A new program is helping the incarcerated reconnect with their families at the Monroe County Jail.
“(The idea of the Family Services Unit) is to reunite maybe family members that have not had a relationship with the individual that’s incarcerated,” said Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough, who helped put together the program. “But, more importantly, it gives the individual that’s incarcerated the tools necessary on how to be a good father, how to be a good spouse.”
The goal of this voluntary program, Goodnough said, is to help keep people from coming back to jail. They believed that helping them form relationships with their families was the best way to do it. Inmates are given the opportunity for their families to visit in the jail and do things like read books with their children.
Goodnough sees it as part of the wider implementation of programs used in Monroe County. From the behavioral health unit to the substance abuse disorder team, the county is full of programs for those looking for a hand up.
“There’s a number of (inmates) who want to make change,” Goodnough said. “They don’t want to come back to jail.”
The program also offers online courses that teach them how they can have a better time on the outside. When they’re released, the sheriff’s office gives their family insight and materials to aid and educate them. The sheriff’s office plans to do follow-ups and check-ins with released prisoners to track the success rate of the program.
The program was launched in October 2025. Goodnough had been wanting to institute a program like this for “many years,” but lacked a base program to start with. However, he was able to find one in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, to base the Monroe County program on. After speaking with Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, Goodnough was ready to build the Family Services Unit.
— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County Jail program helps inmates reconnect with families
Reporting by Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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