Changes Pledged At N.C. Prison

"For so long, I had ducked and dodged that I had a problem," he said. "I learned that my behavior was causing my problem. When I arrived home, I made a choice to move on with my life." Out for six months, he now works at Goodwill Industries, stocking trucks.

Kevin Barnes, 30, served three years at Rivers. The library was cramped and contained few books, he said. The focus instead was athletics, and the majority of inmates spent their time playing basketball, football and other sports.

"That's not going to help an inmate when they come home," said Barnes, who said he now works as an electrician.

The GEO Group, a company that runs 68 correctional and residential treatment facilities worldwide, owns and operates Rivers. The prison's warden, George Snyder, defended the institution in testimony yesterday, saying that there are plenty of classes, in such areas as anger management and computer skills, available for inmates. As a career prison official, Snyder said, he is committed to providing even better programs.

Lappin agreed that programming is only part of the problem.

"You've got to have a willing participant," he said. "It's not a one-sided formula. We do not force inmates into programs, except all prisoners who are medically cleared will work. We counsel, we push for educational training. . . . Some offenders just don't see the light."

The hearing was held before a subcommittee of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) said the prisoner problems are an issue all over the nation.

"Many of these ex-offenders are returning to their communities unprepared and without the support they need to sustain their new lives," said Davis, chairman of the subcommittee on the federal workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia. "Without structure and support to help ensure a lasting transition, we are unwittingly creating a revolving door for former inmates."