PHOTOS: Western Pa. prison unit helping prisoners with developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars

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Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Prison psychological specialist Christine Ransom, center, leads a group session for inmates, Dec. 14, 2023, in the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Chaplin David Jacquel leaves after a visit to the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa., Dec. 14, 2023. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions This is one of a handful of "sensory" rooms that offer calming blue walls in which harsh fluorescent lighting is dimmed by special covers, Dec. 14, 2023, in the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Chaplin David Jacquel visits with an inmate, Dec. 14, 2023, in the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Prison psychological specialists Christine Ransom, top right, and Randy Kulesza, top left, lead a group session for inmates, Dec. 14, 2023, in the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions This is the exercise yard, part of the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa., Dec. 14, 2023. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Chaplin David Jacquel visits with an inmate, Dec. 14, 2023, in the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Prison counselor Taylor Tharp, top left; psychological specialists Christine Ransom, top center; and Randy Kulesza, top right, lead a group session for inmates, Dec. 14, 2023, in the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Chaplin David Jacquel visits with an inmate, Dec. 14, 2023, in the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Prison psychological specialist Randy Kulesza, left, and Christine Ransom stand in the doorway of a "sensory" room that offers calming blue walls in which harsh fluorescent lighting is dimmed by special covers, Dec. 14, 2023, in the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Prison psychological specialist Christine Ransom, center, helps oversee a group session for inmates, Dec. 14, 2023, in the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit inmate Jose works on a mural between two cells, Dec. 14, 2023, at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions Prison psychological specialist Christine Ransom, right, leads a group session for inmates, Dec. 14, 2023, in the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

Prisoners with developmental disabilities face unique challenges. One facility is offering solutions This is the exercise yard, part of the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pa., Dec. 14, 2023. The prison unit is helping men with autism and their intellectual and developmental disabilities stay safe behind bars while learning life skills. The unit is the first in the state and one of only a handful nationwide. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (GJP/AP)

March 05, 2024 at 9:00 am EST

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