Colorado parole audit expanded to cover budget issues
The Denver Post
An audit of Colorado's parole operations
is being expanded to review whether budget issues are keeping parole
officers from placing some high-risk parolees under intensive,
electronic-monitoring supervision.
Roger Werholtz, interim
director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, has asked the
National Institute of Corrections to expand the scope of its audit into the state's parole operations to cover budget issues, spokeswoman Alison Morgan said Thursday.
On
Wednesday, Tim Hand, the state's director of parole, was put on a paid
leave of absence. Hand has not returned telephone calls seeking comment.
Morgan declined to discuss the reasons he had been placed on leave.
The parole division has been under scrutiny since the killing of prisons chief Tom Clements by a parolee in March.
In an interview in April with The Denver Post, Hand spoke of the challenges of monitoring parolees on intensive supervision.
"We're in a situation where you manage people closely when they first
come out, but 800 new people are coming out of prison every month, and
you have to put new groups on high risk," Hand said.
But he later said budget issues are not a factor in determining who is monitored electronically.
Documents obtained by The Post through an open-records request show
that the state has in some cases been unable to place or keep parolees
under intensive supervision, which requires electronic monitoring and
extra scrutiny, because of "caps" or budgetary limitations on the
program.
In one of those cases, a parolee who was an alleged
American Nazi Party recruit went on to kill a woman in Colorado
Springs. In another, a parolee killed a 79-year-old
2 comments:
The issue is less about Parole's budget and more about the horrendous financial pressure on each person returning from prison. Perhaps an article could be written highlighting what these people go through. Their reoffenses could be seen in a different light.
I agree with Dr. Henderson. Not only are parolees under severe financial pressure, they are also required to attend and pay for numerous appointments each week with limited transportation options making it difficult to secure or be available for full time employment! I also have first hand experience that while providing transportation for someone to their appointments, the person they are scheduled to see isn't even there. This happens all too frequently and would never be tolerated in the free world! Now that I have witnessed the pressures parolees are placed under, I have a new understanding of why so many parolees are rearrested for missing appointments, failing to make financial requirements or then choose to abscond. We seriously need to rethink the entire parole system, who it really is serving, ie: keeping people employed rather than assisting offenders to become lawful and independent taxpayers?
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