Work/Education Release Centers

Community based facilities that provide a residential alternative to incarceration or other sanctions for nonviolent offenders who work or go to school and return to the center at the end of each work or school day or when not occupied in an approved activity in the community. The centers help inmates who are employable obtain and hold jobs which allow them to earn income, reimburse the state for part of their confinement costs, build savings and develop more positive living habits as well as reconnect with the community. An offender can be ordered by a court to participate in work release or can be classified to the program by correctional officials. Some offenders enter work release after a prison stay; others come directly from the community.