Prisons search for new ways to help inmates

Friday, March 8, 2002 | 10:10 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Steve Hines is happy the state prison system is trying to abandon its "Lock them up and throw away the key" philosophy.

Hines spent 14 years in the Nevada prison system for assault and other offenses and has been on parole the past 18 months.

"It's scary out here," Hines said, referring to requirements that parolees must find housing, get and keep a job and comply with the conditions of the state Parole Board and courts.

"There should be more treatment and education programs" in prison.Hines, who works in the computer repair field in Reno, took time off Thursday to attend the third meeting of Gov. Kenny Guinn's Study Committee on Corrections, which is trying to find ways to make the prison and parole system work better with available money.

Among areas the committee is examining is the education system, where about $6 million has been spent, with little success.

Statistics presented to the committee showed 3,700 inmates attend class but fewer than 300 graduate each year.

The committee found "unacceptable levels of failures of prisoners released to the community."

"About 1,700 every year are returned as parole violators," Jackie Crawford, director of the state Department of Corrections. "The practice of warehousing (inmates) is antiquated."

She said it may be better to provide technical training for jobs, rather than stressing a high school education.

Crawford said the prison system must comply with the governor's mandate for no new programs, but she noted it is cheaper to house an inmate working in the community at a cost of $26 to $28 a day rather than the $44 a day it costs to keep an inmate in prison.

This new direction, she said, isn't designed to coddle inmates.

"It's to make them work, and this is not going to be a country club," she said.

R. Warren Lutzow, chief of the state Division of Parole and Probation, agreed with the new direction.

"A high school diploma is good. Job training is better," he said.

Lutzow cited problems in finding housing for former inmates who must compete with the rest of the general public for jobs. But, he said, many employers "are not afraid to have a person who has had trouble" with the law in the past.

Even though the economy has suffered after Sept. 11, Lutzow said, his officers are collecting more money from inmates to reimburse their victims. And the amount has been steadily rising.

Dorla Salling, chairwoman of the state Parole Board, said one of the obstacles officials face is that although inmates are allowed to be released, they often remain confined because housing is not available.

Lutzow said a recent report showed 85 inmates in the prison were waiting to be released. About half are sex offenders, whom he said he doesn't intend to allow live in areas where there are children.

Hines said he is working with groups to establish a Delancy House in Reno -- similar to one in San Francisco where inmates can live when they are released.

He said parole officers should work to educate offenders on how to stay out of prison.