WAYNE COUNTY, PA — A new program coming to the Wayne County Correctional Facility hopes to help inmates stay out of jail once released by providing them with education and by changing the …
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WAYNE COUNTY, PA — A new program coming to the Wayne County Correctional Facility hopes to help inmates stay out of jail once released by providing them with education and by changing the culture of incarceration.
Called “IGNITE” (which stands for “Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education”), the program is modeled after one that began in Flint, MI in September 2020. The National Sheriff’s Association (NSA) developed it from there as a national initiative. Wayne County will be the 21st county in the nation, and the second in Pennsylvania, to sign on to the program.
IGNITE is a comprehensive rehabilitation program, aimed to help inmates re-integrate into society once they get out of jail, explained Wayne County Sheriff Chris Rosler.
Those who choose to participate take classes in remedial English and math, GED preparation and vocational training, he said. They also get life skills workshops on topics such as conflict resolution and anger management.
A study of the program’s Michigan model showed that these classes can make a difference.
Researchers found that one month of work with IGNITE reduced in-jail violence by 25%, and had a 24% reduction on the rate of three-month recidivism (the likelihood that a released inmate will commit another crime and be returned to jail). The impact to recidivism grew stronger over time, and most affected the people who are most at risk of it, they wrote.
Some of these benefits could be attributed to the IGNITE classwork. Researchers found that, on average, participants gained a full grade level in both their math and English skills. However, that wasn’t the full picture.
“Nominally, IGNITE is an educational program which offers tailored coursework and training to all jailed individuals with high takeup rates,” researchers wrote. “In practice, however, IGNITE administrators emphasize a cultural change in the jail that goes well beyond coursework and embodies a rehabilitative philosophy.
IGNITE’s guiding philosophy centers on rehabilitation—giving inmates the tools and training they need to be productive members of society once they have served their sentences.
“We already think that way—to do good for the inmate,” Rosler told the River Reporter. He said Wayne County law enforcement officials heard about the idea of IGNITE from attending national sheriffs’ and jail conferences.
The Wayne County Jail already has initiatives in place to foster inmates’ rehabilitation, such as a jail garden run in partnership with the Wayne County Master Gardeners. However, the all-encompassing approach taken by IGNITE is “kind of like a big step up,” warden Randal Williams said.
It’s a step that officials hope will lead to better outcomes for inmates and for the wider Wayne County community. Commissioner Brian Smith said that anything the county can do to help the inmates in its jail does only good things for the community.
“These are people who can be corrected,” said Smith. “These are people who can benefit from good programs.”
For more information:
“Something Works” in U.S. Jails: Misconduct and Recidivism Effects of the IGNITE Program: https://www.nber.org/papers/w32282
A garden blooms at the Wayne County jail: www.bit.ly/RR-2025-jail-garden
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