{"id":116224,"date":"2025-04-09T14:00:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/?p=116224"},"modified":"2025-04-16T17:22:05","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T21:22:05","slug":"indiana-governor-mike-braun-takes-steps-to-improve-retention-of-correctional-officers-and-reduce-recidivism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2025\/04\/09\/indiana-governor-mike-braun-takes-steps-to-improve-retention-of-correctional-officers-and-reduce-recidivism\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Governor Mike Braun takes steps to improve retention of Correctional Officers and reduce recidivism"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Today, Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed two executive orders centered around the Indiana Department of Correction.<\/p>\n

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News release from the Indiana Governor’s Office:<\/p>\n

Governor Braun Takes Steps to Improve Retention of Correctional Officers and Reduce Recidivism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indianapolis, Indiana (April 9, 2025) \u2013 Governor Mike Braun today signed two executive orders centered around the Indiana Department of Correction.<\/p>\n

The first executive order aims to help inmates secure gainful employment after they are released, to lower the rates of inmates going directly from incarceration to homelessness and reoffending.<\/p>\n

The second executive order aims to improve working conditions for correctional officers with a comprehensive approach. Under this executive order, the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction will develop a comprehensive plan to improve employee retention, including collecting feedback about work environment and areas for improvement from employees, ensuring that employee training is providing new hires with the knowledge and skills they\u2019ll need to perform, and using benchmarks and metrics tracked by facility to monitor employee turnover and identity areas for improvement.<\/p>\n

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Executive Order 25-46<\/a>: Improving Opportunity and Reducing Recidivism by Improving the Path for Reentry within the Department of Correction<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHoosiers are safer when inmates have a clear pathway toward gainful employment and stable housing after they are released. This executive order aims to lower the reoffending rate by helping formerly incarcerated individuals find work and avoid homelessness.\u201d \u2014 Governor Mike Braun<\/p>\n

Keeping Hoosiers safe from crime is always priority one for this administration on any issue of corrections and criminal justice.<\/p>\n

Because a high percentage of crime is committed by individuals that have already been incarcerated, an important strategy to lower crime is to reduce recidivism, or reoffending among inmates after they have served their time.<\/p>\n

One key factor to reduce recidivism is employment. Former inmates who are unable to maintain employment in the three years after release reoffend at a rate of 52%. For those who do maintain employment, that recidivism rate plummets to 16%.<\/p>\n

Another factor is housing: inmates who are released as homeless are 50% more likely to reoffend.<\/p>\n

This executive order aims to reduce the recidivism rate by improving employment pathways for formerly incarcerated individuals and working with community partners to secure temporary housing for individuals upon release.<\/p>\n

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Executive Order 25-47<\/a>: Promoting Public Safety and Prison Security by Directing the Indiana Department of Correction to Implement Strategies to Improve Employee Retention<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOur corrections officers have a really tough job, and do it exceptionally well. Today, I\u2019m taking action to make sure we retain our great correctional employees with a comprehensive approach to employee retention: we\u2019ll be improving training, listening to employees\u2019 feedback on their work environment and leadership effectiveness, and using data to identify high turnover areas where we can improve.\u201d \u2014 Governor Mike Braun<\/p>\n

Indiana Department of Correction employees oversee more than 24,000 inmates in 21 facilities, and more than 7,000 parolees.<\/p>\n

Due to the demanding and sometimes dangerous nature of their work, correctional officers experience high levels of on-the-job stress and burnout.<\/p>\n

This executive order is designed to improve employee retention in this important field.<\/p>\n

This executive order directs the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction to develop a comprehensive strategy for improving employee retention, specifically including:<\/p>\n