Commissioner Louis R. Bruce announced today that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs has awarded a $200,000 contract to the Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., to operate an Indian post-correctional rehabilitation program for Indian prison parolees.
“With this pilot program we expect to chart ways to break the tragic cycle of imprisonment – unemployment – more infractions of the law,” Bruce said. “Without rehabilitation aid, the Indian offender has little chance of gaining the skills and knowledge necessary for a successful life in either Indian on non-Indian society.
The key to the program would be the use of local Indian counselors preferably ex -convicts who have made successful social and vocational adjustments, who would help former prisoners obtain educational, vocational
And rehabilitation services through the Bureau’s employment assistance facilities and State and local agencies. The project will be under the overall supervision of Professor Samuel Dash, head of the Center's Institute of Crlm1nal Law and Procedure. Direct supervision will be provided by Professor Herbert S. Miller, Research Director. Adrian Fisher is Dean of the University's Law Center.
“We believe that with the help of Indian counselors who have ‘been through the mill' and know firsthand the adjustment burden carried by Indian offenders, we can help these people find lives of dignity and self- respect , while at the same time making a contribution to their communities and their families,” Bruce said.
The initial work will be done at 10 regional centers in metropolitan area. Locations for the centers have not yet been selected.
