TURBEVILLE, S.C. — An initiative to reduce violence and transform prisons has been underway at Turbeville Correctional Institution since 2018. On Wednesday, News 19 got a look at the program.
The Community Opportunity Restoration Enhancement Housing Unit at Turbeville Correctional Institution holds 35 inmates. Five are mentors, and the other 30 are young adults, known as mentees, ages 18-25.
The goal is to allow younger inmates to learn from the mentors, who face a longer sentence so they do not follow the same path while also taking advantage of resources to move forward.
"It is still hard waking up in the morning being incarcerated, but this initiative that I'm currently involved in allows me to be able to put my potential growth into others who was in my age group at the time I committed my crime," an inmate mentor named Todd said. "So, waking up every day as a mentor gives me the strength to proceed and do something positive.” in the program, Todd.
“It was a challenge but this right here brought a breath of fresh air for me to be able to express myself individually and be able to continue to proceed and pursue goals I want to accomplish,” Todd added.
According to an inmate mentee named TJ, the program has changed his way of thinking. "I started sitting down with mentors. I started reading, like something you would not think about in general population.”
South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) Director Bryan Stirling said the facility, alongside Restoring Promise, which is an initiative led by non-profits MILPA and the Vera Institute of Justice, launched a one-year trial in 2019 with 200 randomly selected adults participating.
“You could be sitting in your cell all day long and not do anything, but these folks have to get up at a certain time, have to keep the unit clean, have to be responsible for their actions and be responsible for their environment,” Stirling said.
100 moved into the Restoring Progress Unit and another 100 lived in general population for a year. The data showed those who lived in Restoring Promise were 71% less likely to commit or engage in a violent act.
“I became the person I am today, who as soon as he comes home, he gonna have his own clothing line, trying to have his own business, someone his sister can be proud of," TJ said.
The results leave mentors like Todd feeling optimistic that those who come through this program won’t come back behind bars.
“In the long run, I hope once the people enter back into society, they can be leaders, mentors, and examples of the community out there that is highly impacted by incarceration,” Todd said.
Todd is expected to be released in 2029. TJ is expected to return home next month.
The program has done so well, Stirling said he hopes to expand the program into a women’s prison next.