It all adds up -- Work Ethic Camp saves area more than $1 million

Friday, February 29, 2008
Eric Devaney, with the Trust Program at the Nebraska Department of Corrections Work Ethic Camp, walks dogs as part of his job at the Work Ethic Camp. He keeps busy with other tasks, such as cleaning, feeding and watering the animals, sweeping the floors and other jobs that need done. (Lorri Sughroue/McCook Daily Gazette)

By LORRI SUGHROUE

City Editor

Work crews at the Nebraska Department of Corrections Work Ethic Camp in McCook camp have saved area communities a total of more than $1 million -- and counting.

Non-profit agencies in Southwest Nebraska communities, who have used WEC work crews since the facility's inception in 2001, have netted a total cost savings at $1.3 million, based on a $5.85 minimum wage.

After admittance and a 30-day orientation, all offenders/inmates must have a job of some sort, said WEC Warden Barbara Lewien. Offenders can apply for jobs inside the camp, such as in the kitchen or maintenance, or outside the camp at different sites in a work crew.

The work crew program seems to be a win-win situation for everyone, according to those involved.

Sgt. Mike Towery, work crew coordinator, said offenders work at a variety of maintenance tasks, from picking up trash or sweeping parking lots to constructing walls and painting at remodeling jobs.

"You name, we've done it," Towery said, with work crews operating in every town in Southwest Nebraska. "I think we've washed every fire truck from Arapahoe to Benkelman."

Besides helping agencies get work done, the work crew program also helps the offenders themselves. Towery related that several times he's been thanked by offenders who tell him that they've never held down a real job before and "now they they know what it's like to work," he said. The work opportunity also gives them a job reference once they leave the WEC.

"When employers come back and ask me about someone, I'm honest," he said. "I'll tell them exactly how they worked and what their attitude was like, good or bad."

Some projects take only a few hours or days, he said, such as when the crews laid sod at McCook Elementary and around the tennis courts or helped with a recycling program. Other times, the work is more labor intensive, such as when they recently helped remodel and paint a building rented in McCook by Good Samaritan Hospital of Kearney.

Dallas Hayes, District Seven highway mechanic for the Nebraska Department of Roads, said the program has been a real plus. "It's far exceeded our expectations," he said.

Hayes works with those on the Trust program, where offenders are placed individually on a work site for an extended period of time with minimal supervision. Depending on their skills, offenders in this program are assigned different jobs at the district shop, Hayes said, from washing cars and mounting tires to welding.

"I've had bad guys and I've had some excellent people," Hayes said, citing the last two offenders who were welders by trade and helped the shop catch up on work around the shop.

"They helped us big time," he recounted, with the two offenders completing odds-and -ends work that Hayes estimated would have taken two years to finish.

Hayes added that he and other employees have learned from the offenders as well.

"We don't always understand the kind of life they've been through," he explained. "Some of these people don't have a clue about things we take for granted," he said, such as knowing how to wash a car, for example, or what a chamois is.

For some, the work crew assignments end up more than just a future job reference.

Hayes said one former work crew member who worked at the shop, later got a job with a trucking firm after he completed the work ethic camp. When traveling through the area, he came back to the shop and thanked them for the opportunity.

Work crew hours keep climbing, with 3,341 so far for January.

Other work crew sites and hours clocked in for January include:

* Good Samaritan Ambulance, 411 hours, 68 offenders; Fox Theater, 322 hours, 56 offenders; City of McCook, 282 hours, 42 offenders City of Imperial, 176 hours, 31 offenders; Hillcrest, 175 hours, 32 offenders; City of Cambridge, 143 hours, 24 offenders; Historical Society, 141 hours, 31 offenders; McCook YMCA, 135 hours, 24 offenders; Curtis College, 110 hours, 19 offenders; Red Willow County Fairgrounds, 81 hours, 15 offenders; Games and Parks, 74 hours, 10 offenders; Research Center, 69 hours, 12 offenders; City of Bartley, 60 hours, 11 offenders; Chamber of Commerce, 56 hours, 11 offenders; City of Curtis, 53 hours, 8 offenders; City of Palisade, 46 hours, eight offenders; City of Wauneta, 32 hours, six offenders; Food Commodities, 24 hours, four offenders; City of Indianola, 22 hours, four offenders; Department of Roads, 15 hours, three offenders.

Those on the Trust Program completed 550 hours with 96 offenders.

By The Numbers

* Total number of admissions since 2001 to January of this year: 1,446. Of that, 1,214 completed the program successfully with 23 who were removed prior to completion.

* a total of 184 admissions were recorded for calendar year 2007.

* top drug of choice for offenders/inmates in January was alcohol, at 35 percent, followed by marijuana and methamphetamine at 30 percent.

* total number of admissions that participated in substance abuse treatment is 1,388. About 90 percent of admissions are treated for substance abuse issues and 30 percent had received prior substance abuse treatment.

* more males than females have been admitted to the WEC, with 1,280 males to 255 females. The average age of an offender/inmate is 23, with 75 percent Caucasian and 13 percent African American.

* The types of offenses offenders were charged with were mainly theft, burglary and robbery, attributed to 660. This was followed by drug offenses, at 586; multiple offenses, 371; other-accessory, arson, etc., 97; forgery and insufficient funds checks, 86; and assault at 60.

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