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| Volunteers Keep an Eye on Felons |
| By Everett Herald |
| Published: 02/24/2003 |
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Guardians are needed to help high-risk criminals succeed on the outside once they are released from prison. Washington Department of Corrections officials are seeking volunteers to help monitor former inmates. Guardians would provide resources and time, but would not meet individually with the ex-inmate. They would be extra eyes and ears for those responsible for supervising inmates who have been released from prison, particularly those who are sex offenders, dangerously mentally ill or have a history of violence. 'What we're trying to do is have the community take ownership for themselves,' said Tami Kampbell, state administrator of the community partnership program. 'Not only do you have supervision from the Department of Corrections side, but people helping inmates with resources when they come out.' No one wants sex offenders or violent criminals living in their neighborhoods. But when they're released from prison, they have to live somewhere. So having residents help them reintegrate into society makes sense, Kampbell said. 'This is a way to get everybody involved,' she said. 'We're talking about public safety here. We live in those communities, too. We're saying this is a part we all need to be involved in.' Under the state's Offender Accountability Act of 1999, the Department of Corrections now focuses its attention on high-risk offenders. Part of that involves developing a risk-management plan before the inmate is released, said Willie Daigle, the Northwest region manager. The region includes Snohomish County to the Canadian border and from the Olympic Peninsula to the Cascade mountains. As part of the plan, there are three levels of guardians for criminals after they leave prison: *Agency guardians, such as police, mental health workers, prison counselors and community corrections officers, who directly supervise inmates in the community. *Guardians who are volunteers that corrections officials select and train. *Natural guardians, such as family members, friends, neighbors or employers. The philosophy is to help inmates succeed and take away excuses for failure, Daigle said. 'If you choose to fall on your face, then you can't blame anybody. You've got a lot of people in place to help you,' he said of the three-level support system. Before inmates are released, they are classified through a 54-question analysis. Those questions focus on the offender's education, job skills, financial status, employment, housing, attitude, emotional state, family situation, relationships and known problems, such as drug or alcohol addiction. The more negative information found in that analysis, the more likely someone is to commit more crimes when they get out, Daigle said. The risk-management plan includes the offender's history, any conditions ordered by the court or imposed by the corrections department, and becomes the document for supervising that individual: all the things he or she can or can't do. It may include prohibitions, including being around children. Corrections personnel in Lynnwood, Marysville and two Everett offices who supervise offenders have been assigned according to the offenders' risk-management level. Members of the risk-management team, including the guardians, meet periodically with the offender. If the guardians note problems, they are to notify corrections staff or law enforcement. Their role is not to intervene. The program shows promise and has been going on in the Spokane area for nearly a year, local officials said. |
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