SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A second chance at success: Lackawanna County is bringing back a GED program for inmates at the county prison. The goal? Give individuals the tools they need to rebuild their lives and reduce the chance of returning behind bars.
The GED program inside the county prison was shut down during the pandemic, but now, it's making a comeback thanks to a new contract with a local nonprofit and funding that doesn't touch a single taxpayer dollar.
A long-awaited GED program is returning to the Lackawanna County prison
Roughly half of the prison population doesn't have a high school diploma. Officials are aiming to educate, empower, and prevent repeat offenses.
"What we were finding is as people maybe got that confidence, built up that self-esteem and became, for, eligible for more employment, they were getting jobs out there that were keeping them on a straight narrow path and they weren't coming back to see us," Lackawanna County Prison Warden Tim Betti said.
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The nonprofit Outreach Center in Scranton will provide test prep, tutoring, and help the facility become a certified GED testing site so inmates can take the exam as soon as they feel prepared.
"They have classes, they have certified teachers that come in, all the core classes that you need for a GED, besides providing the GED classes to the population here, is getting this facility certified as a testing site," Betti explained.
The program comes with a $200,000 price tag, but it's funded entirely through the inmate canteen account
"We're taking those funds and we're reinvesting them for the benefit of the inmate and really for the benefit of the taxpayers, as I said before, in the hopes that our inmates become successful, they get their GED and then they don't come back through our doors," Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan said.
The goal is to give inmates a foundation for life after incarceration, opening doors to employment, college, and self-sufficiency.
"It's hard to really do anything without a GED these days, so we're trying to give the inmates at the prison the tools to be able to be successful once they leave," Commissioner Gaughan added.
If an inmate is released before taking the test, Outreach will still help them finish the process at their facility in Scranton.
