Gov. Rell says prison labor saves $2.2 million
Inmates are paid $1.75 an hour.
More than 100 inmates – including some incarcerated in the Bergin Correctional Institution on Route 44 in this town – will be put to work to maintain and clean state highways, a measure that Gov. M. Jodi Rell says will save the state big bucks.
The average member of a state Department of Transportation crew is paid $16 an hour. Inmates are paid $1.75 an hour.
Inmate workers currently provide the DOT with about 2,800 man-hours of labor a week.
If DOT crews were used, the cost would be about $43,840.00 a week. The total cost for inmate labor is $883.75 per week.
The estimated cost savings is more than $2.2 million a year.
Vocational training?
According to a statement released on Tuesday by Gov. Rell, the DOT is putting 28 crews made up of minimum-security prisoners to work, “giving the inmates a chance to learn job skills while giving something back to the people of Connecticut.”
Bergin Correctional Insitution on Route 44 in Mansfield. HTNP.com file photo.
The inmates will be monitored by DOT staff specially trained in the supervision of offenders.
The crews will be recruited from Bergin, the Radgowski Correctional Center (in Uncasville), Enfield Correctional Institution, Gates Correctional Institution (in Niantic), Webster Correctional Institution (in Cheshire) and Willard-Cybulski Correctional Institution (also in Enfield).
Inmates are a ‘resource’
“This program is truly benefiting everyone,” Gov. Rell said in her statement.
“The 102 inmates who make up these work crews are gaining knowledge that will help them in the transition back to law-abiding society and are no longer sitting idly behind prison walls,” she said.
“Connecticut motorists benefit from their work along the highways and the cost savings. And the inmates are making a positive contribution to the state, which is incurring a sizable cost to feed, clothe and house them while they serve their sentence,” Rell said.
“We have long used inmate labor to maintain prisons and to assist municipalities and non-profit groups,” Rell said. “It makes sense to use this resource for the benefit of all the people in our state.
Inmate labor is commonly used by cities and towns for everything from landscaping to cleaning public buildings. Inmates also often work in their own prison, in food services, laundry, physical plant maintenance and janitorial services.
Posted Aug. 13, 2009
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