El Dorado County Sheriff's Office 2019 Annual Report | Page 33

Programs & Services

The Sheriff’s Office continues to partner with other county agencies and non-profit groups to provide programs for inmates. Inmates are given opportunities to attend various self-help programs to include: Parenting Skills, Anger Management, Moral Recognition Therapy, Adult Education, Culinary Arts and a Self-Reliance Program.

These programs relate to furthering education and self-help classes which offer ideas on making life improvements in and out of our custody. Inmates who did not complete high school previously are provided the opportunity to attain a high school diploma or GED through the El Dorado County Office of Education. The program has shown successful with the number of diplomas and GEDs awarded each year continuing to increase.

To recognize these achievements, two ceremonies were held this year; each attended by the inmate participants, adult education administrators from the Office of Education and jail administrators. Congratulations to all the graduates for achieving this educational milestone.

Alternative Sentencing

Alternative sentencing is a court approved program that allows persons convicted of certain crimes to flexibly serve their jail sentences. As granted by the Judge, the person is able to serve their sentence in either the Weekender or Work Programs.

The Weekender Program allows offenders to serve their jail commitment on weekends or during specified periods of time during the week. The Work Program allows persons convicted of qualifying crimes to give back to the community and serve their sentences at the same time. Work Program participants perform manual labor at various work sites in El Dorado County.

For each of these alternative sentencing programs, the person pays a daily fee and is subject to the same rules and regulations of a person serving a standard jail sentence. These programs are designed to allow people serve their sentence and also maintain their employment or continue with schooling. The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office is proud to offer these programs as they have been shown to reduce recidivism in first time offenders.

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Program Graduates

Moral Recognition

Therapy

Parenting Skills

Anger Management

High School Diplomas

Self-Reliance Program

Culinary Arts

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44

34

22

18

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