February 14, 2006

Dear Editor:

Greg Nelson's article, "County may revive corrections office" (2/13/06), discusses the issue of Gratiot County re-establishing an Office of Community Corrections. It may seem odd for the Association of Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations (APCTO), the trade association for the nation's private prison providers, to support such an effort, but we do.

This year in the U.S., 650,000 inmates will be released from prison. Many will have been sent there for substance abuse offenses; unfortunately, in most cases, while they were incarcerated, they will have received little or no treatment.

If we are to have any measurable success in reducing the demand for expensive prison beds, or having prison serve as something other than "on-the-job" training for criminals, Sheriff Beracy and the members of the Advisory board are on the right track.

Community-based programs can help to strengthen and maintain the released individual's family unit and, when making appropriate use of electronic monitoring, can allow the offender to maintain his employment. If an offender can have access to treatment services while in the community-based programs, and he can participate in adequate transition programs and after-care services, these systems can reduce the likelihood of the individual re-offending, and give real meaning to the term "corrections."

APCTO's membership supports this initiative; we congratulate the Sheriff for his leadership.

Sincerely,
 

 Michael T. LoBue, Executive Director
Association of Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations
www.apcto.org

cc: Sheriff Rick Beracy

By GREG NELSON
Monday, February 13, 2006

ITHACA -- Gratiot County officials hope to have an Office of Community Corrections established this year to help alleviated crowded jail conditions.

A 13-member advisory board formed last year to apply for funding and to oversee the effort, which allows judges to give convicted criminals alternative sentences in lieu of incarceration.

The panel, which includes judicial, law enforcement, mental health, media and community representatives, has approved a grant application seeking $109,000, said County Administrator Dan Skiver.

It would also supply money to hire a full-time coordinator, who would work under contract without benefits, to oversee the day-to-day operations under the direction of Skiver and the advisory group.

The group is seeking an additional $11,500 from a state fund that collects a portion of the fines from drunken driving offenders.

The county operated an Office of Community Corrections several years ago, but discontinued it in 1998 because of the lack of use by judges.

At that time, the office did not include some type of mandatory substance abuse treatment or counseling component, which is why the judges wouldn't use it.

The new office will have both.

Because Gratiot County doesn't have a residential substance abuse treatment center, the office will look at contracting a certain number of beds in a nearby county, Skiver said.

"It would be somewhere the court could sentence (offenders) to 90 or 120 days at a time," he said.

The jail has 70 beds, but the state Department of Corrections recommends it house no more than 63 prisoners at a time. The average daily inmate count in 2005 was 80, which does not include those housed in other facilities. The average in 2004 was 74.

There were times when the jail lodged 90 prisoners, requiring corrections officers to set up cots or mattresses on the floor throughout the lockup.

That situation is not safe for either officers or inmates, Sheriff Rick Beracy has said on several occasions. Beracy was one of the primary advocates for re-establishing the Office of Community Corrections.

Members of the County Board of Commissioners now must authorize the grant application. The deadline for submitting it to the state is May 31.

If the state approves the proposal, the Office of Community Corrections board would implement the initiative Oct. 1 and begin the search for a director.

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