Articles & News

March 28, 2008

Funding shortfall derails prisoner re-entry program

By Jaime Adame, World staff writer, wenworld.com

Wenatchee, WA — A funding shortfall for a new state program designed to help newly released prisoners has derailed an application by Chelan and Douglas counties to take part in the pilot program, which had been set to begin in July, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Harum said.

"I'm disappointed, in that the governor's office didn't follow through with the statutes and provide the funding," said Harum, referring to legislation passed in 2007 that created new re-entry initiatives for offenders being released from prison, including the Community Transition Coordination Network program that drew the interest of local authorities.

Chelan and Douglas counties applied earlier this year, just weeks after grant application guidelines for the four-year pilot program were released to counties across the state, Harum said last month.

In recent months, Harum and officials that manage Chelan County Regional Justice Center had discussed the pilot program during public meetings.

In addition to providing services such as drug rehabilitation and help finding jobs — with the goal of keeping newly released inmates from returning to jail or prison — Harum previously said the pilot program could lead to a new local facility.

However, the state only formally presented to counties an opportunity to apply for a grant that would pay for staff and office space to help newly released offenders.

The Community Transition Coordination Network was to have included a minimum of two sites, including one in a rural area, and up to four, according to materials released by the State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.

Harum said he learned that there was no funding for the program after receiving an e-mail from that state agency. According to grant application materials, the sites for the new program were to have been chosen by April 1.

Roughly $3 million had been expected to fund the four-year program, said Dan Davis, managing director of the Safe and Drug Free Communities unit within the Community, Trade and Economic Development Department. Another re-entry services program crafted from the 2007 legislation received about $3 million. That pilot program focused mainly on helping newly released prisoners find housing in the private sector in King, Spokane and Clark counties.

Davis said his agency has roughly $150,000 available to support the network this fiscal year — but no guarantee that there will be funds for future years. He said applications from five counties were being reviewed, but no decision had been made yet on whether any money will be awarded in support of the program.

"I can't help but think that there will be an effort to fund it in the future, and of course the success of that plan is going to be dependent on the economic situation the Legislature is confronted with next year," Davis said.

Locally, talks continue with the State Department of Corrections to have a work-release facility in the Wenatchee area, interim jail director Phil Stanley told members of the jail partnership committee at a meeting last week.

Harum said those talks are still in a "very early" stage, but could lead to a new facility that would house the sheriff's office and local as well as state work-release inmates.

Jaime Adame: 664-7144, adame@wenworld.com