News

Officials with Ohio’s prisons agency are emphasizing the importance of preparing inmates for life outside bars.

Mark Hooks, warden at Ross Correctional Institution in Chillicothe in southern Ohio, says the agency wants to release people better off than when they entered prison.

The Chillicothe Gazette reported Thursday that a conference hosted by Ohio University’s Chillicothe branch focused on educating offenders and making their prison time productive.

Hooks and Charlotte Jenkins, warden at Chillicothe Correctional Institution, said programs such as critiques of resumes, mock job interviews and addiction counseling have helped prepare inmates for freedom.

Jenkins says community service programs at the Chillicothe prison allow offenders to make blankets for the homeless, rosaries for local Roman Catholic churches and hats and scarves for cancer survivors.