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A Tea Party Candidate for NYS Governor has suggested turning underused prisons to dormitories for welfare recipients;
"Asked at the meeting how he would achieve those savings, Paladino laid out several plans that included converting underused state prisons into centers that would house welfare recipients. There, they would do work for the state — "military service, in some cases park service, in other cases public works service," he said — while prison guards would be retrained to work as counselors."
NY candidate: Prison dorms for welfare recipients - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100821/ap_on_el_gu/us_paladino_welfare - broken link)
Don't know how other people would view this but it appears to be an attempt to prop up the upstate NY economy that have relied on the prison system for their economy. With prisoners being released and the need for these massive prisons declining, I guess, he wants to find some type of use for them and what better way than to take a marginalized population and make them the new "prisoners" for the state.
Sounds better than homelessness, people trying to stay warm by sleeping on sidewalk grates.
You know it would be interesting if he would have stated something about the homeless population who are currently underserved in the shelter system. From my understanding, some homeless individuals need specialized services due to mental illness, substance abuse etc and the shelter system, as it is today, is not a safe haven so they prefer to remain on the streets.
I dont know about re-training the prison guards to become counselors. That does not seem like it would work.
Upstate NY is filled with towns in the middle of nowhere where they revolve around the prison industry. You would be very surprised by how many people work in a single prison
You know it would be interesting if he would have stated something about the homeless population who are currently underserved in the shelter system. From my understanding, some homeless individuals need specialized services due to mental illness, substance abuse etc and the shelter system, as it is today, is not a safe haven so they prefer to remain on the streets.
An alternative to the current dangerous shelter system sounds like a good plan - where the homeless - many are former prisoners unable to secure a job, could have work and a place to stay with others who work. People could become productive, learn job skills, keep busy and increae their self-esteem by contributing to society.
While I like the idea of taking homeless off the streets and the Department of Correctional Services has indeed closed some prisons, I don't like the idea of forcing them to do work for the state. The state will enjoy having a pool of free labor, lay off state employees, and make our unemployment rate even higher.
They will earn their money from what I understand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by juppiter
While I like the idea of taking homeless off the streets and the Department of Correctional Services has indeed closed some prisons, I don't like the idea of forcing them to do work for the state. The state will enjoy having a pool of free labor, lay off state employees, and make our unemployment rate even higher.
New York must be financially better off than Illinois, where they have had to release criminals early and close a few. But maybe it's a good idea, give them a place to stay and something to do.
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