Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services

Building a Foundation for Success

Topics At A Glance

• Correctional Education 
• Vital Records 
• Workforce Development 
• Fostering Animals in Prison 

Correctional Education

Our partner agency – Labor, Licensing and Regulation – continued their oversight of correctional education this past year with a focus on enrollment and completion. During FY12:

• Total avg. monthly enrollment in Adult Basic thru GED level academic classes behind the fence was 2,610 – filling approximately 98% of available seats.
• 67% GED completion rate, with 648 offenders earning their degree.
• The avg. monthly enrollment in college level classes was 120 offenders.
• 789 offenders successfully completed an Occupational Skills Training course.
• 3,506 offenders completed Transitional Services classes.

Back to Top 

Vital Records

In an effort to improve the transition process for offenders returning to society, DPSCS has focused on equipping offenders with vital records such as a Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) ID, Birth Certificates and Social Security Cards. Records make securing housing, applying for employment and gaining medical assistance for instance easier, facilitating a successful reentry. During FY12:

• Through education of staff and offenders on the importance of IDs for reentry, DPSCS has seen a 40% increase in total MVA IDs, Social Security Cards and Birth Certificates issued to inmates prior to release over FY10, the first full year of tracking.
• 10, 560 total IDs issued to inmates prior to release.
• Another 1,642 MVA IDs were issued to offenders after release under the partnership with MVA.

Back to Top 

Workforce Development

Maryland Correctional Enterprises (MCE), the industry arm of the Division of Correction, continued to expand their job training skills to a record number of offenders. During FY12:

• 53% increase in average employment over FY07.
• Employed a monthly average of 1,989 in 31 business units across the state.
• 2.76 million hours of training and employment were provided to this population.
• In mid-FY12 MCE opened an Upholstery Plant at the North Branch Correctional Institution, the first plant at the maximum security prison in Cumberland.
• MCE also continued their philanthropic efforts this year, supporting the Department’s annual Special Olympics Maryland fundraiser, cooking hundreds of turkeys for the Bea Gaddy Foundation to feed more than 35,000 in Baltimore during Thanksgiving and laundering 8,000 bras for a local breast cancer fundraiser.

Back to Top 

Fostering Animals in Prison

Learning compassion for another living creature can have a profound impact on offenders, as well as have a calming effect on the prison atmosphere. DPSCS has undertaken many new partnerships to foster and train dogs behind prison walls. During FY12:

• At Roxbury Correctional Institution offenders started training and socializing abandoned/abused dogs through the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation in November 2011, preparing them for adoption. Since they began 35 dogs have been through the institution.
• A partnership with America’s VetDogs began in late FY12 at three facilities in Maryland, giving incarcerated Veterans the opportunity to give back by housing and training puppies that will eventually become service dogs for wounded warriors.
• A long standing Canine Partners for Life program at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women continued to operate during FY12, with the addition of a male facility.

Back to Top