Merced Sun-Star
Jeffrey Beard, Gov. Jerry Brown’s secretary of corrections, recently toured and praised Merced’s Trident Center. The center provides services to offenders released under AB 109, legislation which moved responsibility for nonviolent, nonsexual offenders from the state to the counties in an effort to reduce prison overpopulation. Beard commended the center for housing all the services offenders need under one roof. The center offers programs that teach offenders basic life skills and help them successfully return to their communities. By helping them successfully transition back into community life, the center’s programs reduce the likelihood these individual will re-offend and enhance public safety, Beard said.
