OLYMPIA, WA  - The WADOC has begun searching for locations that would serve as new state work release facilities in communities where they currently do not exist.

With two facilities operating in Pierce County, WADOC Secretary Harold Clarke said he recognized that the county hosts more facilities than some other communities, and he vowed to explore options for expanding the program into new areas.
 
"All communities have an obligation to accommodate effective transitional offender programs such as work release,” Clarke said. “It is not fair to place that burden more heavily on one community than another.”
He said work release programs enhance public safety because it allows close supervision of  eligible offenders as they adjust to freedom after serving prison time.

Of the 9,200 offenders released from Washington prisons each year, only about one-third participated in a work release program.  Yet these and other transitional re-entry programs have helped participants succeed. They also help those nearing the end of their prison sentences become gainfully employed, which enables them to support themselves and their families while continuing to meet legal financial obligations.

“We want to make all citizens safer by reducing the likelihood that offenders who are freed after serving their prison sentences will go out and commit new crimes,” Clarke said. “Making work release an option in more communities across the state is one way to do that.”

The first step in the review process will be to determine areas that have an unmet demand for work release based on the number of eligible wait-listed offenders. Approximately 500 eligible offenders currently cannot participate because of insufficient bed space.

The WADOC currently operates 15 work release facilities across the state, housing up to 674 offenders.