Wisconsin prison officials can take credit at least in part for the opening of a new model prison in the former Soviet state of Armenia later this month. It’s the result of a two-year-long partnership between the state Department of Corrections and the Armenian Ministry of Justice.
DOC representatives were in the city of Armavir during the weekend to officially dedicate the new prison.
In 2012, the U.S. State Department brought an Armenian delegation to Wisconsin to discuss ways to make the Central Asian nation’s prisons safer and more humane. State Department spokesman Don Stolworthy said the partnership has focused on helping Armenia improve its community re-entry programs for ex-offenders after their release from prison.
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“Armenia has no probation service and they’re trying to establish one. So what happens to the offender post-incarceration, who is supervising them, who’s trying to help them connect with jobs and social services, etc.,” Stolworthy said.
He said the new prison will use a system similar to Wisconsin’s where each housing unit has a social worker to help inmates find work and housing after they’re released.
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