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Connecticut to Open Prison for Younger Adult Inmates

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The prison would protect young inmates from abuse and manipulation by older prisoners.

A prison that will exclusively house and deal with the issues of inmates between the ages of 18 and 25 is being planned in Connecticut, said the state's correction commissioner.

The staff at the prison would receive special training in dealing with younger inmates and the programming at the prison would focus on the brain development of young adults, Commissioner Scott Semple told The Associated Press.

"This is the most impulsive population," he said. "They tend to be involved in more assaults and things of that nature and what we are trying to do is impact that."

He said the prison would also protect the younger inmates from abuse and manipulation by older prisoners.

The prison will be based on a model he saw in Germany this summer on a trip with Governor Dannel Malloy and would be the first of its type in the United States, Semple said.

There are currently 3,092 inmates in the prison system out of a population of 15,807. The department said 635 of those inmates are 25 years old.

The department is seeking input from educational and other experts and is looking at a behavior-modification curriculum that the Department of Children and Families uses with youthful offenders to determine if some of that would work in the prison.

"What I envision is that incident rates will go down system-wide," Semple said. "It also gives us the greatest potential to reduce the recidivism rate in a large way."

B.J. Casey, director of the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology at Cornell University, said she is pleased that a prison system has decided to take into consideration developmental changes in young people when dealing with their rehabilitation.

"I hope with these changes that special attention will be given for opportunities for these individuals to engage in prosocial behavior and to have prosocial role models in preparation for their transition back into society," Casey said.

Semple said the move does not require legislative approval. He has not asked for any additional funds for the move and he plans to use one of Connecticut’s 18 existing prisons.

He said he also plans to set up a similar unit at the York prison for women. Plans call for the prison to open by January 2017.

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