Call it seeds of change. The Sheriff's East Mesa Re-entry Facility is giving convicted criminals a chance to experience life on the other side of the bars.
It's called the Civics Program, a partnership between the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and County Parks and Recreation which started in July 2014. The goal is to help inmates develop skills and work habits needed to secure honest employment after their release.
14 inmate workers are divided into two work crews and perform tasks such as landscaping, cleaning county parks, trails, canals or ditches, clearing vegetation, creating fire buffer zones, as well as trimming or cutting hazardous trees.
To be eligible for the program, inmates must be housed at the East Mesa Jail and have six months or less left in their sentences. They can't be convicted of violent or sexual crimes. While outside, a deputy is on site and watches the inmates at all times.
An instructor from Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College teaches inmates basic horticultural and landscaping skills. Inmates graduate with a certificate of participation.
To learn more about Sheriff's Detention Services Bureau visit sdsheriff.net/jails.
