Idaho Inmates To Be Taught Job, Life Skills

A $600,000 federal grant given to the Education Bureau of the Idaho Department of Correction will allow it to teach inmates job and life skills.

Correction officials hope the Life Skills for State and Local Prisoners Project will reduce recidivism and enhance the job skills and employability of inmates.

The target group is adults sentenced to “retained jurisdiction,” after which a sentencing judge may release them to probation.

Staff training for the program will begin Oct. 19, and inmates will begin participating Dec. 15.

About 260 inmates selected at random each year at the North Idaho Correctional Institution in Cottonwood will study the Pathfinders curriculum during a 12-week period of incarceration.

Pathfinders is a process designed to transform criminally deviant behavior into responsible conduct. Inmates also will receive intensive transition services and hotline access upon their release.

, DataTimes