

Warren: $54,000

Hubbard: $8,000

Niles: $6,000

Newton Falls: $3,000

Howland: $3,000

Cortland: $1,000

McDonald: $1,200

Warren Township: $1,500

Hubbard Township: $1,500

Vienna Township: $1,500

Trash collected: 9,000 pounds

Tires removed: 1,455

Yards cut in 2009: 2,985

Yards cut in 2008: 995

Yards cut in 2007: 400

Source: Don Guarino, sheriff’s department chief deputy