General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 30 Percent of California's Forest Firefighters Are Prisoners [View all]nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)that was born in the 1950s... seriously.
Because you know what? They meet those goals very well thank you very much. Some of them go on INTO the fire service. since they like the job. They get smitten by the bug. and having worked in the camps gives them an opening with both CAL FIRE and the USF that otherwise would not be available due to the box.
Some city departments also give them a chance that otherwise they would never get.
And the goal is that they never, ever again see a judge... don't you think more programs should do that?
By the way, there was a prison in OH for low level offenders that in the 1980s had a similar program. Their prisoners manned the EMS rigs in the area. Recidivism was low. You know what happened when that program was stopped becuase GASP, we cannot do that! Recidivism is now pretty high.