Inmates with idle time often find themselves in trouble. At the Boulder County, Colorado jail that idle time is almost nonexistent thanks to a program known as Productive Day.

The program focuses on three main components: education, industry and life skills. The industry element teaches inmates how to work as a team. Its educational aspect lets inmates choose from an array of classes, like GED preparation, English as a Second Language, and computer learning.

“We started Productive Day because we were concerned about all the time that inmates spent just hanging out and playing cards,” says Bruce Haas, Administrative Commander for Boulder County. “They were just reinforcing each other's criminal behavior and we wanted to change that.”

Haas says Productive Day has helped his facility focus on education, and help its inmates learn as much as possible. For eight hours a day, Boulder County inmates complete industry work such as assembly line production, attend life skills classes, and participate in community programs. The inmates are so busy, Haas says, they barely have time to get into trouble.

“Our inmates are active throughout the day and are forming better relationships among themselves,” says Haas. “They have their minds on something else, rather than fighting or destroying property. We have seen a huge decrease in volatility.”

Productive rotation

Productive Day rotates inmates through different activities at different times each day. Some participate in educational classes while others work, which breaks up the prison population into units.

 “We're keeping our population active, but in smaller groups, which works pretty well,” he says.

The program is voluntary, but inmates have an incentive to participate Enrollees live in a special housing unit, but those not participating are kept in lockdown.

Lawyers have filed suit about the program citing that inmates cannot be forced to work, but Boulder County Jail was able to prove that the program was an incentive to getting inmates motivated.

“We are coercing inmates to get involved in this program, but, eventually, they see the benefits of participating,” Haas says.

Industry behind the walls

In an effort to make the program's work segment successful, officials worked hard to find local companies that were willing to give inmate labor a try.

Now, companies bring their work to the inmates, who assemble cardboard display cases, work on machinery for plumbing companies, and even tie fishing flies.

Officials also figured out how to help inmates use the money they earn to help themselves.

“One of our concerns about the industry aspect was the money inmates earned,” says Haas. “We decided that inmates could keep one dollar a day and the remaining money would be divided. Some funds go to victim compensation if they were ordered by law to repay their victims. If they need to pay child support, some of the money goes towards that.”

Once inmates have finished the education and industry components, they head to life skills classes, which focuses on issues like parenting, anger management, and maintaining healthy relationships.

“We want our inmates to learn more than just GED preparation. So we offer a chance for them to learn about things like substance abuse, domestic violence and coping mechanisms,” Haas says.

While inmates continue to rotate through the education, life skills and work segments, officials hope that they will be able to apply these skills when they return to the community.  

The Corrections Connection will publish Part Two of this article next week, with a focus on Boulder County's Gender Responsive approach to education for inmates.