Bradford County

Community Workforce Inmate Program

Preliminary Proposal

As Submitted to the Bradford County Prison Board

Don Stewart, Warden
Mark W. Smith, Commissioner

301 Main Street Towanda PA 18848 (570) 265-1727 Fax (570) 265-1729
www.bradfordcountypa.org
Purpose of the Program:
The Community Workforce Inmate Program (C.W.I.P.) will be available to community
groups, charitable organizations and local governments within Bradford County. The program
will provide low cost labor to community groups and local governments via approved work
release inmates from the Bradford County Correctional Facility. The types of projects that
workforce inmates may be involved with include; Public work projects, painting, graffiti
removal, various public works projects, special events, maintenance, general public property
clean-up, etc.

Benefits of the Program:

The C.W.I.P. will have a positive impact on both the inmates and the communities in
which they work. This will be an opportunity to use the unproductive time of those who have
broken the laws of our communities to give something back. Communities will gain the
advantage of added manpower to complete projects in their community.
This program will give inmates the chance to gain work experience while incarcerated.
By helping the community and accomplishing work in their communities it will promote a sense
of accomplishment and self respect.
This program will allow local governments and groups to do projects at a low cost and
save all local taxpayers money. This will provide the opportunity for the taxpayers to see results
from those individuals who would normally be unproductive members of the jail population.

Utilizing the Program:

To utilize the program the applicant will be required to submit an application to the
Bradford County Prison Board for approval. Once approval of the application is granted a
contract for work will entered into between Bradford County Commissioners and the submitting
entity. The contract will be an agreement of the terms of which the work will be completed.

Application:
There will be an application process for each group or local government interested in
utilizing inmate labor for their project.

The application should provide the following information:

(1) Name of charitable organization, community group or local
government.
(2) Names and contact information of all workers on the job site
(3) Location(s) of job site
(4) List any special skill sets that may be required to complete the work.
(5) Detailed description of work to be completed
(6) Schedule of work to be completed

Contract:
A contract based upon the information provided in the application will be entered into by
both parties. The contract will also specify the insurance and liability requirements of both
parties.

301 Main Street Towanda PA 18848 (570) 265-1727 Fax (570) 265-1729
www.bradfordcountypa.org
Inmate selection:
Inmates selected for work crews will be carefully screened. Every inmate will be
approved as physically fit by Bradford County Correctional Facility medical personnel. The
records of each inmate will be reviewed to ensure that they have no history of violent crime. The
inmates will also be screened taking into consideration the type of work that needs to be
accomplished and the skills that they possess.

Reporting & Survey Process:

A survey and reporting process should be implemented to ensure work quality and inmate
compliance for the duration of the project.
The group or local government using the C.W.I.P. will be required to report on the
inmate progress on the project, including their work ethic, quality of work, etc. The supervisor
will also evaluate the inmates and a daily report will be submitted to the Warden. A survey at the
end of the project will be required to evaluate our processes and effectiveness.

Further research required:

(1) Worksite supervision of inmates
(2) Transportation to the worksite
(4) The average availability of work release inmates
(5) Approval of work release inmates, sentences allowed
(6) Insurance and liability issues
(7) Pay or reimbursement to inmates
(8) General work training issues
(9) Worksite safety training
(10) Grant opportunities for the project

301 Main Street Towanda PA 18848 (570) 265-1727 Fax (570) 265-1729
www.bradfordcountypa.org