November 5, 2019
Community Supervision Center works to make clients successful
Probation and Parole officials opened the doors to the local Community Supervision Center this week to showcase the “re-purposing” that has taken place as part of a new statewide initiative. The re-purposing is part of the Justice Re-Investment Treatment initiative, which kicked off Jan. 1...
Probation and Parole officials opened the doors to the local Community Supervision Center this week to showcase the “re-purposing” that has taken place as part of a new statewide initiative.
The re-purposing is part of the Justice Re-Investment Treatment initiative, which kicked off Jan. 1.
“We went from basically housing and babysitting (clients) to actually” offering classes, said Lanny Corcimiglia, former CSC unit supervisor.
Classes, such as family ties, interview skills and finances, are offered to the clients to help them become successful, said CSC unit supervisor Brenda Moore.
“It’s more structured than it was before,” Moore said. “When (the clients) come in, they are in phase I.
“They have to complete all the journals (classes) in that phase before they move to the next phase.”
In phase II, Moore said, there are different classes the clients have to complete before they can move on.
“At the end of phase II, after they have completed everything, they can start job searching,” Moore said.
The target, Moore said, is 120 days to complete the four phases.
Some clients, she said, need to “stay a little bit longer to save up some more money for housing.”
Others, she said, may have violations, spend time in jail or be sent to in-patient treatment, delaying their progress.
A hallway wall displays the four phases and where each client is in their program. That wall was one of the stops on Monday’s open house tour.
Moore said the open house was held for the center’s community partners to learn more about the initiative and the services being provided to clients by such entities as Reformer Unanimous, Three Rivers College/workforce development, SEMO Behavioral Health and Family Counseling Center.
Attending the open house were members of the Poplar Bluff Police Department, Butler County Sheriff’s Department, Missouri Department of Natural Resources and 36th Judicial Circuit.
The community partners, according to District No. 25 administrator James Berry, are “absolutely critical.
“That’s the reason we brought in some (for the open house),” said Berry, who indicated those partners help determine whether the clients will be successful.
The re-purposing is something that had been in the works for a while, and was something Corcimiglia actively was involved with before leaving Probation and Parole.
About 18 months ago, Corcimiglia explained, the state began using a new assessment tool, the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS), to assess clients.
Based on that assessment, “we know which way to go” with the clients, Corcimiglia said. “They may be strong in family support, but weak in peer relationships.
“They may be strong in friends and have a crappy” family life.
The majority of the clients, Corcimiglia said, have the same “core issues,” but this initiative allows for their “specific needs to be met.”
Moore agreed.
“It can be more geared toward them, tailored more from person to person,” she said.
The changes, Corcimiglia said, take away the “vicious cycle. You get them here; you get them clean. You get them a job; you get them into treatment, then you let them go.
“Now, it’s more, you’re here. You’re going to be clean; you’re going to work on the mental side … retraining the brain before you get back out.”
Corcimiglia said clients now will have the “foundation to go out” and will not leave without a “steady home.”
Before, he said, clients could have a home with whoever,” but many times would return in 30 or 60 days.
“Now, hopefully, there is a little more due diligence all the way through the whole program,” Corcimiglia said.
“I think the key thing is focusing on treatment, getting that 150 to 200 hours of cognitive therapy in so they’ll have a better” outcome, said Berry. “I think that’s the major improvement.”
The clients, he said, may have to stay longer initially, but “we’re investing in the long-term outcome.”
SEMO Behavioral Health, Moore said, is used for treatment services for the clients.
Some of the center’s partners, Moore said, are in the faith-based community and are ones “we rely on to try and fill in those gaps.”
Every night of the week, according to Berry, clients can attend a faith-based program.
As a way to improve the client’s job skills, TRC has partnered with the CSC to offer training opportunities.
On Monday, a Missouri manufacture technician I certificate will be offered for two and one-half weeks.
“We’re really excited about it,” said Will Cooper, with TRC’s workforce development program. “ … This is a great thing for the community.”
Cooper said the clients will complete 100 hours of training, focusing on safety and the quality aspects of manufacturing.
“Typically, we take 10 people,” said Cooper, who indicated 11 were signed up on Monday.
Cooper anticipates the classes being offered multiple times.
“We’ve got the first group now; we’ll probably do two, maybe three other groups,” Cooper said. “This program allows us to do 40 participants.”
From February to April, Moore said, a truck-driving school will be held at the CSC.
Truck driving, according to Cooper, is “No. 1 in the region.”
Advertisement
Advertisement