ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS
Art and Creative Expressions (ACE)
Taught in partnership with the Salt Lake Art Center, this therapeutic art program aims to
- increase visual literacy and develop critical thinking skills through visual media,
- provide an appropriate vehicle for self-expression,
- increase problem-solving skills by providing a task and materials to accomplish it,
- promote collaboration and trust, and
- expand self-esteem by providing an appreciative audience for the final results.
Four sessions are offered annually to both male and female prisoners. Completed works are displayed at the Salt Lake Arts Center for four to six weeks. Prisoners may designate their work "for sale" to purchase supplies for future sessions. Artwork not sold may be kept by the artist or donated to the Sheriff's office for display in public areas of the jail.
The Salt Lake Arts Center graciously hosted four separate exhibits of prisoner art.Last year 75 prisoners graduated from the program.
Crochet Program and Service Project
Begun in 2006 by the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the crochet program offers female prisoners an opportunity to learn a positive and productive leisure activity while performing community service. Blankets, stocking caps, scarves, and baby shawls are donated to Primary Children’s Hospital’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit on a quarterly basis.
Library Services
The Jail Library is a branch of the Salt Lake County Library System. Prisoners fill out Library Request forms, indicating books they would like to read either by title or type of book (mystery, western, etc.) Approximately 98 percent of prisoners use the library system which includes books at all reading levels, from beginning reader to adult.
Female prisoners work with a full-time librarian to sort, shelve and repair books.
There are approximately 32,000 books in the jail library. About 22,000 of them are in circulation each month.
The jail library also carries DVDs that can be checked out by corrections officers to show in the housing units. Movies are used as rewards for good behavior and are usually shown on the weekends.
Jail Workers
The Salt Lake County Jail relies heavily on prisoner labor. The Programs Division clears and places over 300 prisoners in work assignments throughout the jail. Work assignments include meal prep for all inmates and staff, serving meals to prisoners confined to cells, sorting and shelving uniforms, assisting in the library, and cleaning the secure areas of the jail.
Jail Barbers
The Program Division hires licensed cosmetologists to provide haircuts for the jail population. Haircuts run $8; jail workers receive a discounted rate of $2; and indigent prisoners are eligible for a free haircut every four to six weeks. Fees are deducted from the prisoners Commissary Account.
Program Development
New programs currently in the development stage include culinary arts, sewing, and domestic violence education.