Program to Help Inmates
Federal grants will aid Potter, Elk, and Cameron Counties’ new inmate release program
RIDGWAY – Some inmates in Potter, Elk, and Cameron counties will have a new release option.
Elk County Commissioners said a collaborative effort between varying organizations including Probation Departments, Drug & Alcohol, Prisons, Mental Health, County Board of Assistance, and Children & Youth would create a residency in Cameron county to give some inmates a ‘second chance’.
The plan is to renovate a structure in Cameron county into 9 separate housing units, with an onsite manager. The purpose of the residency is to hopefully guide certain inmates, who have in the past regressed due to environmental influences upon release from prison, an opportunity to be released into an atmosphere not conducive to such regression.
The belief is that some individuals could clean up their act if given the opportunity, and a living environment that does not promote the type of behavior that landed them in prison in the first place.
The Commissioners say they have access to federal grant money for the project.
