Moose Lake Correctional Facility Prepares Inmates to Rejoin Society

MOOSE LAKE, Minn. –The Moose Lake Correctional Facility held a Transitions Resource Fair today to help its inmates prepare for life on the outside and the challenges they will face. According to the Facility’s Warden, this program has been ongoing for more than two decades and has proved to be successful.

Bringing experts into the prison to talk with inmates has proven to be very successful. The Warden Brian Collins says more than 50 groups were on hand today. They were at the prison to talk with inmates about addiction services, housing and treatment, employment, veteran services, and more that they will need when they are released.

“It’s very easy for us as an institution to reach out, but it’s not as effective as bringing the folks into the prison and doing that networking, one-on-one. We see a lot of positive outcomes”.

One of the groups on hand was Mustard Seed, a program that offers a full year of Job Training, Counseling, and Mentoring in a residential setting.  Up to 13 people can take part in the program and not all of the people being helped are former inmates.

“I believe in the one-year Long Term Program. There’s a lot of treatments out there that are shorter terms but don’t really get to the heart of the issues. So these guys go through some painful things where they really have to look inside at what’s going on on the inside and make those changes day to day.”

The prison is also working to help inmates re-adjust and be prepared for life outside the prison. Classes and work programs are available and, these include upholstery, garment work, and carpentry. 20-year-old Ethan Metzer is improving his skills in carpentry and looking forward to becoming a member of the carpentry union.

“Having all these classes like CTECH and carpentry, it all kind of comes with other people in the community. It’s great that they give us these opportunities to get back, give back to the community….” “It is extremely important for people to take these classes because most people who take these classes don’t come back, they end up doing well.”

At some point, the majority of the one thousand or so inmates at the Moose Lake Facility will be released back into the community. The Warden says the program is an important step for inmates as they prepare to be released.

“This is an opportunity, not only to learn what the resources are in the community but also to just get a better understanding of what that transition is going to look like. I often say its strange people entering a strange world. The more we can do to prepare fellows for that, the better outcomes that we’ll see.”