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| State of county jail depends on Augusta |
| By Jay Davis |
| Published: 04/08/2009 |
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BELFAST (April 8): If the state Department of Corrections budget is approved by the Legislature in the next few days, Sheriff Scott Story is “99 percent sure” the county jail will have a bright new future. Because the Corrections department seeks $3.5 million in additional funding, though, there's a chance it won't receive all it needs. Then, the jail could become a glorified holding tank and Waldo County would lose its control over its inmates. The two wildly different scenarios are part of the state's challenge as it tries to integrate the traditional state and county corrections systems into a single unit aimed at reducing recidivism, achieving efficiencies and trimming the rate of growth in the cost of keeping Maine citizens behind bars. A blueprint for meeting those goals includes dividing the state into four regions, one of them stretching along the coast from Washington County to Sagadahoc County. Each would have a so-called re-entry facility where prisoners at the highest risk of re-offending will be kept for a year to 18 months receiving counseling, employment and substance abuse services as they prepare to rejoin society. Story, a member of the 11-member Board of Corrections that devised and would supervise the plan, said the Waldo County Jail would become the first re-entry program in the system, a model for the rest of Maine — if the department budget gets the green light. If the budget is rejected, it's likely the jail would be a 24- to 72-hour holding facility where local criminals would sign into the system and then be shipped to a distant jail to serve their sentences. Making the outdated jail a holding facility would save about $1 million a year, Story said. Re-entry facilities are not new to Maine. The state operates one for men at the Bolduc Facility in Warren and for women at the Dorothea Dix Center in Bangor. The Waldo County Jail employs some of the programs associated with re-entry programs, especially mentoring, which Story considers a key in reducing recidivism. It's because the staff is trained in these disciplines that the first facility will be located here, he said. A re-entry facility would work like this. Inmates determined to be at a high risk of returning — because of substance abuse issues, lack of education, dim employment prospects or other reasons — would be assigned to the renamed jail. Because their stay will be for a year or more, it's likely that most of the residents will come from the state prison, Story said, though they will be released to the communities they are from within the six-county region. The residents will be near the end of their sentences and will spend their days in counseling or training sessions or perhaps at work. They will spend their nights at the jail, where counseling will continue, Story said. The jail currently has beds for 32 inmates, and that's the number expected to sleep there if it becomes a re-entry facility. The center will also have five beds for locals who are arrested and can't make bail. Story said if there are more than five inmates awaiting trial, they will be housed at nearby jails until they get their day in court. The cost would be about $1.9 million a year compared to the $2.8 million it costs to run the jail each year, including boarding excess inmates at other jails, the sheriff said. Two years ago, the Corrections Department capped each county's contribution to the system at the then-current level, which was $2.8 million for Waldo County. The state promised counties they would never have to pay more for corrections than that amount — nor would they pay less. With a reduced operation at the jail, county taxpayers might think they're getting a bum deal, Story said, but it isn't true. The local inmates now housed at the jail will have to be moved to other facilities, which will cost the system more than the $1.9 million the state will spend for the re-entry program. “We'll still get at least $2.8 million worth of service,” he said. And, he adds, taxpayers will avoid the cost of a new jail, which was estimated at $18 million in 2003 and would likely be much higher now. Story said the jail currently has 26 employees, and 11 have been told they will lose their jobs July 1. He said he has been able to find jobs for five of those and is actively looking for employment for the others. The state will hire a consultant to analyze the bricks and mortar and community resources available to the jail before the re-entry facility is opened, and a private firm will be hired to run it and hire the social workers and counselors who will work with the residents, he said. Current jail employees will provide security and food services, he said. An important aspect of the programming for inmates will be the Restorative Justice Project of the Midcoast, which has worked closely with Story and the jail in recent years. A major RJP program provides mentors to inmates while they are in jail and then for a year or so after they leave, offering a friendly and helpful ear if they experience problems. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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