Jail industries can help relieve inmate idleness and stress associated with crowding. The strategy of alternative sentencing has focused on the use of community-based correctional centers that offer a less restrictive environment than the traditional jail, thus providing a context in which industries can be operated with fewer custody and security concerns. Increasingly, judges and the courts are encouraging the development of correctional alternatives, such as jail industries, that prepare inmates to live a more economically productive and psychologically satisfying life upon release. Jail industries can also help defray incarceration costs by providing productive work that either saves counties money or increases revenue. PHILACOR, the correctional industries division of the Philadelphia jail system, is a program worthy of emulation. The program was established to reduce inmate idleness and increase productivity. Currently, 301 inmates participate in 8 basic industries at 3 facilities in the system. 6 references