It's Not a Good Idea For Companies To Run Anything That Involve Supervising Criminals

Why? Because a company usually thinks about the bottom line: profit. And what's profitable isn't always what's best for the inmate.

The New York Times reveals the downside to this social experiment in a recent story, which details:

Rampant Drug Selling & Use:

“Bo is like the projects,” said Matthew Leibe, who was an inmate there last year. “I’m walking down the hallway from mess and I’m getting approached by everybody selling everything. ‘I’ve got batteries, T-shirts, weed, heroin, coke.’ ” 

Questionable Hiring Practices: 

Dana Vetrano, a former counselor at Bo Robinson, said the staff had many former prison inmates. She herself was one, having served time for robbery.

“They were from the streets,” Ms. Vetrano said. “They needed a job, they came in from the street, they were hired — that was it. They had no qualifications. Nothing. 

Poor Staffing:

“An older resident comes in my office; he wants to see me,” Mr. Watkins recalled. “He sits down and he says, ‘Mr. Watkins, I’ve got to tell you something, but it’s got to stay between me and you.’ No problem. He said, ‘The Bloods are running the N.A. meetings.’ I said, ‘Excuse me?’ ”

“Instead of drug and alcohol talk, they were talking gang stuff.” 

Sexual Abuse:

Last year, an inmate escaped from Bo Robinson, and when he was captured he told the police that he had fled because a male counselor there had repeatedly raped him.

The counselor, Joseph A. Chase, was later arrested and charged with sexual assault. Prosecutors said the police also discovered drugs in Mr. Chase’s car. The case is pending. 

And Just a Utter Lack of Interest in Improving the Conditions:

Robert Brumbaugh thought he had found a way to convince executives of Community Education Centers that the staffing at Bo Robinson was inadequate. He escorted them through the institution, showing the many areas without workers.

They nodded in agreement, he recalled, but nothing was done.

“They don’t want to spend money,” he said. 

Companies can do real well when their selling a specific product or even a specific service. But when the goal is to help someone or generally make their life better? Not so much.