Officials look to cover costs of prisoner education - Sun-Sentinel
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and the Palm Beach County School District are working on a way to use some of the money with which prisoners at the jail buy snacks and T-shirts to pay for their continuing education.
A law passed by the state Legislature this year charges fees for several adult education classes, such as classes to help adults learn to speak English and prepare for the general equivalency exam if they never finished high school. Those classes used to be free.
The school district teaches some adult education classes, such as the GED, to prisoners at the Palm Beach County Jail, said Christina Graffeo, the program planner for the school district's adult and community education department.
Since the fee took effect in July, Sheriff's Office officials and the school district have been working on creating a program to use the Inmate Welfare Fund to pay the enrollment fees so prisoners could continue taking the classes.
"It won't be taxpayer money that is used. It's their money," said Articia Futch, the Sheriff's Office section manager who is working on creating the program to pay the enrollment fees for prisoners.
Futch said the fund does not come from the Sheriff's Office's operating budget and does not contain any property tax money. It is paid for by surcharges the jail charges inmates on items they buy from the jail canteen, such as extra food and clothing.
Fund money can be spent only on things directly used by the prisoners, such as a television, and not items the Sheriff's Office is required to supply to them, such as shoes, Futch said. The state law that allows inmate welfare funds prescribes several allowable uses for it, including paying for educational programs for prisoners.
The fee is $30 per semester for Florida residents and $120 per semester for out-of-state residents, Graffeo said. Futch said one thing the Sheriff's Office is working on is how to prove some of the prisoners are state residents to avoid the higher fee, since many prisoners don't have much, if any, documentation of where they live.
Futch said an average of about 55 inmates take the GED classes per semester. Many of the inmates might be unable to pay the fee so they can take the class, she said.
She said the state's decision to charge people for taking GED classes seems counterproductive to her. Paying their fees so they can get a high school diploma might keep some of the prisoners from committing crimes again when they get out of jail.
"When I heard about it, I was floored," Futch said of the state's decision to charge. "That actually defeats the entire purpose of the GED classes."
School Board member Chuck Shaw, who is also a member of the Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission, said he liked the idea of making sure the prisoners are able to take GED classes and planned to discuss it at the next justice commission meeting.
12 Sep, 2011--
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