Newton Correctional adding Iowa Prison Industries welding program

Newton Correctional Facility is joining two other state prisons, adding a welding training program through Iowa Prison Industries and giving inmates another opportunity to gain a marketable skill. It will help fill a need for skilled trade workers in Iowa businesses.

In a presentation to the Jasper County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, Dan Clark, director of Iowa Prison Industries (IPI), and Newton Correctional Facility Warden Kris Weitzell detailed plans to partner with PDM Precast, a company integrated with Des Moines-based headquarters making concrete forms.

Inmates accepted into the IPI program at Newton Correctional will be welding rebar rod and angle iron that make the skeleton of the concrete forms. According to Clark, IPI’s goal is to have four welders training in the program.

Newton is not the only Iowa prison to house a welding training program. The Anamosa State Penitentiary has eight to 10 inmates training in the IPI skilled trade program at any given time as well as six to eight men attending welding classes at the Iowa Department of Correction’s facility in Rockwell City.

Clark said he’s unsure if PDM will have the employment need to support all four Newton prison workers, but he indicated there are other companies statewide who have expressed interest in hiring welders trained at Newton Correctional.

“The employers we talk to hire those folks the minute they step out, so we need to increase the number of welders we’re training because there’s such a need from Iowa employers,” Clark said. “We think we’ll have plenty of work for four men. That’s all (the Newton) facility can hold at the moment.”

A building on the correctional facility’s farm will house the welding program. Clark said it’s currently suitable for basic rebar welding.

“Once we start working with PDM or other companies, we might have to make some additions but, for right now, we’re pretty good,” Clark said.

Each inmate who wants to take part in IPI training and job programs has to apply. They are also required to have a high school diploma or GED equivalency.

PDM, like every company employing IPI workers, is required to pay the inmates standard market wage for their labor calculated by Iowa Workforce Development. Iowa law states the inmates will keep 20 percent of the income. The remaining 80 percent goes toward state/federal income taxes, any child support they might owe and their court-ordered restitution payments.

In a four-year study of inmates who successfully completed the IPI program in 2012, the Dept. of Corrections found their recidivism rate — or the percentage of released inmates who re-offended — was 8 percent lower than offenders who did not have IPI training. More than 5,000 inmates are released from state prison in Iowa annually.

Clark argues that statistic makes IPI skills training important to public safety.

“We don’t necessarily look to hire the expert welder. We look to people who want to learn, who are motivated and have a plan for their life when they get out,” Clark said. “Those are people we can really help.”

In the private sector IPI program, there are two different tracks an inmate takes based on their offense. Inmates who committed violent offenses will work on-site at the prison, if selected. Non-violent offenders can have the opportunity to work at the contracted employer’s facility —  a type of work release program.

“At the facility, we have what we call a classification processes. We have quite a large population that works off grounds during the day at a whole host of sites,” Weitzell said. “We look at each of the men individually. We don’t send anyone out who has a violent past, make sure they’re following institutional rules, they’re not picking up disciplinary reports. They’re doing the right things.”

In an interview with Newton Daily News Wednesday, Clark added the screening process used by IPI and Dept. of Corrections work release protects the public’s safety and prevents violent offenders from being out in the community.

“We have people who go off grounds every day,” he said. “We have folks who work in state parks, they work with the DOT picking up roadside trash, they work at the governor’s mansion and they work in the office I’m in. Every day there are a lot of people who leave prison on a work release and come back. Those people are screened quite carefully.”

Contact Mike Mendenhall at 641-792-3121 Ext 6530 or mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com