The Blog

Eldon Vail, Secretary, Department of Corrections

11/19/10

This summer the Governor’s Office set up a website for the public to recommend ways to rethink and prioritize state government services as we navigate through a historic budget crisis. More than 35,000 Washington citizens provided input, and No. 2 on that list was to have offenders working in our communities.

I couldn’t agree more. In fact, we’ve had offenders working in our communities for decades. They pick up litter, fight wildfires, assist at food banks, shovel snow from school and library roofs, rehabilitate wildlife, provide free firewood to seniors and much more. This year, offenders in prisons and on community supervision will perform about 380,000 hours of service in the community.

Video: See offenders at work in communities across the state.

Our agency — the Department of Corrections — also benefits from having offenders work. Offenders in prison can’t join work crews if they commit violent infractions, so there is an incentive to stay out of trouble. Offenders on community supervision who violate the terms of their supervision can join a work crew instead of sitting in a jail cell. And unemployed offenders in a work release facility can join a crew while they search for a job to avoid returning to prison.

Still, the public wants to see more offenders working, and we’re exploring ways to make that happen and save taxpayer dollars. We’re helping local governments and nonprofit groups with chores they couldn’t otherwise manage, without taking jobs away from non-offenders.

And the results can be seen from Forks to Spokane. In one day, a community restitution crew alone can pick up nearly 7,000 pounds of illegally dumped garbage. Offenders fight wildfires alongside crews from the Department of Natural Resources.

Prisons and field offices adapt to local needs. Offenders at Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women are helping a nonprofit group rehabilitate a salmon-bearing stream that feeds Hood Canal. Offenders who report to DOC field offices clean up homeless encampments, roundabouts and local neighborhoods.
To those who voted on the Governor’s website, I want you to know that we’re listening — and taking action. We’ll see if it makes financial sense to take this effective, popular program and expand it.