18 hours Ago By Zach Petroff
The Fayette County jail recently wrapped up its third semester of the IGNITE program, a pioneering rehabilitation initiative aimed at reducing recidivism. The inmates’ graduation came as Sheriff James Custer and Warden John Lenkey returned from New Mexico, where they played a key role in launching a similar program at the Eddy County Detention Center. “IGNITE is designed to change (the) culture,” said Custer.
“And what we want to do in jails is change the culture.” IGNITE, which is an acronym for “Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education,” provides inmates with education, vocational training and life skills to help them successfully reintegrate into society with the help of online classes and partnerships with community organizations. Kathleen Griffith was an instructor this semester on behalf of United Bank.
She taught a financial literacy class and said she believes the program will benefit the community. “I learned as much as I shared,” Griffith said. “I’m just really grateful for this program and each of these students and how serious they took learning.
” The program was initially launched in Genesee County, Mich., in 2020 and was adopted by Fayette County after the completion of the new jail. The program has found success, according to a 2024 study conducted by Harvard University’s National Bureau of Economic.
The study found the program reduced both jail misconduct and three-month recidivism by 25% at a county jail in Michigan. The study also found that reading and math levels increased by at least one grade level among a “vast majority” or participants. The success of the program could be why the program is being adopted by more jails.
When the Fayette County jail implemented IGNITE in March 2024, it was the 14th site to do so. Nine months later, the Eddy County Detention Center became the 20th site to host the recidivism program, according to the National Sheriffs’ Association. Custer and Lenkey were selected by the association to help implement the program in New Mexico because of how similar the two institutions were.
“New Mexico is like Pennsylvania as they both have jail wardens where the sheriff is not directly involved in running the jail,” Custer said. “This is the second warden jail to become part of IGNITE.” During their two-day trip, Custer and Lenkey said they were able to tour the facility and provide feedback on what has and has not worked with the program.
Lenkey said he told the staff to expect the unexpected and to be bold in their decision making. “As an organization, between the sheriff and my staff here, we’ve created everything we have out of nothing through hard work and trial and error, which was us saying ‘This sounds great, let’s do it,'” Lenkey said. The results of the program such as recidivism rates cannot be determined because of the short time IGNITE has been used at the jail; however, Custer and Lenkey said since the program has been at the jail, they have not had a single infraction in the IGNITE housing area, and there has been a morale boost among both the inmates and jail staff.
“We’ve seen a real shift in the overall culture of the jail,” Custer said. And while revitism is the overall stated goal of the program, Lenkey said the success of IGNITE is not determined by stats but making the community as a whole a better place. “This is one program that I’ve been in and the only program that I’ve ever seen in all my years that I think is capable of truly helping people,” Lenkey said.
The sheriff agreed. “We’re here to truly try and help make a difference in someone’s life,” he said..
