Wabash Valley Correctional Facility Offenders Decorate for Christmas

(CARLISLE) – Offenders from the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility (WVCF) were honored to help many local communities place decorations to help brighten the holiday season.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, offender work crews hung lights at several parks and other locations in Odon, Linton, Bloomfield, Jasonville, Sandborn, Newberry, Merom, and Farmersburg.  Each work crew consists of five to seven workers who are supervised by a correctional officer.  Officers L. Ball, R. Swan, and S. McGavic supervise the crews that completed the work.  Decorating for Christmas is just one of many tasks that the crews complete throughout the year.  

Offender work crews are a blessing to not only the communities they serve but also the offender population.  The communities benefit from the assistance the crews are able to provide, while the offenders are given the opportunity to feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in a job well done.  They learn a number of skills from landscaping to remodeling that will aid them as they seek employment upon release.

Re-entry is a process, not an event.  Correctional facilities must be innovative in their programming to help instill life long values in those they are attempting to rehabilitate.  Offenders need a way to feel that they can make a positive difference in the world after their release.  In order to instill that in the offender population correctional facilities must provide avenues for offenders to give back.  Offender work crews are an excellent way the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) does just that.