Humane corrections to state incarceration offer new hope

(The Center Square) – The quality of life afforded the state’s prisoners is a perennial concern for families, human rights advocates and workers within the judicial system, including the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections itself.

For the nearly 40,000 incarcerated Pennsylvanians, new approaches to corrections could make a big difference in their experience. For some, they already are.

A program at SCI Chester called Little Scandinavia adopts principles from the prison model used in Sweden and Norway to lessen the disparity between life in prison and life in the real world. Residents of this unit, which can house up to 64 men, live in single cells where they have desks and even refrigerators.

The unit incorporates plants and green space. Prison staff are encouraged to interact on a more human-to-human level with inmates. They’re welcome to talk, work out, and even share a meal with the men there. A quiet space, Department of Corrections Secretary Dr. Laurel Harry says that only a single fight has been reported among the inmates who live there.

“Incarcerated individuals on that unit do feel safer because there is less violence, there’s more of a camaraderie amongst the inmate population, so I think those are some of the key takeaways for the inmate population,” said Harry.

Proponents of the model say it doesn’t just make a better life for prisoners. It also creates a much better working environment for corrections officers. Some inmates have even cited bonds with specific officers on the unit as influential in their own rehabilitation.

“We’re looking at staff wellness because we know corrections is a challenging environment, and I think one of the key benefits is the staff,” said Harry. “They feel much calmer walking onto that unit, less stress working on that unit, they definitely feel a sense of purpose working on that unit.”

Rep. Ben Waxman, D-Philadelphia, a major advocate for Little Scandinavia expressed enthusiasm for spreading the model to other facilities.

“It’s time for a shift in how we handle corrections in Pennsylvania,” he said. “Little Scandinavia isn’t just a program, it’s a new horizon in rehabilitation and human rights. This model focuses on transformative care, not just incarceration.”

Little Scandinavia isn’t the only specialized unit with which the department says it’s seeing success. Efforts to screen prisoners for autism have enabled the agency to provide specialized care and programming for those who might find particular struggle with the challenging prison environment.

SCI Albion is home to the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit where inmates are able to focus on social skills and working with intellectual disabilities. The system has a 50:1 ratio of inmates to mental health staff.

“Right now we have about 49 individuals diagnosed with autism on that unit and about 19 with intellectual disability,” said Harry. “It’s been a wonderful addition to our overall mental health services.”

An initiative Harry was enthusiastic to work with the legislature on moving forward is Prison Industry Enhancement, or PIE. PIE is a federal program which allows state prisons to make and sell goods in the private sector. Currently, they can only do business with state agencies and non-profit organizations. PIE certification allows facilities to participate economically without taking potential jobs away from the outside community.

Implementing PIE would need legislative action, but similar programs have seen success in the commonwealth. Female inmates at SCI Cambridge Springs have been making glasses and working within the Pennsylvania Correctional Industries Optical Lab. Harry says the opportunity has not only given them a sense of purpose creating 800 pairs of glasses so far but the skills they’ve learned assisting with eye screenings translate to job opportunities on the outside.

Regarding PIE, “The biggest advantage is we can pay prevailing wages to our inmates,” said Deputy Secretary of Administration Christopher Oppman. “This money can be used as either family support or help with victims’ restitution.”