Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen says legislators agree: Too many people who leave South Dakota's state prisons end up committing another crime that sends them back to prison within three years.
Venhuizen chairs the governor's Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force. The group is seeking innovative approaches for reducing the state's recidivism rate.
"We know we have this opportunity. We know we have this problem," Venhuizen says. "We think we can do better. We want to find ways to do better."
Task force subcommittees include tribal communities, faith-based programming, education and workforce training, and mental/behavioral health and addiction treatment.
"Nobody's coming to these meetings saying, 'No, don't look at programming. Recidivism is great,'" Venhuizen says. "There's no 'other side' to this."
Venhuizen hopes dividing the work will lead to some "quick wins" to reducing recidivism rates. He says the state will also look for portable solutions from other states and seek input from inmates and former inmates.
