Advertisement I don’t envy the La Crosse County officials trying to find a house for the women’s jail alternative program.
The idea is to help female inmates who don’t qualify for community programs because they don’t have a stable, safe place to live by giving them an apartment and providing services to help them get on their feet.
For those who believe in locking them up and throwing away the key, the program makes no sense. For those who think it’s possible to break the cycle, the program is an opportunity to reduce the jail population and recidivism.
But where to put them? Ever heard the phrase, “Not in my backyard?”
First, the county tried to lease a house near Cameron Avenue and 11th Street, a historic neighborhood just southeast of downtown La Crosse.
Not us, said the neighbors. They said they didn’t object to the women’s program, but pleaded they’re already overburdened with halfway houses and other group homes, though many are a bit farther south near Franciscan Skemp.
I didn’t make it to the community meeting they had in June at Aquinas High School, but I heard it wasn’t pretty.
As a result, the county is looking north. The city of La Crosse owns two vacant duplexes at the corner of Kane and St. Paul streets, which the county could lease for one year to get the program started while it searches for a more suitable permanent location.
I’m sure the duplexes looked like a good alternative. When I first heard about them, I thought it might be a workable location.
Then I drove up to the North Side to hear what the neighbors thought. And I learned 27 children live on the block just north of the duplexes.
Now, never mind that the women in the program aren’t violent, that they went to jail mostly because they’ve stolen something or had trouble with substance abuse. And they’re still in jail because they don’t have anywhere else to go.
But county officials probably didn’t know there were 27 children in the neighborhood before they started knocking on doors last week to tell residents what they were planning and invite them to a community meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Coulee Region Business Center, 1100 Kane St.
I honestly don’t know whether the women — or the people coming to visit them — might be a safety threat to those children. I know the women aren’t in jail because we’re afraid of them but because we’re mad at them. And I’m sure there’s concern that without some close supervision, the women might break the conditions of their release.
But I’m afraid in the current political environment, concerns about 27 children may trump the good a women’s jail alternative program could do for the larger community.
Reid Magney can be reached at (608) 791-8211 or rmagney@lacrossetribune.com.
