Breaking the cycle of homelessness is the goal of a new program at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center and to save Horry County taxpayers money.
Many inmates at J. Reuben Long Detention Center aren't violent criminals but homeless people, jailed over and over again for minor offenses like trespassing.
By law, the county has to give them health care and jail director, Tom Fox, say that's often expensive.
"So if we can discontinue that cycle and not have to bring people in and continually treat them, it would save the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, plus what it costs us to house them," said Fox.
The county's new jail diversion program is designed to break the cycle.
It diverts the chronic homeless into a multi-step program that starts with counseling for their substance abuse or mental health issues. It includes peer therapy, where the homeless mingle with others who have come clean and can help them through the process.
It may seem like a lot of effort to go through for people who are, after all, petty criminals, but jail officials say, it's worth it.
"If they become a taxpaying citizen, if they're working a job instead of stealing from a job, everybody wins, the county certainly wins," said Eddie Hill, Inmate Programs & Services, J. Reuben Long Detention Center.
The program is patterned after one in Kentucky that has a 65 percent success rate.
Jail officials hope for similar results with the homeless population here.
"We want to show them a better way, we want to teach them that they can change and that there is hope for their life," said Hill.
The program is funded with a $170,000 federal grant.
