SMETHPORT – The problems facing inmates entering the McKean
County Prison are a microcosm of larger ongoing communal
difficulties across the county, the warden of the facility said
this week.

During a two-hour interview and tour of the prison with The Era,
Warden Dennis Luther revealed that some problems corrections
officials face in Smethport are worse than at federal prisons
nationwide, including a heightened sense of vandalism and
entitlement.

In an effort to stem the tide, Luther said the prison will be
implementing a life skills program aimed at reducing the
probability of inmates returning to jail and increase the
likelihood of them succeeding once back in society.

“We see second and third generation people coming back to and
through this prison,” Luther said. “Multiple family members. It’s
really sad. We need to try and do something to intervene.

“It’s not in my nature to do nothing to help them (inmates),”
Luther added. “I wouldn’t be the right person as the warden if our
mission in this county is to just lock people up.

“The county’s residents need to understand, they (inmates) are
not going back (into society) better than they came in,” Luther
said. “It’s just a fact under the existing circumstances.”

According to Luther, the poverty rate and a lack of jobs and
education in the county plays a part in the problem, oftentimes
leading directly to alcoholism and drug abuse.

“This is not something we can simply build our way out of
(expansion of the prison),” Luther said. “Substance abuse is
something the people in McKean County have to decide how they want
treated. These prisoners will eventually be making their way back
out into society. If we don’t do something to interrupt the cycle,
they will be right back here, costing the taxpayers.”

That is where the treatment programs come into play. Luther said
90 percent of the inmates at the prison have a substance abuse
issue, with alcoholism being the number one problem.

“We know for sure punishment doesn’t work when it comes to
helping with that issue,” Luther said. “Quite frankly, some of
these people don’t want their cycle interrupted. They seem
comfortable with their lives.”

According to Luther, every inmate arriving at the prison will be
classified according to a functional skills assessment, which
includes whether a person has severe, moderate, mild or no deficits
in the following categories: hygiene and grooming, communication,
conflict resolution, parenting, education, employment, social
skills, financial, budgeting/credit, drug and alcohol mental
health, goal development, problem solving, relationships and income
level.

“Many of the inmates have a lack of communication skills,”
Luther said, “even to do a job interview or fill out an employment
application. Through the assessment, we will be able to see how to
best help treat the inmate while they are here.”

Luther said the prison currently employs a full-time counselor,
with the hopes of adding a part-time counselor to work with the
life skills program. There would be 25 to 30 different modules
included in the program, which will be introduced for one or two
hours each week, with 12 to 14 offerings weekly.

Eventually, the program area will be moved from a cramped room
located in the men’s holding area to the current kitchen facility,
which is twice the size. Luther said the female population has
taken to the counseling faster than the men, who put forth an
attitude of machismo.

The program would also help expose inmates to similar ones
across the county, including Drug and Alcohol Services. Luther said
all institutions in the county should be involved.

“We need to teach them responsibility,” Luther said. “It can be
as simple as having them get up and make their bed each morning.
Historically, people have been allowed to sleep all day. We have
introduced personal responsibility and goals.

“We see them in the end, but these are some things that should
have been caught at the start,” Luther added, noting the focus in
rural prisons is usually on keeping the operating cost low.

Luther said the prison also deals with a certain “entitlement
mentality” in the prison population.

“I am honestly not sure if that type of culture can be broken,”
Luther said, citing an example of vandalism in which an exercise
bicycle was destroyed. “I have seen worse wanton vandalism here
than you would see in six months at FCI-McKean (where Luther was a
former warden). I can’t attribute it to anything but the local
culture. It’s deeply engrained and is more a geographic issue than
a social strata issue.

“At other institutions, there doesn’t seem to be that attitude
to destroy things for entertainment purposes,” Luther added. “That
is not characteristic of American corrections.

“I’m not entirely optimistic about the future of this county,”
Luther said. “I really wonder if there is a solution to the
criminal problems we have. There is a reality here that somebody
needs to deal with, and it’s not about being liberal and
conservative.”

Luther said the public should play a part in steering policy for
the prison, noting it’s not necessarily a dollars and cents
issue.

“It really is up to the public on where they want the prison to
go, what programs they want,” Luther said.