While the state’s work furlough program for prison inmates has proved to be successful, a recent rash of nearly two dozen prisoners walking away from custody has lawmakers considering tweaks to improve the system.

"We know that we’re not doing all we can," Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point), the Senate’s public safety and government affairs chairman, said Tuesday after an informational briefing on the furlough program. "We have to see what we can do to make it better, and resources and funding has a big say in what happens."

Solutions discussed at the briefing at the state Capitol included a call for additional positions for social workers and support staff, electronic monitoring systems and mentorship programs.

In addition, Nolan Espinda, state director of public safety, said more outreach into the community could help curb an inmate’s temptation to walk away. An inmate who is determined to have walked away faces a charge of second-degree escape and a potential sentence of five years in prison tacked onto his or her standing sentence.

"Outreach with families, outreach with employers" would help, Espinda said. "The more ability we have to do that, I think the better chance we would have of catching the symptoms of these types of things before they occur."

So far in 2015, 22 inmates have failed to return to custody after being granted work furloughs.

In all, there are 443 inmates participating in the program, Espinda said.

The program allows inmates with a proven record of good behavior and a willingness to reform to slowly regain their freedom and transition into becoming productive members of society, Espinda said. Inmates nearing the end of their sentence who have met the criteria, as determined by a warden, can receive job training skills and freedom to leave custody for a pre-approved work commitment.

Although the number of walk-aways has increased at a rate commensurate with a recent increase in the number of participants in the program, Espinda acknowledged that any loss of a prisoner is unacceptable and considered a failure toward the ultimate goal of returning a prisoner to society.

He also noted that more attention is given to walk-aways due to the department’s commitment to transparency, beginning in late 2014, to notify the public and the media of every inmate who does not return to the system.

Solutions such as electronic monitoring bracelets would be helpful but not a panacea, Espinda cautioned.

"It’s not a cure-all, but it is an additional tool in our utility belt toward success of the program," he said.

Espero said he would like the department to consider establishing a mentorship program and perhaps reach out to former inmates who have stayed out of trouble after leaving the corrections system.

"Mentorship works," Espero said. "If you have somebody that you can go to, if you can call a friend, a family member, a co-worker, that could be done low-budget with not a lot of funding.

"Legislatively we could push it," he added. "Maybe we could provide a few dollars to get it going and then working with vendors and others in the community. There are church groups, there are ex-inmates and felons out there. There are success stories that we have. We can try to get them more involved."