IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho Department of Correction and GEO Reentry Services, a division of the for-profit private prison company Geo Group, opened the Connection and Intervention Center in Idaho Falls on Monday.
The center is part of a new program aimed at reducing recidivism among former inmates returning to the community. Three similar centers have opened in other communities across the state, including Boise, Coeur d’Alene and Twin Falls.
“These four centers are non-residential and provide individualized, assessment and evidence-based programming for high-risk or non-compliant people supervised by IDOC,” a news release about the centers stated. “Participants are referred to the (Connection and Intervention Station) by their supervising officers, and behavior change plans are developed to meet individual participant’s needs.”
IDOC and the District 7 Probation & Parole Office have made efforts in recent years to reduce recidivism rates in order to reduce costs associated with long-term incarceration, efforts that have accelerated as the COVID-19 pandemic has made it dangerous for inmates to be incarcerated closely together.
Glenda Thomson, felony probation and parole manager for District 7, said her office would refer parolees to the intervention center if they were believed to be on the verge of reoffending or violating the terms of their probation.
In the past, the probation and parole office has collected donations of supplies for former inmates to make sure they have access to necessities, from warm clothes to food and hygienic supplies. The intervention center would allow them to refer a parolee if they were believed to be falling back on drugs.
A parolee referred to the center would meet with Socorro White, program manager for the center, who would interview the individual and develop a plan for them. That may include helping those struggling with addiction, providing job training for parolees in need of employment, or other programs as the need arises.
“We’re looking at their foundational stability (in the community) and anything that would affect their stability,” White said.
Evette Navedo, statewide manager for the Connection and Intervention Stations program, said the station is working with other organizations in Idaho to put former inmates in contact with programs that may assist them, such as the Center for Hope, which runs addiction recovery programs for Idaho Falls.
The center is also running checks for the coronavirus, in line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirements during the pandemic. Anyone entering the center at 2265 DeSoto St. is asked if they’ve had contact with someone showing symptoms or have had symptoms themselves.
Navedo said the centers are prepared to hold appointments over Zoom, a conference call app, if a parolee has symptoms and is not able to enter the center.
The center opened for business last Monday and, according to Navedo, had its first client that day.
Geo Reentry Services has run similar programs in other states, programs Navedo said have been successful. She said she hopes to repeat that success in the future.
Geo Group has faced scrutiny in the past decade as a private prison company for its treatment of inmates and management of facilities.
The company has been the target of protesters for running immigrant detention centers. In 2018 a report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General found the Adelanto ICE Processing Center managed by GEO Group neglected care for the inmates, allowing their teeth to rot from lack of dental care and that nooses were found hanging from air vents.
In 2019 Kim Taylor, an Idaho Falls resident, died at Eagle Pass Correctional Facility a private prison run by GEO Group in Texas that houses 550 Idaho inmates. The prison’s warden, Waymon Brady, attributed the death to “natural causes,” and Taylor’s body was embalmed and returned to Idaho without an autopsy. An IDOC investigation later found Taylor did not receive medical treatment at the prison despite turning pale and running a fever before his death.