Putnamville facility stresses its program diversity efforts

Friday, February 28, 2014

PUTNAMVILLE -- When an offender is released from prison, he faces a number of obstacles. One bad choice, and he could be headed back to prison -- unfortunate for him, his family and at a substantial expense to the taxpayers of Indiana.

The Putnamville Correctional Facility (PCF) recently implemented several new programs to help prepare offenders for the challenges after release.

The Helping Everyone Live Purposefully through Service (HELPS) program was recently implemented to provide offenders with debilitating physical issues in-dorm living assistance and academic tutoring from graduates of the Purposeful Living Unit Serve (PLUS) program.

The facility also created a service center where staff assist offenders in obtaining documentation needed for release (such as birth certificates, social security cards, etc.) and a specialized case management system designed to improve staff efficiencies and quality assurance efforts to meet the daily needs of the offender population.

In addition, the prison has increased offender participation in the U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship program (USDOL). Upon successful completion of the USDOL program, offenders are certified in a specific skill/trade that can be used to obtained employment after release.

Other facility re-entry programs include -- but are not limited to -- a mandated pre-release re-entry class, Inside Out Dads, Purposeful Living Unit Serve, Clean Lifestyle is Freedom Forever, Prison Greyhounds, Equine Management, Shifting Gears, Thinking for a Change, Prison Navigators and academic and vocational training classes.

"You never know what an offender may relate to," PCF Superintendent Stanley Knight noted. "Program diversity means that there are more opportunities to spark an offender's interest in reentry programs.

"Programs that promote taking personal responsibility for their actions and stress the correlation between good decision-making and staying out of prison," Knight added, are "a win for the offender, his family, and Indiana residents."

The Putnamville Correctional Facility is a medium-security prison that houses adult, male offenders along U.S. 40 in Putnamville.

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