Groundbreaking held for IDOC Community Reentry Center in Pocatello
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POCATELLO — The city of Pocatello will soon be home to an Idaho Department of Correction Community Reentry Center.
Ground was broken on the facility at 6070 South Fifth Avenue Wednesday afternoon. It will serve as a transition center for 100 minimum-custody men nearing the end of their prison sentences. The inmates can’t have any sex-related offenses, no felony detainers and won’t have any known pending felony charges or investigations.
“The whole point of a community reentry center is for people to get connected back to their home communities. What we’ll be looking to do is help people improve their family connections and get them connected back to employment,” IDOC Director Bree Derrick told EastIdahoNews.com. “Also, if there are civic or faith groups that they want to be connected to, (we want to) make sure they start to establish those roots while they are still in custody so when they transition out, all of that is in place for them.”
IDOC officials, along with community leaders and others were on hand for the groundbreaking. Gov. Brad Little first proposed the $12 million Pocatello center in 2022. It will be staffed with a few dozen employees, including security, employment coordinators and case managers.
Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad believes having the center in Pocatello will be a benefit to the community.
“I think this is going to be one of the best things Pocatello’s had. The whole idea of someone being incarcerated is to rehabilitate or help them get back on their feet and get them back introduced to the community,” Blad said.
There are five other Community Reentry Centers in the state. The East Boise facility houses 148 women. Other centers in Nampa, Kuna, Idaho Falls and Twin Falls are for men.
Big D Construction will begin work on the building within the next few weeks, and Derrick hopes to have it completed by next September.