PROBATION OFFICER GOES EXTRA MILE FOR HER CLIENTS

Thanks to his probation officer, Darius Harris is drinking more coffee.

"Since I stopped going to school, it's hard to get up this early," said Harris, who attends the 10 a.m. GED preparation classes at the Salvation Army.

Coffee helps Harris stay on time for the classes, provided through the Cape Girardeau Vocational School's adult education program. They started at the south Sprigg Street location at the suggestion of probation officer Priscilla Miller.

Many who are required by a judge to receive a GED, the equivalent of a high school diploma, as a condition of probation have trouble getting one. Finding transportation to get to the Vocational School at 301 N. Clark St. is a challenge to Southside Cape residents, Miller said.

"If you don't have some definite transportation, a walk in the cold can deter you from getting an education," she said. "It's a huge problem."

With the interest and assistance of the Vocational School and the Salvation Army, the GED classes for adults started last June, Miller said.

Although about 50 come to the twice a week classes, more than 100 were involved at the program's height last year, said Kristen Sigman, an adult basic education teacher who assists at the Salvation Army.

"Our main concern was that everybody who needed to be here was able to come," she said.

But this isn't the only innovation that Miller has brought to her work with criminal offenders. Along with a community garden project and Christmas baskets for the elderly, Miller has made up programs that caught her bosses' attention at the state Department of Corrections. Last year she received the department's Diamond Dudley award for her dedication and novel approach to working with offenders.

Miller, who works with high-need offenders, has always exhibited creativity and willingness to adapt in her eight years as a probation and parole officer, said her supervisor, Steve Unterreiner.

Miller got into probation work after raising a family. She went back to college at 36.

Choosing a career in law enforcement had nothing to do with her father serving as town marshal in Advance for many years, Miller said.

"I just like to work with people," she said.

She averages about 20 minutes a week with each of the 30 or so offenders in her care. Sometimes this also means spending time with the offender's family.

"We try to take a holistic approach," Miller said. "If we see something that would help, we try to plug them into it to make the whole family prosperous."

Most of those Miller supervises are between 16 and 23, spending their first time on probation. This profile of her offenders helped lead her to the GED idea, she said.

Cape Girardeau County Judge John Grimm requires passage of the 8-hour GED test from almost everyone he handles in court who doesn't have a high school education.

"I'm a strong believer that education leads to employment, which leads to someone not committing more crimes," Grimm said.

Grimm will set a time to complete the GED program base on someone's prior education. If a person dropped out of 11th grade, he might give six months for a GED. With an eighth grade education, it might be two years, Grimm said.

Forty-eight year old Glenda Cooper will test for her GED next month. She sees this as pathway toward starting her own home business.

"I'm going to do sales on the Internet," she said. "My husband has been involved with transmissions for so long, I thought we could sell parts."

Jesse Kuykendoll, 19, said being able to walk to the Salvation Army instead of the Vocational School makes a difference for him. Kuykendoll understands that he needs an education.

"Pretty soon, you're going to need a GED to flip burgers," he said.

Twenty year-old Angel Karraker is setting her sights a bit higher. After she takes the GED in February, she plans to apply for admission to a two-year college.

Many of Miller's offenders who attend the GED classes, which are open to the public, are thankful for the assistance she has given them. But Kuykendoll knows that she can only do so much.

"She can lead us to the stop sign," he said. "But we have to walk across."