Collin County Sheriff's Office Launches IGNITE to Improve Re-entry
Press Release: 4/12/23
Collin County Sheriff's Office launches IGNITE to improve re-entry.
Jim Skinner committed today to send returning citizens back to the community better. The Collin County Detention Center launched a national program known as IGNITE, facilitated by The National Sheriffs' Association. The program will provide education, job training, and life-skills classes to inmates. The majority of people who are released from the county jail return to their local community.
IGNITE stands for Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education. Sheriff Christopher Swanson started the program in the county jail in Genesee County, Michigan, in 2020, and he's led the program to remarkable success in terms of reducing conflicts in the jail and improving re-entry opportunities.
"In seeing his program and talking to his deputies, you realize that Sheriff Chris Swanson cares about people. He wants to improve the chances and lives of folks leaving his jail, while at the same time reducing recidivism. He created IGNITE to make an impact. He's an excellent leader and the successes of his program speak for themselves," Sheriff Skinner said.
Sheriff Swanson and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Sheriff Garry McFadden joined Sheriff Skinner at today's formal launch of the IGNITE program held inside the Collin County Detention Center.
The National Sheriffs' Association is helping sheriffs across the nation launch IGNITE. The NSA is a nonprofit association that represents the nation's 3,086 sheriffs on Capitol Hill and supports them with law-enforcement education and training. The NSA has assisted sheriffs in counties in North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, North Dakota, and South Dakota launch IGNITE programs.
Jessica Vanderpool, NSA's Director of Grants and Contracts and Meghan Beal, NSA's IGNITE Project Manager, attended Collin County's launch on Wednesday, April 12.
Sheriff Skinner commented, "NSA is a critical partner in IGNITE. They can help a sheriff with technical support and connect a county jail with another like-sized county jail with relevant knowledge to tailor a version of IGNITE suitable for their local resources and circumstances. NSA's staff attending the launch in Collin County speaks to their high opinion of the program and its potential to help communities. The National Sheriffs' Association can always be counted on to go the extra mile to help sheriffs."
Sheriff Skinner set out some of his thoughts on Collin County's IGNITE. "Knowing that the majority of our jail population will one day return home, we recognize the importance of teaching inmates life skills that will help them to be better husbands, wives, parents, siblings and neighbors. We reduce recidivism and make our communities safer by doing so."
Skinner stated, "Initially, we plan to offer educational courses, including ones to help a person complete a GED, and adult-education classes ranging from literacy skills to American Sign Language to budgeting and money-management skills. On the job front, we plan to offer sets of short, connected classes on various skills, such as food service, commercial driving, and barber skills. We are designing plans so that a person may earn a certificate in a particular skill. We're working to open a licensed barber college, and we will integrate some of our IGNITE job training with our current bee-keeping program that is part of our inmate farming operation. Because the average length of a person's stay in county jail is much shorter than, say, prison, a key challenge is to design meaningful, progressive classes that together can add up to new skills or a new credential. I am confident that our programs staff and detention officers will help people and do great things through IGNITE."
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