Erie County Executive Brenton Davis' administration has launched a new initiative aimed at helping prison inmates as they re-enter society.

On Friday, four inmates participated in the county's community works pilot program, by cleaning up storm damages at the Edmund L. Thomas Adolescent Center.

"These are things that we need to start looking at in the community-corrections model," said Davis. "How do we get these folks back into society?"

The program allows non-violent and low-risk inmates to participate in outdoor projects that benefit the community.

"This is something that we're looking at," said Davis. "This one tree that you got video of behind us, would have cost us several thousand dollars to have a contractor come up and clean this up."

Inmates in the program would be eligible for work release. However, due to low staffing, the work release center is currently closed.

"Unfortunately, we haven't recovered from COVID, believe it or not, after all these years," said Erie County Prison Warden Kevin Sutter. "We're still 40 staff down."

Warden Sutter hopes to gain enough staff to establish the program long-term.

"The inmates themselves, they like going out and doing this stuff, and giving back to the community," said Sutter. "Doing this work , like getting out and getting a hard day's work in and getting it done."

Meanwhile, Davis says the program will have a positive impact on both inmates and taxpayers.

"This is a win-win all the way around," said Davis. "It's great to work outside with these guys today, help them build the confidence that there is life outside of the correctional facility and they can be successful."