ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A program designed to help Missouri inmates to gain job skills after there released is not working as intended,according to State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick.
In an audit of the program, Fitzpatrick evaluated the Missouri Vocational Enterprise program, a long-time program meant to create employment opportunities for inmates who are getting ready to be released, but Fitzpatrick says the department of corrections has prioritized giving these limited jobs to those with long or life sentences.
"35 percent of the participants have more than 10 years expected on their sentences remaining," Fitzpatrick said in the audit, "The department has really prioritized putting offenders that are going to be in prison for a very long time in these programs which does not serve the statutory mission of people who are going to be leaving prison to go back out into society."
Fitzpatrick wrote in the audit that he also looked into the industries that were selected for these prisoners with "a lot of the industries and the services that they are providing are projected to decrease in demand over the next several years."
Fitzpatrick wrote some recommendations in the audit that includes the Department of Corrections adopting practices to increase the number of short-term inmates in the program.
DOC officials however, is pushing back on that recommendation, saying all offenders should be offered employment opportunities and that sentence length does not matter.
Officials says that while the audit is a tool the department can use, they aren't required to make any changes based on recommendations.
Below is the Department of Correction's official response to the audit recommendation:
The department has and will continue to ensure that factory location determinations are made within the primary goals stated in Section 217.560 RSMo. Additionally, MODOC believes we are in compliance with statutory requirements to provide training and employment for offenders for gainful employment upon release. Ninety six percent of all offenders in MODOC custody are released back into the community. As such, it is imperative that all offenders are offered educational and employment opportunities, regardless of location or security level. In addition to MVE factories and the employment opportunities therein, offenders can also obtain various certifications and technical education that will facilitate employment. Additionally, a 12 year minimum sentence is all that is required to be housed in a maximum security facility. Some apprenticeships and certifications can take more than 3 years to complete. Ultimately, sentence length does not determine an offender's appropriateness to a specific employment opportunity unless they cannot be properly trained in the time that they have remaining on their sentence. These educational and employment opportunities vary from facility to facility. It should be noted that three of the facilities highlighted in the auditor's analysis are Reception and Diagnostic Centers (R&D) and are designed to receive offenders from the county jail to complete the intake process. Once complete, the offenders are ultimately reassigned to another facility for long term housing. These facilities would not be appropriate for MVE operations.
To read the entire audit by Fitzpatrick, you can click here.
