Local Prison Boot Camp Honored

KARTHAUS—A state prison boot camp in Clearfield County is getting national recognition after an evaluation by the American Correctional Association. Quehanna Boot Camp received a 99.7% on their thorough three-day inspection, just missing out on a perfect score because of a window that didn’t let in enough light. The inmates there undergo intense physical training and education every day for six months before being released, and during that time they are put through a military-style boot camp. “They do a full day of activity every day for six months,” said accreditation manager, Ellen McMahon, “They get up at 5a.m., do their physical training, they go for breakfast, and then they go off to work, classes, programming, which is the intensive drug and alcohol programming.” Most of the inmates are there for drug and alcohol related charges, which is why so much of the program is focused around rehabilitation classes and drug and alcohol education. The standards set by the American Correctional Association are designed to ensure the life, health, and safety of the inmates, but Quehanna goes above and beyond with their commitment to helping inmates recover from their addictions. “They look at housing, they look at the programs that we offer as far as drug classes and things like that. What’s available to the inmates,” McMahon said. And they didn’t need a high score on their evaluation to know that their efforts are paying off. They see it in the lives of so many people who have come through Quehanna Boot Camp. “The rate of return to prison with us is very low,” said boot camp commander John Reese, “Inmates come here for six months and their out and move on to the parole part of it. We move quite a few inmates through here in a year.”