By Robin Sanders and Tim Bosley, editorial, Midland Daily News

The concept of Community Corrections is designed to provide a specific segment of the present Michigan Department of Corrections population, and citizens who have just begun a life of committing crimes, with an alternative to direct incarceration, as a means to prevent them from becoming “institutionalized” and reintegrating them into the community as productive, taxpaying citizens.

At the very least, the program would remove from the state’s prisons inmates who do not pose a security risk to others or the public and reduce the costs of corrections.

At best, the centers would serve to educate, train, reintegrate and ensure the self-sufficiency of those persons deemed eligible through a rigorous and evolving evaluation process.