Parole board calls for more programs designed to help parolees

That's the word from members of Nevada's Parole Board who say they can see the results from the growing number of drug and alcohol, anger management and other such programs offered in the prisons.

"In some cases you should educate some inmates," said board member Jim Allen. "But they don't need masters' degrees to go out and make it. They need basics first."

"Life skills is the most important thing these guys need," said member Cordelia Dunfield.

"Basically we're parenting people who failed to mature," said Board Chairman Tom Patton.

Member Norm Ziola and Allen said the other need is for drug and alcohol programs which are at the root of what got most inmates into trouble in the first place.

They said the quality of programs has improved greatly over the past couple of years but that the prison system needs more money to make some of them more available.

They complained that programs are very limited in some facilities including Nevada State Prison in Carson City and the Lovelock Prison.

But they said they can see the difference in inmates who have successfully completed programs and really believe they'll be more likely to stay out of prison.

Allen said one of the big gaps he sees is a unified program for sex offenders like those in several other states.

Patton said prison officials have taken steps to standardize the sex offender psychological profiles but agreed sex offenders are spread throughout the system and not required to participate in special programs.

Dunfield said those programs should be a condition for sex offenders to qualify for parole.

"A critical part is monitoring and tracking to see if the things we're doing are effective," said Patton.

He said board staff is now beginning a survey program to see which programs are working.

And the best chance those programs have, according to board members, is when the inmate is sent to prison the first time. DUI offender programs they say are having very good success.

Patton said the challenge is to stop "the progression to their committing more serious crimes."

"First felonies, these are the people you want to reach, the ones that have not spent most of their time in prison," he said.

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