KINGSTON – Elected and law enforcement officials gathered at the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center Friday to announce the launch of a new program to help the incarcerated, Individually Growing Naturally and Intentionally Through Education, (IGNITE).
The program, adopted nationally by the other county sheriffs’ departments, is used to help inmates gain more life skills and an education.
“I see folks just sitting around watching TV and playing cards,” said Sheriff Juan Figueroa. “As of today, that’s going to change. We are going to do what we said we were going to do a few years ago: Change the philosophy of the county jail. We all together are going to accomplish this.”
Ulster County now becomes the second county in the state, along with Chautauqua County, to start this program, and Figueroa said community support is important to help it succeed here, so inmates’ lives can be possibly changed by its intended benefits.
“By focusing on education and skill building, with the help of partners, this is an important day for the sheriff’s office,” said Figueroa. “We are going the measure success by evaluating the work that we do by the key metrics we are going to learn from this IGNITE program and the National Sheriff’s Association.”
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