The Carbon County Correctional Facility has had its first application for the community service program since it restarted the volunteer program last May.

Blue Mountain Health System has applied for help with maintenance type work on the grounds of its campuses in Lehighton and Palmerton.The plans are being finalized, Frank Shubeck, prison work release director, said Wednesday at the county prison board meeting, adding that it should be implemented in about two weeks.The community service program aims to use work release eligible inmates for community projects. It was discontinued about four years ago after some issues arose.Currently, the group using the inmates will be required to provide transportation and supervision of the inmates that will be working on a project. In the past, an officer went out with the group to oversee that no problems occur.Inmates who are eligible for the program include minimal offenders such as people in for DUIs, thefts, probation violations and sometimes domestic violations. Individuals are screened to make sure they meet all guidelines before becoming eligible for the program and must have served at least half of their sentence unless a judge rules otherwise.Municipalities and groups that can use the program can be anyone from fire companies to community enrichment programs or churches for anything from cleaning up after a block party to cutting grass or painting.Shubeck will do spot checks throughout the projects to make sure things are OK.Any inmate who does not obey the rules while out on work release will have their privileges revoked and could possibly face longer jail time, depending on what the issue is.The inmates will be paid $1 a day for working in the program.Municipalities and organizations interested in using the work release inmates for community projects can contact Shubeck at 570-325-2211.In other matters, Carbon County's prison population continues to grow, officials report.Warden Timothy Fritz told the county prison board that the inmate population was 221. The correctional facility has 223 beds."We're starting to bust a little at the seams," Fritz said.He pointed out that past trends usually showed a decline in the inmate population this time of year due to nice weather, but so far this year the prison has seen an opposite trend happening."Hopefully we see some reprieve shortly," Fritz said.Crime in Carbon County has been on the rise lately, officials have said, with drug and alcohol cases growing quickly.Fritz also said that a CareerLink workshop for inmates who will be released in the next few months, will be held at the facility to help them learn what is available at CareerLink. Two courses will be held for the inmates that expressed interest.Blue Mountain Health System will offer grief and loss counseling to inmates free of charge. Details are still being finalized for the program.Carbon-Monroe-Pike Mental Health/Developmental Services will perform a mental health first aid training for prison staff, Fritz said.He said the eight-hour class will be offered sometime in the fall or winter and will provide staff with a background to help deal with new intakes and inmates who are showing signs of mental health issues.Fritz also said that Gov. Tom Wolf designated May 1-7 as corrections employees week in Pennsylvania.