January 25, 2021 at 10:17 a.m.
McNaughton Correctional Center programs put inmates on positive path
McNaughton Correctional Center programs put inmates on positive path
By Stephanie Kuski-
McNaughton Correctional Center (MCC) is a minimum security facility that is often the final stop for inmates before they are released. For that reason, MCC offers eligible inmates a variety of vocational and work release programs in addition to community-enhancement projects which are aimed at easing their transition back into society.
According to MCC superintendent Brad Kosbab, the programs give inmates more responsibility for their day while allowing them to learn a trade, work with community organizations and interact with society at large prior to their release. MCC also partners with Nicolet College to offer vocational training as a tried and true mechanism to provide inmates with the tools they need to succeed.
Vocational Certificates
Toni Van Doren, business solutions coordinator for Nicolet College, noted the partnership between the college and MCC started back in 2018. Although the vocational certificate program - in addition to several other programs at MCC - was put on hold in 2020 due to COVID-19, the goal is to resume the program when it becomes safe to do so.
In a typical year, Van Doren said Nicolet College works with MCC to decide what training their inmates are interested in and which job prospects are the best fit. She noted it's important to pair inmates with a job which provides a family-sustaining wage that will also be available to them despite their record of incarceration.
"McNaughton does a lot of work with the state Department of Corrections on choosing the right programs and the right students," Van Doren said. "They do a lot of screening on their end to make sure the students are prepared and that their interests meet what program we're offering."
Although MCC students are not permitted to co-mingle with other Nicolet students, inmates enrolled in the program are given the same benefits as all other Nicolet students, such as access to textbooks, special needs items, adult basic education classes and tutoring support.
Career services also help MCC students write resumes, practice mock job interviews and prepare them for the difficult conversation of explaining their history of incarceration. Upon completing the program, past cohorts have also been afforded a graduation ceremony to commemorate their accomplishment, an opportunity some might not have had otherwise.
"During our first graduation, the students got to invite their families to watch them graduate," Van Doren recalled. "Our student speaker talked and his two children were interviewed and they said how proud they were of their dad. He said that made a bigger impact on him than anything - that his family was proud of him."
"I think that's super important," she continued. "A lot of inmates don't get that. They've never walked across a stage or heard from their family how proud they are, and it really makes a difference in their attitude... It's a huge impact."
Van Doren said some MCC students have even returned to the college upon being released to obtain an advanced degree. This is beneficial not only to the graduate, but it also decreases the rate at which individuals are likely to reoffend.
"The recidivism rate of inmates who are released that have credentials are far lower than those who don't," Van Doren explained. "The more successful they are, the more opportunities they have to pay back those fines to get ahead in life... If they're able to do that in these positions that pay a family-sustaining wage, it's a lot less attractive to fall back into that bad behavior."
While a different program is offered to each cohort based on the interests of those students, past programs have offered inmates vocational certificates in welding, electromechanical work and introductory pneumatics and hydraulics.
Last spring, Van Doren said a small group of inmates were signed up and ready to go for the heavy equipment operations program, but it was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. She said the hope is for that program to resume when it's possible to do so.
Work Release Programs
Although all of MCC's work release programs are also currently suspended due to the constraints of COVID-19, Supt. Kosbab noted the program typically works with 20 different employers from Mercer to Wausau, including locations in Rhinelander, Minocqua and Woodruff.
Eligible inmates are approved by the MCC off-grounds team in order to participate in the work release program. Inmates earn a wage just like others performing the same task and jobs vary from production line work to skilled positions like mechanical work or woodworking.
"It also helps develop life skills like working together as a team to accomplish a task," Kosbab said, "and they can feel the satisfaction of being appreciated for a job well done. In addition, wages earned can be used for various things like court-ordered restitution, payment of other debt or putting some money away to facilitate a smoother transition back into the community."
Community-Enhancement Projects
Not only are MCC inmates afforded the opportunity to earn wages and vocational training, but their crews also have worked on several projects throughout the wider community. Although this work is also currently suspended because of the pandemic, the projects these crews have facilitated hold a visible space in our community.
"MCC wants to be a good neighbor and be active in our communities," Kosbab explained. "With our project and community service crews, we try to look for win-win situations in which the entity we are working with benefits from the relationship as well as MCC and the PIOC (Persons In Our Care)."
In typical years, the MCC project crew works in tandem with the Rhinelander Area Sports Trails Association (RASTA) to build and maintain area trails. RASTA representative Guy Hansen said the MCC crew has been working with RASTA since the group was founded 15 years ago.
"They do a lot of hard work for very little money, so it really benefits nonprofits to be able to get that work done - work that we wouldn't be able to do ourselves necessarily," Hansen commented. "It's a big asset to the community."
Hansen noted the MCC project crew has helped with major work on the Washburn trail in addition to installing 200 feet of boarded walkway on the Cassian trail. This year, RASTA planned to have the crew work on the mile reroute at the Nose Lake trail, but since the crew wasn't available due to COVID, RASTA relied on volunteers to get the work done.
In addition to helping RASTA, the MCC project crew has also worked with the Wisconsin DNR, Oneida County Forestry Department, Minocqua Winter Park and several snowmobile clubs in the area to facilitate trail maintenance.
Kosbab noted MCC's cabinet shop on campus is staffed by an instructor who teaches interested inmates woodshop techniques as either a hobby or job skill. In doing so, MCC has worked with several schools in the area to build items like display stands for the art department at Elcho Middle School, ski racks for Rhinelander High School and signage along the MHLT School Nature Trail.
The crew also helps tear down and set up the Oneida County Fair each year in addition to the annual Radar Run in St. Germain. In addition, MCC sends their crew to lend a hand to their neighbors at Camp American Legion, helping with various projects throughout the year.
"One of the more interesting things we have done over the last few years is to send the crews to assist with the Eagle River Public Library move," Kosbab added. "They did so well that the town of Three Lakes called, too, and asked the crew to help move their library a few years later."
Kosbab said the crew's most important work, however, is helping with disaster relief. When strong winds hit Minocqua five years ago, the MCC crew helped with several clean-up projects. When tornadoes tore through Langlade County in 2019, Kosbab noted MCC was called upon by Wisconsin Emergency Management and, together with the Wisconsin National Guard and other local governments, the MCC crew spent six weeks helping open highways and roads throughout the county to allow homeowners and emergency responders into the area.
The MCC crews provide muscle to help with several local projects, but the men are also given an opportunity to explore their softer side. MCC has partnered with the Oneida County Humane Society for several years to allow eligible inmates an opportunity to train and socialize shelter dogs so the animals can have better luck finding their forever home.
Although this program has also been on hold due to COVID-19, it affords both the inmates and animals an opportunity to benefit from one another. Typically, shelter staff go to the MCC campus once per week to train the trainers and the dogs stay with the inmates for six to eight weeks.
Even though the program is on pause, Oneida County Humane Society director Bria Swartout noted one resident dog has become a fixture at the MCC campus. Jake is a hard to place dog that has been with the shelter going on four years, she said, and since Jake doesn't do well in the shelter environment, the program fits his needs and offers inmates a furry friend.
"We've placed many dogs that have been in the program," Swartout said. "It's been quite a while since we've had dogs in the program, but I would say besides Jake, it's about a 98% placement right out of the program."
"We're hoping that soon we can get back up there," she added. "It's been quite a year without doing it. Jake is in good hands, but it's really helped everybody - both them and us- with getting some dogs up there."
Indeed, the MCC crew has had their hands in a variety of projects that have benefited the community in many ways. But the programs offered at the correctional center also give inmates another chance to do better.
Stephanie Kuski may be reached via email at stephanie@rivernews online.com.
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