It may look like a college campus, but the Indiana Department of Corrections' newest facility isn't just for learning. Located on a sprawling plot of land, the Plainfield Re-Entry and Educational Facility, which opens this week, blends corrections with lessons from the outside world to offer a smooth transition for offenders returning to their communities.

"Twenty years ago, we spent a lot of time in corrections managing the inside environment. All too often, we felt that our job ended at the gates to the facility. But as corrections has matured, we've learned that many of the faces behind bars are all too familiar," says INDOC Commissioner J. David Donahue. "If we cannot connect all the dots to return these offenders to the community, we are not ensuring public safety, or the proper use of tax dollars."

When Donahue and Governor Mitch Daniels realized that reducing Indiana's recidivism rate by just five percent could save 80 million dollars annually, they began plans for Plainfield. Initially, the facility was to be for juvenile offenders, but when youth incarceration rates began to drop, Donahue and Daniels decided to shift gears and focus on the adult population.

"We didn't want to scrap the idea," explains Donahue. "We restarted the re-entry engine, re-interviewed staff, hired ex-offenders to help around the facility and started this program over."

Plainfield is based on the concept that offenders must become acclimated to the society they left when they were incarcerated. Additionally, officials have decided to focus on three main components before offenders are released: transportation, housing, and employment.

After the July 19th opening, the facility will house 400 minimum security offenders. Sex offenders are not eligible for Plainfield. Those with a history of good behavior can spend their last twelve months at Plainfield participating in educational classes, vocational workshops, and substance abuse programs, similar to other re-entry initiatives.

Plainfield stands out because it offers a taste of real life for the pre-release crowd in conjunction with old corrections stand-bys. For instance, inmates may still attend vocational workshops, but they also have a chance to use a new debit card system that helps to familiarize them with putting charges on plastic.

"Some of these inmates have been incarcerated for over twenty years," says Deputy Commissioner of Re-entry Julie Von Arx. "Imagine you were taken out of society for twenty years. When you are released, you don't know how to use a debit card, you don't know how to use a computer, and you've been influenced by prison culture. These seem like everyday things to us, but it's not so easy for offenders."

Additionally, Plainfielders no longer don DOC-issued clothing and instead wear their own threads as they would in every day life. Plainfield COs are known as 're-entry specialists' and offenders have the chance to enjoy restaurant quality chicken wings at Plainfield's Sports Deli as a special treat on the weekends.

Some in corrections might balk at the concept of allowing offenders access to bleu cheese and blue jeans. But before deciding that Indiana offenders are getting an easy ride in the name of re-entry, one must examine Plainfield's curriculum.

"We have a schedule of events and programs that offenders have to participate in," says Von Arx. "They get to help decide on their schedule, but they will be very busy. Beyond their eight-hour day of programming and events, they will also have work assignments. We're preparing them to be responsible again. We're preparing them to make choices again. We don't want them to sit around watching 'General Hospital' at three in the afternoon. We want to instill a work ethic and turn around their mindsets."

Another innovative aspect is the INDOC's partnerships. To help offenders struggling to obtain identification cards once released, the INDOC teamed up with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

"We're producing tangible I.D. cards for our inmates," says Donahue. "Instead of having an offender leave prison and have to figure it out on their own, they will now have the proper credentials before they leave. We think that it's a homerun to incorporate this into Plainfield, and we're the first to partner with the state on that level."

The state partnerships don't end there. The Departments of Employment, Workforce Development, Labor and Mental Health were all brought to the table to ensure that all bases were covered at Plainfield. Each state entity has an office in the facility to help inmates before they walk out of the door.

By partnering with employment-related departments, offenders are one step closer to finding jobs before they leave the facility for good.

"We're holding job fairs so offenders can find employment before they are even released. You have to have a job to have a house, and you have to have a job to have a life" adds Donahue. "It's just that simple. A job is a central part of the re-entry issue."

He says his department also realized the many mentally ill offenders who were returning to their communities without their necessary medications. Having the Department of Mental Health on board ensures that offenders will have access to their medications when they return to their community.

"If you're releasing inmates with a 75 dollar check and no medications, they very quickly end up right back where they started," explains Von Arx. "We have to hook these offenders up with community medical centers. We want this to become a handshake with the community because that's the most important part of re-entry. We want to look at re-entry holistically and set these offenders up for success."

As the opening of Plainfield approaches, DOC officials remain optimistic that their innovative re-entry initiative will put Indiana in a positive spotlight. By combining responsibility and decision making with elements of the life offenders will return to, officials are optimistic that Plainfield will help reduce Indiana's 39.9 percent recidivism rate too.

"You just cannot lock everybody up and walk away," says Donahue. "We really believe we can make a difference here. I believe Indiana is the first state to open a stand-alone re-entry facility owned by the government. This is a chance for Indiana to stand out with an innovative facility and a progressive mindset."

Bottom Line: By splicing real life pleasures and real-world help with rigorous programming, Indiana officials may just have found the newest twist on corrections re-entry.