Feb 24, 2005 By Paul Sunyak 5 min read

Representatives of Goodwill Industries Inc. pitched an alternative housing idea to the Fayette County Prison Board Wednesday, one mirrored after a 32-bed program the nonprofit runs in Allegheny County. Glenn Callihan of Pittsburgh Goodwill and Phil Michaels of Fayette Goodwill touted the program as a potential cost savings to taxpayers and a better way to handle nonviolent adult male offenders.

Callihan said that risk management is a key part of the program, and added that inmates would be under Goodwill’s care 24 hours a day, leaving their facility only to go to work. He added that Goodwill attaches 15 percent of each inmate’s wages as a means of helping counties pay for his or her alternative incarceration.

Although only the idea was put forth Wednesday, it immediately gained favor with Judge John F. Wagner Jr., who noted that the estimated $48.50 cost per inmate per day was a better bargain than his current sentencing option of home confinement, which costs the county $6.50 a day for a monitoring ankle bracelet that those inmates must wear.

Wagner said he likes the fact that Goodwill’s program actually makes inmates seek and maintain work, something he favors over merely sending them home to chill out in a comfortable and familiar environment.

Wagner said he’s long been uneasy over sentencing people “to go home, sit in a lounge chair and vegetate” in front of a TV, where they’re drinking beer and “sitting in their soft little chair with their slippers (on).”

Explained Wagner, “The bulk of these people are unemployed. We have a huge population of people who need a job skill to get on with their life. …I can look them in the eye (at sentencing) and know they’re coming back.”

Sheriff Gary D. Brownfield, who chairs the prison board, added concerning the proposed program, “It’s great. I love it. It’s better than (wearing) an ankle bracelet.”

The Goodwill representatives weren’t the only ones putting forth a tentative proposal at the meeting. Myrna Giannopoulos, the newest member of the Fayette County Airport Authority board, said it wants to explore whether the building that formerly housed the Carnegie Mellon University truck driving school would be suited for housing inmates.

“We would like to do … the weekend warrior people,” said Giannopoulos, referring to those sentenced for such things as DUI. She said the airport board would like to know the housing criteria so it can further explore this possibility.

Two representatives of Brennan Associates, a firm headquartered in South Carolina, approached the board offering their company’s services. President James J. Brennan said they mostly serve as consultants and advisors, and would like to offer such expertise to the prison board.

“We deal with problems holistically,” said Brennan.

A contingent of German Township residents also attended the meeting, seeking information on where the prison board stands regarding a halfway house for prison inmates.

They voiced opposition to a proposed location put forth at January’s prison board meeting by attorney Richard Bower, who was representing Maxine Shipley, the owner of a personal care home on Sunshine Hollow Road.

Bower told the board that Shipley was interested in converting her facility into an alternative housing site, but wanted to know the board’s thoughts before proceeding. The German Township supervisors later came out in opposition to the proposal, and supervisor Dan Shimshock joined the group attending Wednesday’s meeting.

“It is a very poor location … in a rural area,” said Shimshock, who noted that since German Township doesn’t have a police force, any type of major disturbance at the proposed facility could prove disastrous.

Grace Monaghan, who said she lives a “stone’s throw” away, asked, “Who in this room wants a prison next to them?”

Brownfield told the group that the prison board is willing to hear anyone who wishes to put forth an idea to help the county with its costly prison overcrowding issue – as well as anyone who opposes that idea.

Brownfield said that two members of the prison board were singled out for blame regarding the proposed German Township site, which was unfair and way premature since nothing has been decided.

“We listen to everybody who has an opinion,” said Brownfield. “Naturally, we’re interested (in a halfway house). We’re trying to save the taxpayers money.”

Fayette County Controller Mark D. Roberts, who also sits on the prison board, said that if the board elects to pursue the halfway house strategy, the county would likely solicit requests for proposals before making a final decision on location.

Roberts said that before that happens, he would favor getting community input from all sites under consideration, to help the board make the best decision.

Addressing the prison population, Warden Larry Medlock said the current inmate count stands at 282, with 234 males and 28 females housed at the Fayette County Prison, and another 20 being housed outside the county via cell rentals.

Medlock said the county has averaged 20 out-of-county prisoners for the past seven or eight weeks because the prison has no available space. He also said that one inmate recently had a 10-day hospital stay, which required a corrections officer to stand guard at the hospital room 24 hours a day.

“We have the expense of overtime (pay) for the officers” in those situations, said Medlock, who also proposed eliminating one of three lieutenant positions in his budget so he can free up money to give raises to supervisory employees.

Medlock said that because of their new union contract, corrections officers are now earning more than some of their supervisors. His request to eliminate the vacant position failed to pass, as only Brownfield and Wagner voted in favor.

Roberts voted no, and Commissioners Angela M. Zimmerlink and Vincent A. Vicites abstained because they each serve on the county salary board, which creates positions and sets salaries.