Tribune editorial staff

Rehabilitating a criminal is more than just telling them they did something wrong, why what they did was wrong and telling them "don't do it again."

If the individual has no outlet besides crime, he or she will likely become a repeat offender. STAR Community Justice Center in Franklin Furnace and Collins Career Center are offering that outlet.

Through a partnership, the career center and STAR is giving residents of the facility training to obtain meaningful employment once they have completed their sentence. The program gives these individuals the opportunity to obtain job training and work toward certification in food services and grounds/maintenance. We feel this is one of the most important things that can be done to rehabilitate a convicted criminal.

Will it work for everyone? No, but for many residents of STAR it will. These individuals are low-level felons - convicted of crimes such as drug-related offenses and other non-violent offenses. Many of these people are in the facility because they have never had an opportunity to believe they could make something of themselves.

If one takes a closer look at most of our inmates - from those in facilities such as STAR to those incarcerated in state and federal prisons - one finds many of them have troubled backgrounds. Whether they came from a broken home, had parents who did not care about them or got mixed up with the "wrong crowd," a lot of these people had outside influences that led them to the life of crime.

When they see people really care about them and are willing to invest time to help them make a better life for themselves, many will grasp that help with open arms and make a concerted effort to become a productive member of society.

We salute Collins Career Center and STAR for offering these programs. We hope they will be able to expand on this and be able to offer even more programs in the future.