The oldest prison in Michigan is the Michigan Reformatory in Ionia. It is a Level IV facility for male offenders who have long sentences, who are considered an escape risk or who pose management problems in other facilities. The Level I dormitory houses prisoners nearing parole. Programming Academic programs offer a range of educational opportunities, from Adult Basic Education through the General Education Development. The facility also offers training for custodial maintenance technology.
Prisoners hold institutional jobs in areas such as food service, the library and maintenance.
Other programs include substance-abuse treatment, hobbycraft, religious ceremonies and a parenting and literacy program. Michigan State Industries offers work assignments in a furniture factory. An innovative program called Strategies for Thinking Productively is available to prisoners serving sentences for committing assaultive crimes. The focus of the program is to reduce violent criminal behavior by showing prisoners their thinking controls the way they act and that by changing their thinking, a change in behavior can occur.