Schuylkill County is offering inmates in its pre-release program another helping hand to stay out of trouble.

Commissioners on Wednesday agreed to spend $24,000 for a program called "Breaking the Cycle."Drug & Alcohol administrator Melissa Chewey asked the county for the money for the program, which would be offered through Schuylkill Health Counseling.The extra money increases the funding for Schuylkill Health Counseling from $145,000 to $169,000."Breaking the Cycle" is among the evidence-based programs produced by The Change Companies, Chewey said. The program involved interactive journaling as a method to help people struggling with addictions and self-destructive behavior to become more aware of how their paths in life have brought them to where they are now, and to map out how to get to change their behaviors to get to where they want to be.The county began the pre-release program in September to relieve overcrowding at the aging jail, across from the courthouse, and to cut down once overtime logged by guards.Warden Eugene Berdanier said in a telephone interview that there are now 55 inmates in the pre-release program. They live at home, and are monitored by the county's Adult Probation department.Since it began, the program has saved the county 1,371 "jail days," he said.That means less overcrowding in the county's aging jail.So far, Berdanier said, only two inmates have been booted from the program for non-compliance. The participants are regularly tested for drug and alcohol use, among other requirements.