State prisons study Lake County jail inmate programs

State prison system officials were in Waukegan on Monday to study rehabilitative programming for inmates in the Lake County jail.

Their mission, according to Department of Corrections director of programming Roberta Fews, was to develop a system through which inmates who get involved in a program in the jail can continue in that program in prison.

Sheriff Mark Curran said the jail has dozens of programs inmates can choose covering parenting, vocational and faith-based issues. About 50 percent of the jail population participates in such programs.

However, Curran said, it has been difficult in the past for those inmates to continue their participation if they are convicted and sent on to prison.

"The old philosophy at DOC was that they were not interested in rehabilitation, they were in the business of incarceration," Curran said. "Now, that attitude is changing and they are stepping up their efforts to change these people's lives."

Curran said about 75 percent of the inmates in the jail for pretrial detention will eventually go on to prison.

Statewide, he said, more than 70 percent of people released after serving a prison sentence will return to prison within three years.

"It is time to stop the revolving door," Curran said. "We have to start offering these people education, skills and belief systems that can serve as alternatives to crime."

Fews and other DOC officials toured the jail and observed some of the inmate programming in action.

She said the state system already has many of the same programs available at the county level or similar programs.

"We are always looking for new ideas," she said. "Always looking for a way to collaborate with county jails to extend our programs to serve the largest population."