SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A couple from Lincoln County was pleased to hear encouraging words about mentoring during a panel forum about a possible new men’s state prison in Sioux Falls.
Kathy and Dean Speliotes cited Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken’s comments about how mentoring was an important link in the judicial system. Mentoring can help prevent criminal behavior and it can help offenders released from prison to not re-offend, TenHaken said.
“The mayor said we need to get to kids when they are young,” Dean Speliotes said.
The couple believe the state needs a new prison but like TenHaken, programs that can prevent criminal activity are important.
Panelists also said Tuesday that preventative measures are also needed for the 95% of all inmates that will re-enter the community. Many will need housing, counseling and other services but programs are also needed inside the prison. Several Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County officials said the state will need to partner on helping to fund those types of services.
The Speliotes are familiar with a prevention method cited on Tuesday. They mentor students at Laura B. Anderson Elementary School through a partnership program with their church Oak Hills Baptist.
The principal has reported improvements in attendance, grades and other areas because of mentoring, Kathy Speliotes said.
The church has 36 mentors at the school in the Bee Hive Buddy program, Kathy Speliotes said. It’s intentionally called the Bee Hive Buddy program because the word mentoring can be intimidating and make people feel like they need special skills. “You can be a buddy,” Kathy Speliotes said.
While TenHaken highlighted the importance of mentoring during the panel discussion he and other local officials focused on the consequences of having a prison in Sioux Falls. If a parolee commits another crime, local law enforcment and states attorney’s are involved and that takes money, officials said as one example.
Sioux Falls appears to the likely site of a new prison. The Prison Project Reset task force recommended a 1,500-bed men’s prison at a cost of no more than $650 million at one of two possible sites in Sioux Falls.
Several members of the task force were in the audience or on the panel on Tuesday. The audience also included other lawmakers.
City officials said many inmates in the prison in Sioux Falls stay in the city after release because the services are here.
Greg Sattizahn, the South Dakota State Court Administrator, pointed out that the emerging adult population of 18 to 25 “have the highest rate of recidivism.”
“They struggle with housing and employment,” Sattizahn said of offenders in that age group. “Those are things communities have to have available.”
Unfortunately, several members of the panel said, many of the resources in Sioux Falls are strained.
The state could help the city of Sioux Falls with housing for released inmates, Sioux Falls City Council member Rich Mekouris said as an examples.
Other programs such as mental health counseling, controlled substance counseling and vocational training will need funding in the prison and in the community to help inmates, other panel members said.
TenHaken said the state Legislature needs to consider how it can help fund resources for an offender from Bon Homme County, for example, who wants to return to Bon Homme County,
The state has been good to his office, state Attorney General Marty Jackley said, now it must consider that the prison is a state prison and the appropriate funding and services need to follow.
Audience member Juliann Talkington said she had studied the data and the costs associated with prison re-entry in the city and Minnehaha County. “Right now, what we are doing is all the re-entry through (Minnehaha and Lincoln counties),” Talkington said. “We need to spread out re-entry.”
The Speliotes said Sioux Falls and the counties can’t be the only entities responsible for re-entry resources.
The panel discussion was scheduled before a planned Sept. 23 special session. Lawmakers are expected to make a decision on the task force’s recommendation then.
But, the full scope of the support sought Tuesday from Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County, will be part of a balancing act, said Rep. Jon Hansen.
Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum said a project would not be completed for several years, so there is time to plan.
