A new initiative involving Penn United Technologies, Butler County Community College and the Butler County Prison could save taxpayers money while providing a societal benefit by giving a second chance to those in need of one.

The prison board unanimously voted this week to approve a program to allow certain inmates to participate in a manufacturing pre-apprenticeship class.

Under the program, prison officials would choose 10 inmates they believe are suited to attend classes taught on BC’3 campus by Penn United’s training coordinator. The inmates would learn to use equipment at the college’s science and technology building as part of the class.

We hope the program is successful.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, studies have shown that a whopping 67.8 percent of released prisoners are arrested again within three years of release, and that 76.6 percent end up back in prison within five years.

However, the bureau discovered in a 2013 study that there was a 43 percent reduction in recidivism rates for prisoners who participated in prison education programs. And the higher the degree obtained by a prisoner, the lower the recidivism rate dropped.

Kevin Boozel, one of Butler County’s commissioners, said the college and Penn United are accepting a flat rate of $15,000 for the pilot program that will come from the commissary fund at the prison. After that, it will be $3,500 per student, which stakeholders hope will be funded through grants.

While that might sound expensive, Boozel pointed out that even if only one of the 10 inmates participating in the program — which focuses on training for manufacturing jobs — is able to find employment in that industry upon leaving jail, rather than returning to crime and the court system, taxpayers would save thousands of dollars.

The Vera Institute of Justice — a nonprofit that works with the government to improve the justice system — found in a study that the average cost of housing an inmate is more than $31,000 per year. That study was conducted nearly a decade ago.

The Penn United-Butler County Prison program would benefit many: the inmates, who’d gain an opportunity to turn their lives around; taxpayers, who’d have to fund less people going through the court system; and local manufacturers, who’d gain new skilled employees.

Obviously, whether the program will meet its objectives remains to be seen. But we think its concept is a good one and its potential great.