Program could help Nevada convicts with life skills, avoid recidivism

CARSON CITY — Nevada offenders on probation and parole may get another shot at showing they can stay out of trouble without being sent back to prison.

First, lawmakers will need to approve Assembly Bill 23, which would allow the state Division of Parole and Probation to operate independent reporting facilities that provide specialized services to offenders.

The independent reporting facilities, also called day reporting centers, would provide offenders with services like job search help, GED preparation, and classes in anger management, parenting and and domestic violence prevention. The centers would be non-residential and provide offenders a place for help they need to become successful outside of prison.

“There’s a time to arrest and there’s a time not to,” said Natalie Wood, chief of the Division of Parole and Probation, told the Assembly Committee on Corrections, Parole and Probation on Thursday.

Ultimately, the centers would allow probation and parole officers to impose an “intermediate sanction” on an offender who would otherwise be sent to prison for violations. Examples of offenders who could get help from the centers include those who haven’t found jobs or have substance abuse issues.

“We’re not talking about the offender who is out there violating and putting public safety at risk,” said Shawn Arruti, a captain in the Nevada Department of Public Safety.

Under the proposal, the state would open up two centers, one in Las Vegas and another in Northern Nevada. The state would contract out some services, but the offenders’ cases would be under the supervision of probation and parole officers.

“We always have the ability to take an offender into custody,” Arruti said. “This is about exhausting all avenues until we do that. … We want to see them return to society in a productive manner.”

The cost would be $2.7 million for a two-year period to staff and operate the centers and provide training.

The state would need to add eight employees for the centers, including a sergeant, five officers and two specialists. Officials anticipate the centers could help 250 offenders each month initially, though that figure could grow as the pilot program progresses.

It would also help the Department of Corrections save money. Incarceration costs $58.15 a day for an inmate; the daily cost of the center for an offender is $15.34.

Lawmakers had mixed reactions. Some legislators praised the idea as a way to save money and keep from warehousing people who can become law-abiding citizens.

“The more we start thinking outside the box the better,” Assemblyman Elliott Anderson, D-Las Vegas, said.

Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson, D-North Las Vegas, questioned the need for the centers, noting that there are other community service providers that offenders and the division can work with.

Arruti said the centers would provide an intermediate sanction for offenders who don’t engage in services already available.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @BenBotkin1 on Twitter.