NCJ Number
85350
Date Published
1982
Length
6 pages
Annotation
While some problems are unresolved, the movement to bring together the private sector and prison industries is growing and has the potential to improve the lives of the inmates who choose to participate.
Abstract
The Free Venture Program of prison industries is intended to provide a meaningful work experience for inmates in an industrial environment as much like private industry as possible. The Free Venture model has the following characteristics: (1) a full workday for prisoners; (2) a wage based on production, with the base wage significantly higher than typical payments to industries' workers; (3) productivity standards comparable to free-world industry; (4) final responsibility for hiring and firing industry workers resting with industrial management; (5) self-sufficient to profitable shop operations within a reasonable period after start-up; and (6) industrial coordination with appropriate correctional and other agencies assigned the task of placing released prisoners in jobs. Initial efforts at implementing the Free Venture Program have shown that a substantial amount of time is necessary before new industries or shops can break even. This is typically related to outdated or nonexistent equipment, poor production flow patterns, unskilled prisoner-workers and supervisory staff, custody and security infringements on production time, and conflicting institutional programs. Necessary attitudinal change of staff and workers is also needed. The turning point for a successful prison industry occurs when staff begin to view themselves as responsible production managers, not 9-to-5 employees of a bureaucracy. A boon to prison industries has been the 1979 Federal Public Law 96-157 (Justice System Improvement Act), which authorizes pilot and demonstration projects for prison industries at the State level involving private sector industries and provides partial exemptions to Federal laws that restrict the marketing of prison goods.