Page 7 - Inmate Workers News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The hip-hop generation, mason likes giving his younger customers something extra with their meals. a serving of rap. >> i'll do a short one. i'll do a short one. ♪ my mind's not right but still got game ♪ ♪ bet my dope puts yours to shame ♪ ♪ judges today have it all wrong ♪ ♪ they're far to late to try the bomb ♪ ♪ these crews are cool but they're living in sin ♪ ♪ they're robbing the pharmacies for vicodin ♪ >> when their shift ends, mason and other inmate workers make their way back to their housing unit. >> k-70, sir. >> better known as the workers barracks, it's st...

Day. >> i've actually heard that if an inmate had to be incarcerated they prefer to come to orange county jail because they are fed well. they are fed more colorfully. and our nutritional guidelines and standards are the same as the rest of the state. but we put a lot of care and energy into what we do. >> while lower security level inmates eat in the chow hall, the majority of inmates are confined to their cells. their meals are delivered by inmate workers, like robert mason. >> really helps that i used to work at denny's. it makes me thankful where i am at because at least we get to come out...

>> we get animals in that are literally skin and bones. we nurse them back to health. we resocialize them. we get them used to being around people. and once their court case is cleared, and we take actual ownership of the animal, we adopt them out to a good home. >> good boy. >> the animals are cared for by inmate workers who have no history of animal abuse. male inmates take care of the horses and other farm animals. >> we get accused of standing around scratching our ass all day here at m.a.s.h. unit. best job on the yard. >> female inmates handle the dogs and cats. >> i bond more with the d...

At the fairfax county adult detention center, feeding the 1,200 men and women incarcerated here falls to inmate workers like rasheed conte. in this kitchen, they learn to do things big. >> right now what i'm doing is i'm just going to boil the potatoes first, for 45 minutes or an hour. then i'm going to take them over, mash them with butter and milk. most jails use instant potatoes. we're using real potatoes here. >> conte is part of a crew that serves about 26,000 inmate meals a week. >> they order approximately 30,000 pounds of food per week. 18,000 cookies, 10,600 eight-ounce cartons of mil...

I'm seeing them go to other jobs, sam's and walmart and those type of things because the pay's a little better, the benefits are a little better. that's when we go okay, what do we have to do to retain folks. insurance benefits is an issue i hear all the time. so those are things from my end i have got to start talking with commissioners and stuff so we can hopefully hire more people and retain them. >> sheriff easter has even expanded the range of jobs available to inmate workers or trustees. >> sedgwick county jail. >> such as answering the phones. >> we do not have anybody by that last name...