“Whenever an inmate is released back into the community, it’s in everyone’s interest to improve the chances that he or she will build a productive life,” Mollohan said. “It helps the inmate, of course, but it also helps anyone who might otherwise have become a victim of criminal activity. It also eases the enormous budget pressures on federal and state correctional facilities. Glenville State is taking an innovative approach to this problem, and I have been pleased to support their program over the years.”

A high recidivism rate is one of the major challenges facing the federal Bureau of Prisons, state penitentiaries, and the criminal justice system in general. Glenville State is responding to this challenge with its “Reducing Recidivism by Degrees” program, which offers courses leading to an associate’s degree in business to selected inmates at Gilmer County’s Federal Correctional Facility. I

n conjunction with the coursework, the college is also evaluating the effectiveness of using post-secondary education to reduce recidivism. This evaluation will help shape other efforts across the nation to improve prisoner re-entry.

Last May, the college granted degrees to the first seven graduates of the program. Mollohan spoke at the commencement ceremony.

Mollohan directed a total of $585,000 in federal funding to the program in 2008 and 2010. Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, described Mollohan as “a champion of research-based approaches to fighting crime,” partly because of his support for prisoner re-entry programs.

“We greatly appreciate Congressman Mollohan’s past and present support for this program,” said Peter Barr, President of Glenville State College. “We are excited with the progress we’ve made, and this funding will help us build on that success.”

Mollohan chairs the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee, which drafted its fiscal year 2011 spending bill recently. The funds for Glenville State are included in the draft. The legislation must be approved by the House and Senate and signed into law before any funding can be delivered.

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