WHEELING, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Interim sessions for the West Virginia Legislature for the month of November continued on Monday as the Legislative Oversight Commission on Regional Jail and Correction Facility Authority convened for a session.
Lawmakers witnessed a presentation detailing an interactive simulation program intended to raise awareness of the challenges of reentering society following incarceration. First implemented in the Southern District of the State of Alabama, the simulation has now been used in 42 states across the United States, as well as in Canada. The Mountain State first utilized the simulation in 2016.
Sensory overload was one issue addressed, with the presentation noting the on-average 35,000 decisions made by people on average on a daily basis. Those incarcerated, however, were said to make fewer than 100 decisions daily, which upon release, could easily lead to sensory overload for such individuals.
The simulation places the user in a first-person experience of being released from prison. The first week is represented, with 15 minute intervals representing individual days in the hour and a half simulation.
The idea of this simulation is to provide understanding with regard to what issues an individual reentering society may encounter during just their first week of freedom. The simulation has been utilized within prisons in attempts to prepare inmates as effectively as possible for what life may look like after release from incarceration.
West Virginia’s recidivism rate is 29.3 within 3 years of release.
Additional LOOTPRESS coverage for the November Interim sessions of the West Virginia Legislature can be found here.
