Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Correctional Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners approve MOU with Tuscarora Intermediate Unit to provide adult education at county correctional facility
Summary
The Mifflin County Commissioners voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with the Tuscarora Intermediate Unit to provide adult basic education, GED support and reentry services to people incarcerated at the county correctional facility for a contract year beginning July 1, 2025.
The Mifflin County Commissioners on July 1 approved a memorandum of understanding with the Tuscarora Intermediate Unit (TIU) to provide adult basic education, GED preparation and workforce-readiness programming inside the county correctional facility. The contract period begins July 1, 2025, and runs through June 30, 2026.
County staff presented the MOU and invited TIU instructor Keith Murnan to describe the program. Murnan said TIU served 56 students inside the facility during the past period, with 22 students meeting the program's defined enrollment threshold; GED completion rates inside were lower because tests are taken one subject at a time. He also described reentry classes and family-literacy programming funded this year, and said TIU had received a state grant to run a family literacy program serving 21 families that allows parents inside to connect with children through shared literacy activities and new books for children.
Murnan described additional services TIU provides: in-jail career and reentry planning, one-on-one coaching, and a campaign to rebuild the facility's paperback library. He said those services complement reentry planning that covers housing, identification, employment and health coverage. A county official noted TIU staff meet weekly in the facility and that coordination with corrections staff has been important to the program's continuity.
Commissioners moved to approve the MOU. The motion carried by voice vote; no roll-call tally was provided in the meeting record.
Why it matters: The agreement keeps in-custody education and reentry services funded for the coming fiscal year and preserves state grant-backed family-literacy programming that county staff said is unique in the state-level initiative.
The contract and programming as described by TIU staff appear intended to support release planning and reduce barriers to employment, but the MOU does not itself create new county services beyond authorizing TIU's delivery inside the jail.
The commissioners asked county staff to continue reporting on outcomes and any changes in state funding that would affect service levels.
