Luster Heights focuses on getting inmates ready to re-enter society, learning to give back

by Kelli Boylen
freelance writer

Editor's Note: This is the first of two articles about the Luster Heights Correctional Facility near Harpers Ferry. Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s proposed 2014 budget calls for the closure of Luster Heights. Most people know a little about the facility, but here is a much closer look at what goes on there.

There is no razor wire, no fence, no walls and no armed patrols of the perimeter. There is a huge woodpile, many gardens, a greenhouse and a wood shop.
At first glance the Luster Heights Correctional Facility near Harpers Ferry may have the appearance of a fun outdoor camp, but there is serious work going on.
Since July 1, Luster Heights has been averaging 84 inmates, according to Correctional Security Manager, Major Kevin Hagemann. Almost all of the offenders are serving sentences for non-violent crimes, and most have convictions related to drug activity such as forgery or theft, or have a history of drug or alcohol use.
Offenders have the opportunity, by having positive behaviors, to be placed at this minimum security setting. Being at Luster Heights is a reward that offers privileges that they would not have at a higher security facility. Most offenders who are at Luster Heights are within six to 12 months of being released, so they are willing to do what is necessary to be successful.
The staff of 15 employees at Luster Heights, which includes three full-time, certified substance abuse treatment counselors, works with the inmates to operate a resourceful, efficient facility.
The average cost per year per inmate in the state of Iowa is $30,456, with the highest cost at Oakdale ($58,339 annually) and the Iowa State Penitentiary ($44,205 annually). Luster Heights actually has the least expensive cost per inmate in the state at $19,559. There are more than 8,200 inmates in the Iowa Prison System.
At Luster Heights, every inmate is assigned a job: they cook, clean, cut wood, work in the gardens and help to maintain the grounds. The most sought after jobs, though, are the ones in the wood shop where they learn fine wood craftsmanship, from each other and from Correctional Officer Alex Galema, who oversees the woodshop. Many organizations in the area also benefit from these projects.
The inmates' jobs serve several purposes, according to Kris Kovarik, one of the three corrections counselors at Luster Heights. Those jobs teach them responsibility, help to create a sense of community, help to keep costs of operating the facility down, and give them skills they can take with them.
“A lot of the inmates have never maintained a regular job,” says Kovarik. “When they leave here they will have skills to take with them.” Work in the kitchen could lead to a restaurant job; work in the green house could lead to a landscaping job.

HISTORY
Luster Heights first opened as a mobile camp in 1960, and inmates were moved into the first permanent structure in 1963. The camp was closed in 1978, was used by the Youth Conservation Corps for several years and then reopened to inmates in 1982. The substance abuse program was established in 1988, and at that time there were about 30 inmates. The wood shop was opened in 1999, and the greenhouse was constructed in 2010.
The Luster Heights staff takes great pride in the facility’s self-sufficiency. For example, they used the money they receive when scraping out a bunch of old metal on a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) property that work crews gathered up and used it to build a shed for recycling. They have a new building, and it didn’t cost the taxpayers anything.
“If we can fix it, we will,” adds Hagemann. Often there are inmates with the skills needed to fix a tractor or the garden tiller.
There are eight large gardens at Luster Heights totaling several acres, as well as berries and an apple orchard; all cared for by the inmates, most of whom have never gardened before. The gardens help to keep food expenses down, and this year they are even growing lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes in the greenhouse through the winter months.
The greenhouse, constructed in 2010, is not only used to start plants for the facility’s gardens, but also to start plants for the Allamakee County Master Gardeners for their spring plant sale. The gardener organization buys seeds and supplies, the inmates raise the plants, and the Master Gardeners keep the profits, which are used for gardening efforts throughout the county.
This is just one of the many examples of how Luster Heights works with local and state organizations to teach the inmates about giving back to the community and helping them to gain a sense of belonging. Luster Heights has agreements to provide work crews as needed with Iowa DNR at the Yellow River State Forest, Allamakee County Roads Department, City of Marquette, City of McGregor, City of Lansing, City of Harpers Ferry, Waukon City Parks, Eastern Allamakee Community School District, and Allamakee County Conservation. (More information about the benefits of work by inmates, including the items made in the woodshop, will be featured next week in The Standard.)
Work crews allow the offenders to work alongside the public on a daily basis, allowing them to “give back,” said Kovarik. “It gives the offenders a sense of pride and accomplishment that they can be involved in something positive, and have something to show for their work, something many offenders have not had in their lives.”
In addition to the work program, Luster Heights also provides the inmates with counseling in intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment, relapse prevention, anger management, criminal thinking, victim impact and a GED program.
The “guys,” as the staff often refer to the prisoners, spend up to two and a half hours a day, four days a week, in group counseling sessions. Each man also has one hour of individual counseling every other week to address issues related towards preparing for release, such as housing, job placement, transportation, and relationship building.
“The things we do here have a very real and major impact,” says Stacie Anderson, another of the correctional counselors. “We are doing great things here.” She added that the counselors at Luster Heights, she, Kovarik and Robin Bernhard, all know each of the guys on their caseload. “They are not just an inmate number to us.”
When they are not working or meeting with counselors, the prisoners can spend time in the recreation center, which has a television, a small library, a ping-pong table and foosball. Those who are interested can get books through the Harpers Ferry Library, too.
The facility has a building where they can work out, too. Hagemann says that building is completely unheated, but there are still guys in there using the equipment every day, every hour it is open. When discipline of prisoners is needed, one of the first things taken away is the right to use the recreation center and weight shed.
Although it may sound like the inmates at Luster Heights have things pretty easy, it should be remembered that they have a lot fewer freedoms than the average person: they cannot leave without permission on a work crew, their visitors must be pre-approved and can only come during certain hours, they cannot be alone with their loved ones, they do not have cell phones or computers and they sleep in a room with up to 43 other men.
The community gives to Luster Heights as well. Volunteers tutor offenders who are working towards getting their GED, and others bring faith-based programs to offenders who are interested. Outside AA/NA (Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous) groups come to help chair group meetings. Deacon Bill Hickson with Jail and Prison Ministries provides the opportunity for offenders to have a mentor when they are released.
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s budget recommendations for 2014 include closing Luster Heights, eliminating the 15 jobs there, and then dedicating that money to the operation of new prison beds at Mitchellville (annual cost per prisoner of $29,784).
The mission of the Iowa Department of Corrections is to advance successful offender re-entry back into society. “We not only succeed at doing this, but provide it at a very low cost to the taxpayers of the state of Iowa," said Kovarik. “It would be a great loss to close such a productive and budget conscious facility in Allamakee County."
Anyone who wishes to express their support for Luster Heights is encouraged to write Sen. Michael Breitbach, 301 W. Mission St., Strawberry Point, IA 52076 or e-mail him at Michael.breitbach@legis.iowa.gov; write to Rep. Patti Ruff at 1331 Jade Ave., McGregor, IA, 52157 or email her at patti.ruff@legis.iowa.gov; and write Governor Branstad at 1007 E. Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50319 or call 515-281-5211. Comments can also be submitted to the Governor online at https://governor.iowa.gov/constituent-services/register-opinion.