New law builds on the idea that Incarcerated people who participate in postsecondary education are less likely to return to prison for new crimes after being released.
Colorado Department of Corrections
Posted inCrime and Courts
Colorado lawmakers mandate audit of halfway houses for first time in decades
A new state law directs Colorado’s Division of Criminal Justice to hire a third-party auditor to evaluate the finances of halfway houses every five years, including the costs imposed on residents of the facilities.
Posted inOpinion Columns
Opinion: We tried lock-’em-up before, and it didn’t work
Throwing more than $1 billion at state prisons may be good politics, but it’s not a strategy for actually reducing crime.
Posted inNews
To keep people from returning to jail, Mesa County follows other communities’ reentry roadmap
Many people transitioning from jail or prison struggle to reenter society without support. Mesa County’s new program helps with housing, jobs, transportation and mental health services.
Posted inSunLit Interviews
DU’s Prison Arts Initiative navigated COVID to create “Tell It Slant”
“Tell It Slant” co-editors describe the challenges of working with inmates during a pandemic, while one inmate describes what the program has meant.
Posted inBook Excerpts
“Tell It Slant” drew on creative nonfiction from incarcerated writers
The University of Denver’s Prison Arts Initiative worked across nine DOC facilities to produce the anthology “Tell It Slant,” a Colorado Book Awards finalist.
Posted inCrime and Courts
In latest effort to staff Colorado’s prisons, CDOC is offering $7K bonuses and making TikToks
The prison system is offering up to $7,000 to new correctional officers in Sterling, Limon, Buena Vista and Cañon City.
Posted inSocial Services
The sudden suspension of a Colorado prison-work program has thrown employers into disarray
The Take Two program was paused following an inmate escape earlier this year. Employers, already battling a tight labor market, say they were given no time to plan for the loss of labor.
Posted inNews
Colorado Department of Corrections to review COVID vaccine mandate as it scrambles to fill 1,800 open positions
Colorado Department of Corrections officials are revisiting a policy requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for employees as the department scrambles to fill nearly 1,800 open positions. The vaccine mandate and testing requirements for prison workers remained under administrative review Friday, and a potential rollback could come this week, the DOC confirmed. “Any decisions will be made with […]
Posted inWildfire
No former prisoners have been hired by Colorado to fight wildfires since a law passed to help
Members of the State Wildland Inmate Fire Team help fight some of Colorado’s largest fires. A 2021 law was supposed to smooth their path toward a full-time firefighting career, but none have been hired or have even applied.