THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503110298
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
In one of the most ambitious programs of its kind in the country, Virginia will put its prison inmates to work making products for sale nationwide, and part of the proceeds will go to crime victims.
The ``factories behind fences'' program, which could begin in January, aims ultimately to open manufacturing centers run by private companies at every prison in the state.
Inmates who volunteer for the program will earn money to help cover the costs of their prison stays while getting hands-on training for real jobs on the outside, Secretary of Public Safety Jerry W. Kilgore said Friday.
``We certainly want prisoners to be doing something,'' Kilgore said. ``We want inmates to be up in the morning and go to work like taxpaying citizens do and earn self-worth and some self-respect.''
Kilgore said officials are working with manufacturing and labor representatives to ensure that the program does not compete with existing businesses in the state.
``We're looking for labor-intensive types of industry that people have been forced to shut down in Virginia or that have been forced into foreign markets,'' he said.
The prison program will try to duplicate real-world work conditions. Companies will set up production facilities at state correctional centers - perhaps as early as January - and pay inmates $4.25 an hour or more for a 40-hour work week.
Typically in such programs, about 20 percent of inmates' pay is deducted for taxes, 20 percent goes to compensate crime victims and 20 percent is collected for prison costs. Child support or other legal obligations also may be withheld, but under federal rules, inmates must be allowed to keep at least 20 percent for their own use.
Kilgore cited examples of businesses that have expressed interest in joining the program:
An optical lens company that has struggled in the private sector.
A copy machine repair business.
A company that recycles waste, including old tires, into bricks and shingles.
The program fulfills Gov. George F. Allen's 1993 campaign promise to put prisoners to work and meshes with his corrections philosophy of ending parole, stiffening punishments for violent crime and reducing leisure activities for inmates.
The program will start small, Kilgore said, with about 500 inmates expected to volunteer. Each prison will probably sustain only a single industry, and inmates will be assigned to jobs suited to their abilities.
``We want every prison in the future to have the capability of beginning a private industry,'' Kilgore said.
According to the American Correctional Association, 21 states have similar programs. The most successful is in California, which receives about $400 million back in revenues, Kilgore said.
Several lawmakers usually critical of Allen's prison policies cautiously embraced his latest plan, saying such voluntary work could provide inmates with badly needed job skills and a small nest egg for when they are released.
``That would be very useful, because what happens now is they get out with $25 and a bus ticket,'' said Del. Marian Van Landingham, D-Alexandria.
Virginia prisoners now have limited work opportunities, such as making wooden toys or producing cleaning supplies. But the products go to government and charities, and inmates are paid about 25 cents an hour for what critics view as make-work.
``Prisoner advocates say inmates want to have employment,'' Kilgore said. ``They like to be able to do something. It's a win-win situation.'' MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: PRISONERS VIRGINIA STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS JOBS
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