By Brianne Dopart
The Herald-Sun
DURHAM, N.C. — A new program to be implemented at the Durham County Jail early next year will offer day-long classes to inmates serving sentences and is aimed at changing the way misdemeanor offenders think.
Created out of a partnership between the Durham County Sheriff’s Office and the Criminal Justice Resource Center, the new re-entry program will be aimed at jail inmates serving 30-, 60- or 90-day sentences who could benefit from job training and an opportunity to change their perspectives.
Currently, no services are offered to individuals released from the jail, according to Chief Deputy Wes Crabtree of the Durham County Sheriff’s Office.
In contrast, inmates released from state prisons are handed a bus ticket and some cash, said Crabtree.
“Jail inmates face the exact same problems as people coming out of prison,” said Crabtree. “They’re often disconnected from family members,” probably lack employment and may not have access to housing, he said.
The Criminal Justice Resource Center, which helps Durham residents released from state prisons transition back to civilian life, has been seeking a means of offering services to county jail inmates for nearly a year, said Gudrun Parmer, the center’s director.
Those sentenced to serve time in the county jail are often misdemeanor offenders who choose short sentences over longer periods of supervision when given the opportunity in court, Parmer said. They often serve their time, get released and commit the same types of crimes, ending up back in jail, Parmer said. The program Parmer and the sheriff’s office are working to put in place by January is aimed at breaking that cycle by giving misdemeanor offenders an improved chance of getting a job and, as a result, a chance to get out of the cycle.
The jail re-entry program is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is described by the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists as based on the theory that our thoughts, not people and events around us, cause our feelings and behavior.
“If you’re able to change the way a person thinks, you may be able to change the way that they react to situations,” Parmer said.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy-based classes will occupy half of inmates’ time in the 28-day program, while employment skills training will occupy the other half of their time, Parmer said. Inmates will be assessed by CJRC staff for their needs and connected with resources the center has in place to help ex-offenders find employment, she said.
“The program definitely targets a population that currently does not receive a lot of services either by choice or because they don’t know how to access them. We’re really hoping to break the cycle of recidivism here,” Parmer said.
The program will be funded by part of a Bureau of Justice Assistance Grant received by the Durham County Sheriff’s Office and will require the hiring of one instructor, Parmer said.
Copyright 2007 The Herald-Sun