Reply #10: There is more, and we have had few periods of that

[nadinbrzezinski]

they believe in redemption and in getting these people ready to rejoin society. We pay lip service to that.

When we have tried that... it works, and works well... but it never lasts more than ten years.

One anecdotal example since all I remember is a prison in OH... back in the 1980s. It was a low security prison with low security imates. Guess who ran their 911 EMS system? You guessed it. By the time those prisoners left they were fully trained and certified firefighter paramedics, or other trades. Their rates of recidivism was much lower. But people complained WHY should they get them beanies? I mean they are CRIMINALS... they stopped. Take to care a guess at where their rates are these days?

Yep, it was an article in an EMS trade publication that intrigued me. Another thing they had an article on was on taking at risk youth to the morgue... which also lowered their, in this case, entry into the system. I used that to convince a judge...