As soon as Dale Murphy heard about the new veterans’ housing unit at the Jefferson County Jail, he signed the papers to join.
“I wanted to help perpetuate the program,” the four-year Army veteran said.
The 32-person, all-male veterans’ housing unit is the second of its kind in Colorado. Through the housing unit, the Jeffco jail plans to provide access to programs such as emotion regulation, occupational readiness, healthy choices, relapse prevention, anger management and grief loss. Inmates can roam freely during the day and will have more allotted recreational time. To join, inmates must go through a screening and cannot have any behavioral issues, but they can come from minimum, medium or maximum security units.
All in all, county officials, jail deputies and inmates have high hopes for what the veterans’ unit can accomplish. Namely, they predict the veterans’ unit to produce a much lower recidivism rate than the rest of the jail.
Contact reporter Deborah Swearingen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 303-350-1042. Follow her on Twitter @djswearingen.
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