Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed spending $150,000 on a pilot program that would teach prison inmates to cook — part of a broader effort by the governor to bolster programs that help inmates assimilate back into society. The pilot program, still in initial planning stages, would train inmates to manage restaurants, plan menus and prepare food. The program would be tested at the Department of Corrections cafeteria in Richmond, which serves both agency staff and visitors, beginning Aug. 1. The governor’s office anticipates that food sales generated through the program will be enough to fund it.
“Essentially, there is no state money that has been authorized for this effort, but [the appropriation] allows the agency to retain the revenue it collects from this initiative,” McDonnell spokesman Jeff Caldwell said in an e-mail.
The move is part of the McDonnell’s effort to improve public safety and reduce recidivism.
“Philosophically, it’s appropriate to use the corrections process to rehabilitate people,” and that includes helping them learn marketable job skills, said Del. David Englin, D-Arlington.
McDonnell’s efforts on inmate rehabilitation mark a departure from what one might expect from a law-and-order Republican governor and former prosecutor. Former Gov. George Allen, for example, famously abolished parole for violent offenders during the 1990s.
McDonnell last May set a new 60-day deadline on the governor’s office to rule on requests from former prisoners who want their voting rights restored, and reduced from three years to two the time nonviolent felons must wait to apply for restoration of rights. McDonnell has restored rights to more than 1,000 felons since taking office.
The governor also is proposing a budget amendment that would provide an additional $3.2 million to add probation officers and other staff needed to speed re-entry for inmates who are released.
At the same time, McDonnell proposed using inmate labor to clean and maintain rest stops along Virginia’s highways, a proposal approved by the state House and Senate.
