Editor’s note: This commentary is by John F. Brunelle, who is the chaplain at the Lee Adjustment Center, a Corrections Corporation of America prison in Beattyville, Kentucky. He is a native Vermonter from Huntington.
[T]he Nov. 5 commentary, “Kentucky Prison Not Good Bargain for Vermonters,” inaccurately portrays the work being done at the Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville, Kentucky, and how we treat Vermont inmates. As the facility chaplain and a native Vermonter, I can tell you we work tirelessly every day to provide safe, secure housing and to give inmates a broad array of educational, vocational, mental health and faith-based opportunities and programs to promote positive reintegration back into the society they hale from.
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) has partnered with Vermont for more than 10 years to help relieve prison overcrowding, and our goal is to continue to provide the best corrections services possible. To the credit of state leaders, they have placed a strong emphasis on rehabilitation and re-entry programs for Vermonters incarcerated out of state, which is completely aligned with CCA’s mission as a company. For example, from 2011-2013, Vermonters housed at the Lee Adjustment Center have earned 130 GEDs, 266 vocational certificates and 72 Life Skills Completions.
We know that inmates who obtain GEDs while incarcerated are up to 30 percent less likely to return to prison. Likewise inmates who participate in vocational training programs have a 28 percent higher chance of finding sustaining employment after release. Unquestionably, the re-entry programs we offer in Kentucky are a boon for Vermont inmates and the communities they reintegrate into.
CCA believes prison can be the moment in an inmate’s life that makes the difference: earning a GED, learning a trade skill, breaking addictive behaviors, developing the values to make good decisions and understanding that what they did was wrong and must never be done again.
Inmates may also participate in faith-based programs like the Institute for Life Principles course, which teaches responsibility and accountability for individual actions, anger resolution, financial management and dealing appropriately with authority. This program statistically has demonstrated a less than 13 percent recidivism rate nationwide over a 10 year period after release. The inmates also have programs such as substance abuse programs both secular and faith-based to deal with addictive behaviors and tendencies. This range of offerings helps ensure that Vermont inmates are better prepared to return to their home communities when they are released.
CCA believes prison can be the moment in an inmate’s life that makes the difference: earning a GED, learning a trade skill, breaking addictive behaviors, developing the values to make good decisions and understanding that what they did was wrong and must never be done again.
We are committed to providing Vermont flexible options to address difficult correctional challenges such as outdated facilities and overcrowding. When inmates are housed out of state, CCA offers technology, like video visitation, that promotes communications and relationship building between inmates and their families. CCA is proud to provide recidivism-reducing programs, taxpayer savings, secure facilities and general flexibility in our partnership with Vermont and other local, state and federal partners.
