Huerfano County Correctional Center Introduces Vanpooling Program to Benefit Employees, Environment
WALSENBURG, Colo. – More than 40 employees of the Huerfano County Correctional Center in Walsenburg are participating in a new Employee Vanpooling Program being initiated at Corrections Corporation of America facilities nationwide.
Huerfano is one of four correctional centers owned and operated by CCA to pilot the vanpooling program, and the company plans to implement the service throughout most of its system of 65 correctional centers over the course of the next year. The correctional center employs more than 170 corrections professionals, who manage the 752-bed prison.
Not only is vanpooling environmentally conscientious since it saves gasoline and keeps vehicles off the highways, it is an effective employee retention and recruitment tool, says Mike Latko, CCA’s senior director of human resources.
“Many of our facilities – such as Huerfano County Correctional Center -- are located in remote areas, and employees can spend hundreds of dollars on gas each month traveling to and from work,” Latko said. “By participating in the CCA Vanpooling Program, employees can save significant money on gas, reduce wear and tear and insurance costs on their own vehicles, eliminate the stress of driving, and participate in good will for the environment. In a competitive job market, vanpooling is an avenue for CCA to set itself apart as an employer of choice.”
In addition to Huerfano County Correctional Center, CCA vanpooling programs are in place at Central Arizona Detention Center and Florence Correctional Center (both in Florence, Ariz.), and are soon to be operational at North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Okla. These programs are coordinated on a month-to-month basis by national vanpooling provider VPSI Inc.
In most instances, up to 15 employees share a ride to work in a customized van, which picks up and drops off the employees at a central location near their homes. VPSI provides the van, analyzes employee addresses to determine ideal pick-up locations, and provides full liability insurance. CCA provides participating employees with a stipend to cover the majority of the vanpooling cost, meaning most employees pay only around $20 to $30 per month to participate, resulting in a cost savings of hundreds of dollars for many employees.
Here in Huerfano, three 15-passenger vans are used to transport first- and second-shift employees, as well as the facility’s administrative staff, from Pueblo, Colo., to the facility, an approximately 45-mile trip each way.
“Most of us who are participating were spending $60 to $90 a week on gas before we started vanpooling, and now we’re spending only $30 a month to participate, so we’re very excited about the cost savings,” said Cecilia Abeyta, chief security clerk at Huerfano. “People sleep, read, or relax on the van, and we’ve been laughing a lot on the way to work or the way home, so we’ve all become better friends. It’s a great incentive to work at Huerfano.”
About CCA
CCA is the nation’s largest owner and operator of privatized correctional and detention facilities and one of the largest prison operators in the United States, behind only the federal government and three states. The company provides turn-key design, build, finance and operational management services, along with providing a wide range of rehabilitative programming for offenders, including education, vocation, substance abuse treatment, faith initiatives and life skills training. CCA operates 65 facilities, including 41 company-owned facilities, with a total design capacity of approximately 75,000 beds in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Visit www.correctionscorp.com for more information.