According to Starke County Sheriff Bill Dulin, more than 30 jail inmates recently started a gardening class instructed by Starke County Purdue Extension Educator Phil Woolery.
Sheriff Dulin shared that a total of 32 inmates will be attending the month-long class where Woolery will teach lessons about agriculture, horticulture and other skills related to botany.
He said the “green thumb” gardening class is a part of a Starke County Jail program called F.A.R.M., which is an acronym that stands for Focusing A Recovery Mindset. He said the goal of the programs is to give inmates the opportunity to learn a set of skills that they can use when they integrate back into the community.
Sheriff Dulin said that according to the most recent statistics, the F.A.R.M Program coupled with the Substance Abuse Program has 78 graduates, counting the current class. Of those 78 individuals, only 9 have re-offended resulting in a 15 percent recidivism rate. Dulin commented that the Starke County Jail’s recidivism rate is tremendously lower than the national rate which is currently at 67 percent.
