PRISON BUDGET LIGHT ON TRAINING

Programs aim to turn lives around

Fort Dodge, Ia. - Shane Hagensick dropped out of school as a juvenile and
was arrested for burglary and theft. He graduated to extortion as an adult.

Ask Hagensick what he did before entering prison, and he shakes his head.

"Nothing," he says quietly.

Hagensick, 20, of Waukon, was recently freed from the Fort Dodge
Correctional Facility and assigned to a work-release program in northeast
Iowa. He worked hard while in prison to turn his life around. He studied
writing, math, science and other subjects to earn a high school equivalency
certificate. He learned how to lay concrete and helped build a new prison
cell-house.

Hagensick's efforts to improve himself stand out among Iowa's 7,300 prison
inmates, but not all of them have that great a chance. Because of a lack of
meaningful work, education and vocational programs, about 40 percent of
Iowa's prisoners spend most of their time idle, said Iowa Corrections
Director W.L. "Kip" Kautzky.

"When I walked in the door here, I was as troubled as anybody else" about
the lack of opportunities for inmates, said Kautzky, who assumed his post in
July 1997. "Having said that, my hope is that this will be changing," he
added.

As the state has rushed to get tough on crime, Iowa prisons have not
emphasized giving inmates opportunities to learn skills to keep them from
returning - even though 27 percent of Iowa's inmates had been in prison
before their current sen-tences.

The education budget in C2Iowa's prisons is $3.3 million - just under 2
percent of the $170 million cost of running the prison system.

The average education level of Iowa's inmates is slightly below 12th grade.
The average reading level is lower than 10th grade.

The Iowa Department of Corrections bolstered some education programs about
four years ago to help illiterate inmates learn to read and write and to
help school dropouts meet general educational standards. A total of 349
inmates completed the literacy program last year, and 588 inmates were
awarded general education certificates.

The extra help for illiterates and dropouts was paid for with money cut from
prison vocational-technical classes and life-coping programs. Those programs
taught inmates a variety of skills. They ranged from computer and building
trades to how to be a good parent and how to manage family finances. Some
courses have since been reinstated, although not at previous levels.

Carolyn Waddell, who used to coordinate education programs at state prisons
at Newton and Mitchellville, said the reduction in educational offerings was
a big mistake.

Literacy programs are extremely important, and so are general education
courses, Waddell said. However, some inmates are incapable of reading and
writing at even minimal levels, she added.

"We are also talking about people who have totally fried their heads with
drugs. And as long as we had to keep all of those people in classes, then we
were missing the opportunity to help other people learn and do something
productive," said Waddell, who is retired. She worked for Des Moines Area
Community College under a contract with Iowa's prisons.

Iowa's prisons have also had a difficult time finding enough meaningful work
for inmates. State officials have attracted publicity in the past by
assigning a handful of inmates to chain gangs watched by shotgun-toting
correctional officers. The reality, though, is that many inmates spend long
hours of idle time behind bars watching TV talk shows and lifting weights.

The biggest prison work program - Iowa Prison Industries - employs about 400
inmates in jobs that range from making license plates and traffic signs to
assembling furniture. Another 175 prisoners work for private companies doing
telemarketing, factory work, egg-processing and other duties. Many inmates
also work inside the prisons doing such chores as laundry, cooking and
janitorial work. There is not enough work, however, to keep every inmate
busy eight hours a day.