Mendocino County Sheriff's Office

Corrections

A substantial number of inmates in our county jails have substance abuse problems, educational deficiencies, emotional and cognitive problems that hinder their ability to find employment and cope with everyday life. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office working together with the community can help to provided the opportunities and contacts needed to help inmate's function when they are eventually released.

Inmate Programs are not the only solution, but both research and history tell us there is a significant link between a lack of life skills, education, employment and incarceration. Inmate Programs using the principals outlined in the book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" and integrated into correctional programs by Gordon Graham & Co. seeks to teach these powerful lessons in personal change.

Inmate programs afford numerous benefits;

They provide inmates with necessary links to the community.
They ease the pressures of confinement, which has a direct positive impact inmate management for line staff.
Program providers provide positive role models for inmates.
They assist the inmate in discovering options, available resources and aides in their decision making process.
They provide judges and probation officers with more alternatives than just warehousing inmates.

By supporting inmate programs that promote cognitive change, positive values, education and self-discipline we can help to reduce recidivism and break the cycle of failure for many adult offenders. What is invested in these individuals today may be gained in productive citizens tomorrow.

Ultimately, success in any program will be limited to those inmates who want to change and are willing to make great efforts to do so.