Tax dollars pay for diver training for prison inmates

The program is called "Diving for Hope" and was first established in 1970 by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at Chino.

Underwater welding is one of the few high-paying, in-demand jobs available for a hard worker without a college or even high school diploma.

But it takes intense training. And its newest vocational program has an unusual admission requirement:
Convicts only. [snip]

"It's already changed my life because of the discipline it requires and the pride it gives you," said Jim Childress, a 46-year-old diver from Los Angeles.

Three years into his second prison stint for drug dealing, Childress plans to get out and stay out.
The oldest diver in the class, lost 20 pounds because of the daily runs, swims, and push-ups. He hopes to
earn about $13,000 a month working underwater in construction, dam repair, harbor diving, or offshore oil
drilling after he gets out in 2008.

The 11½ month program costs $350,000 to run, and churns out 100 graduates a year. (Diving for Hope - pdf)

More:

Eligible inmates must have between 14 months and four years left to serve, and they must past physical tests and demonstrate abilities in mechanics, physics and math.

Once through the program, the inmates have a shot at earning more than $100,000 a year.

What say you? Good use of tax dollars or not?

Other reading:

New York City: Jeehadi Style, Woman Honor Thyself
Sky News We Win, 123Beta
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Comments

[Debbie]

Well, I'm not sure this is a good way to spend tax dollars. I agree that inmates should be made to work, within the confines of the prison, prison grounds, or in work details which are heavily guarded.

They can learn while on the job, but spending this kind of money on old drug dealers is a joke.

No one is going to hire underwater welders that are 50 years old. Too many insurance risks.

And how many of them are Muslim??? Do we really need to be training Muslim scuba divers?

[Ortho]

Sounds like a great use of tax dollars.

I'd rather see tax dollars spent on prison inmates, than given as handouts to multinational corporations and contractors who daily perpetrate frauds on American taxpayers.

[Thomas Hamilton]

I'd like to see the statistics on how many keep their noses clean and go straight.