Be prepared for benefits and risk when it comes to forced prison labour:experts

Programs that get criminals cleaning up the streets — like the one Ontario’s Opposition leader is proposing — can be great tools, just don’t expect them to provide 100 per cent security or keep offenders out of jail for good, experts say.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak raised some eyebrows recently when he revealed a promise to implement 40 hours of mandatory labour per week for provincial inmates, conjuring up for some people visions of antiquated chain gangs.

The $20-million program, contained in his platform ahead of the Oct. 6 election, would see inmates sent into the community to rake leaves and mow grass to earn rewards such as coffee and gym time.

It would only cover provincial inmates: those who are serving sentences of less than two years for offences such as break and enter, assault and drug trafficking. Hudak has said he doesn’t plan to have prisoners shackled while they’re doing their tasks, but security details will have to be worked out with correctional service officials.

The idea of inmate work crews outside jail property is nothing new — they exist in several provinces and U.S. jurisdictions — nor is the idea of forcing prisoners to work. B.C. has a mandatory program. But it would differ significantly than what’s currently in place in Ontario.

Provincial inmates can volunteer to work inside jails in laundries, kitchens and workshops, as they can in most jurisdictions. A small program, brought in 15 years ago by the Mike Harris government, has 24 low-risk inmates on a work crew cleaning up highways and cutting grass. None of them receive money or rewards in exchange for their work.

Former New York City corrections commissioner Martin Horn said work programs, which fare prominently in American institutions, help give inmates a better chance to succeed in the community when they are eventually released.

But, he said, there is always an element of risk with any activity in the world of jails and prisons.

“There are ways to manage the risk and there are ways to diminish the risk, but there’s no way to eliminate the risk,” said Horn, now a distinguished lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “Will some inmate escape? Will some inmate walk away? It’s possible. Anyone who tells you it’s not is lying and the community has to be prepared to accept that.”

Horn, who was also secretary of corrections in Pennsylvania, said inmates in that state who picked up litter on the roads and did repairs at churches and community buildings were very carefully selected. One officer supervised no more than 10 inmates, they were always within eyesight and local police were notified when work crews were in an area, he said.

Inmates were not shackled, because the work should not be demeaning, rather it should be redemptive, Horn said.

“All the inmates are coming home sooner or later and. . . ideally we want them to come home better prepared to succeed as law-abiding citizens than they were when they went in,” he said.

But University of Ottawa criminology professor Irvin Waller said research shows work programs have no effect on preventing prisoners from re-offending once released.

“Providing jobs for inmates, whether it’s forced labour outside the prison or not makes no difference to whether they get re-convicted afterwards,” he said. “My assumption is that they’re trying to look tough on prisoners and that has sort of been the long-term argument for these sorts of programs, but in terms of reducing recidivism this just doesn’t get anywhere.”

Several provinces have inmates on work crews outside the jails, including B.C., where some inmates work on a local farm or at a fish hatchery. In Alberta, voluntary work crews are involved with snow removal for seniors, graffiti removal and the construction of a wildlife rehabilitation facility. But only inmates who are serving intermittent sentences — on weekends, for example — participate, as they have already been deemed to pose no threat to the community.

In Manitoba some inmates participated in work crews that assisted in making sandbags and reinforcing dikes during the recent flooding.

Waller, also the author of “Less Law, More Order: The Truth About Reducing Crime,” said what governments should be looking at to prevent re-offending is more programming that addresses the inmates’ problems such as alcoholism or poor education.

Brenda Tole, a retired warden of the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in B.C., also stresses the need to bolster such programming. Part of that is work programs, which leave inmates more settled and give them a sense of community, she said.

“I think generally you find that the majority of the inmates would prefer to work than not, because the option for them usually is to sit in a unit in front of a television set,” she said. “The people are much happier working while they’re incarcerated than if they were idle. . . . They sleep better. It’s almost like a good management tool to have people involved in constructive activity.”

While Tole doesn’t think work programs impact recidivism, they can teach inmates valuable skills. In many provinces, states and the federal system the inmates get a small stipend for their work. Hudak has not proposed letting the prisoners earn money.

How their money can be used varies between jurisdictions, but generally inmates can put the money toward purchasing canteen items, such as a pack of gum or sending the money home to their families.

Federal inmates working in prison manufacturing industries earn between $5.25 and $6.90 per day. Provincial inmates in B.C. earn between $1.50 and $6.50 per day.

Inmates can and should earn some money for work so they can use those funds to pay fines, child support or victim restitution, Horn said, adding that it teaches them budgeting skills.