The inexpensive way to transfer the risk of offender injuries in work release and alternative-sentencing programs

Offenders in work-release and court-ordered alternative sentencing programs get hurt in a number of ways…Falls and broken bones. Falls and concussions. Pulled muscles, lacerations and eye injuries using saws, string trimmers and other equipment. Burns working in kitchens. Needle sticks picking up trash. Injuries from falling objects, and animal bites for offenders working in shelters. As you think about what your offenders do in their assignments, you might imagine how some of these injuries could occur on your watch.

As you might already know, it’s a common situation that the injured offender has no insurance. Who pays the cost of the emergency room visit (and maybe the ambulance to get there)? What about the cost of physical therapy, and other follow-up expenses that can get into the thousands quickly? If the offender is getting bills, he or she might also be getting some legal advice.

Your governmental entity might be self-insured. Yes, you can set a reserve to cover the estimated cost of the offender’s treatment. But there is another, better, option. You can do what hundreds of programs across the country have done, and insulate yourself against an expensive claim. Simply transfer the cost of medical treatment to our Volunteers Insurance Service program – very inexpensively.

Our program pays up to $25,000 for treatment of the offender’s injuries. If there is other insurance, ours is excess. If not, as is usually the case, our policy is primary coverage. First dollar, and no deductible or copay.

Can you see how our program is a simple solution to the injured-offender problem, IF the cost is reasonable?

For work-release programs, the premium is $90.55 per offender, per year. For offenders who are not incarcerated but have been ordered by the court to perform community service as an alternative sentence, the premium is $9.85 per offender per year. Not a lot, considering the risk, and how high medical costs are now.

You might be wondering how many offenders to insure, if there are a number going through your system every year. We keep it simple. You would insure the greatest number who would be in your program at any given time.

Here is a link to our online application on the Website of The CIMA Companies, the administrator of our volunteer insurance program — http://www.cimaworld.com/nonprofits/volunteer-insurance-application/ You will see links to our applications for work release programs and court-referred alternative sentencing programs. Choose the one that’s right for you, and provide the information. Your exact cost is computed automatically for you on the application, so you have that information without even talking with anyone here. But if you do want to talk to a real person about the program before you make a decision, Jennifer Yarnell would love to hear from you. She is at 800.222.8920.