LAKE
COUNTY
COMMON PLEAS COURT
|
COMMON PLEAS COURT |
|
NORTHEAST OHIO COMMUNITY ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM (N.E.O.C.A.P.) Impact of NEOCAP on Prison Diversions NorthEast Ohio Community Alternative Program (N.E.O.C.A.P.) is located at 411 Pine Avenue, S.E., Warren, Ohio 44483; telephone (330) 675-2669; Fax (330) 675-2670. Its Executive Director is James P. Corfman. It serves the Common Pleas Courts of Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Portage, and Trumbull Counties. The mission of the
facility is to provide a
viable sentencing alternative to the common pleas courts of the five member
counties of the NorthEast Ohio Community Alternative Program. The program will
operate a highly structured, treatment oriented, and secure community-based
corrections facility, to insure the safety and security of the member
communities. The facility will
provide its residents opportunities for change. Programs, such as education,
chemical dependency, and vocational development will be offered in a supervised
environment. This will enable the offender to understand and accept
community/social values as their own, with the expected results of successful
reintegration into the community. Community-Based
Correctional Facilities (CBCFs) developed in Ohio in the late 1970's as a
response to prison overcrowding. The Ohio General Assembly passed legislation to grant funds to
counties for probation projects. The "Pilot Probation" projects were
designed to sanction offenders locally rather than committing them to prison. Montgomery County
and the city of Dayton established the first pilot residential program in 1978
called "MonDay," representing the two governmental entities. The
MonDay residential program operated from a previously abandoned jail and was
successful in diverting non-violent offenders from prison. This success
encouraged the legislature to pass House Bill (HB) 1000 in 1981. This
legislation and Ohio Revised Code Sections 2301.51 through 2301.56 established
funding and operational guidelines for Community-Based Correctional Facilities.
Funding for construction of CBCFs followed the next year. Ohio’s
Community-Based Correctional Facilities are a unique partnership between state
and local governments. The state benefits by having community corrections
options in the counties for non-violent felony offenders. This saves
costly prison bed space for more violent offenders. The county benefits by
having a residential sentencing option that is controlled locally. Community-Based
Correctional Facilities are an alternative to prison incarceration for low-level
felons. They are the last step in the continuum of increasing punishment
before prison incarceration. The facilities are minimum-security
operations housing 50-200 offenders. Each program is highly structured
with assessment, treatment, and follow-up services to reduce criminal behavior
by offenders. Emphasis is on substance abuse treatment, employment,
education, community service, and transitional services to the community. The purpose of a
Community-Based Correctional Facility is to: Reduce state
prison commitments Reduce the costs
of incarceration in Ohio Provide maximum
public safety Facilitate
offender re-entry into the community Make efficient use
of limited prison space for serious offenders. Community-Based
Correctional Facilities have provided safe, secure and effective community based
sanction for appropriate felony offenders in partnership with local criminal
justice officials, community and state agencies since 1978. Community-Based
Correctional Facilities continued to expand in FY2000. Three (3) district
Community-Based Correctional Facilities were opened in Seneca, Union and Wood
Counties providing 180 additional beds servicing twenty-two counties. Eighteen (18)
CBCFs provided services to 87 of 88 counties. In FY2000, Ohio courts
sentenced 4,448 offenders to CBCFs compared to 3,739 offenders sentenced in FY1999. This is an increase of 709 offenders over the prior year. One hundred per
cent of NEOCAP’s operating budget comes from the Ohio General Assembly’s
General Revenue Funds. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Corrections allocates funding based on a budget developed by the Judicial
Corrections Board. In FY-02,
NEOCAP’s operating budget was $3,105,438. NEOCAP's capacity is 25 female
and 91 male residents.
In FY-01,
NEOCAP’s operating budget was $3,018,413. Beginning in July 2000,
NEOCAP's
capacity increased from 66 to 86 male beds and 30 beds for female offenders were
added.
IMPACT OF
NEOCAP ON PRISON DIVERSIONS In FY-02, NEOCAP received 299 offenders into the program. The cost to involve these residents in an intensive criminogenic treatment program was $3,105,438. 92% successfully completed the program and returned to their homes prepared to lead law-abiding and productive lives. These individuals could have been sent to prison -- at a cost of incarceration of $6,619,860. NEOCAP saved the taxpayers $3,514,422. In FY-01, the cost to incarcerate an offender in an Ohio prison is $22,146 per year. An offender serving a sentence at NEOCAP costs $10,555. In effect, the state saves approximately $11,500 for every offender who successfully completes the NEOCAP program. NEOCAP not only
saves tax dollars, NEOCAP also gets better results. Nearly 90% of those
sentenced to NEOCAP successfully complete the program and since our inception in
1997, nearly 80% of those released have remained in the community. NEOCAP’s 23%
recidivism rate represents a tremendous value for the public dollars invested in
this program. Thirty-two percent of those released from prison are
re-incarcerated within three years. 2003 Judge W. Wyatt McKay,
Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, Chairman Judge Thomas A.
Swift, Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Martin O. Parks, Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard L.
Collins, Jr., Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Forrest W.
Burt, Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge Joseph R.
Kainrad, Portage County Common Pleas Court Judge Ronald W. Vettel, Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court 2004 Judge W. Wyatt McKay, Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, Chairman Judge Thomas A.
Swift, Trumbull County Common Pleas Court
Judge Paul H. Mitrovich, Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard L.
Collins, Jr., Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Forrest W.
Burt, Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge Joseph R. Kainrad, Portage County Common Pleas Court Judge Ronald W. Vettel, Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court 2005 Judge W. Wyatt McKay, Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, Chairman Judge Thomas A.
Swift, Trumbull County Common Pleas Court
Judge Paul H. Mitrovich, Lake County Common Pleas Court
Judge Eugene A. Lucci, Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Forrest W.
Burt, Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge Joseph R. Pittman, Portage County Common Pleas Court Judge Ronald W. Vettel, Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court The Judicial
Corrections Board appointed a Citizens Advisory Board in 1995. Members of
this board have played a significant role, both collectively and individually,
in NEOCAP’s development. At various times, each board member has been
called upon to help with specific issues germane to their areas of expertise.
Their value is immeasurable to our success. Reverend Edgar Fisher Jr., Pastor of Friendship Baptist Church, Warren, Ohio John R. Gargano, Esq., Attorney at Law, Warren, Ohio Dennis R.
Griffith, President of Trumbull Business College, Warren Ohio Kathleen Kinney,
Executive Director of Lake Area Recovery Center, Ashtabula, Ohio Attorney James F.
Lewis, Esq., Director of Ohio Public Defenders Office, Trumbull County Vincent E.
Peterson, Officer in Charge of ISP for Trumbull County Adult Probation
Department Barry L. Spring,
Chief Probation Officer of Lake County Adult Probation Department WHAT IS NEOCAP? NEOCAP is a five
county community-based corrections facility (CBCF). It is located in
Warren, Ohio and opened in October of 1997. It serves as a sentencing
option for the common pleas court in Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Portage, and
Trumbull Counties. WHO RUNS NEOCAP? NEOCAP is under
the direct administration of a Judicial Corrections Board. The Board hired
an Executive Director who is responsible for all facets of the business and
operations of the facility. The Executive Director, Jim Corfman, reports
to the Judicial Corrections Board, which meets regularly to approve budget,
policies and procedures, and other matters regarding the operation of the
facility. IS NEOCAP A
GOVERNMENTAL FACILITY? Yes.
However, it is a non-traditional one. The members of the staff of NEOCAP
are direct
employees of the Judicial Corrections Board, not state or county employees.
NEOCAP is set up as a Department in the Trumbull County Government structure in
a cooperative venture. The Trumbull County Auditor acts as NEOCAP’s
fiscal agent and the Trumbull County Commissioners provide support. HOW ELSE IS
NEOCAP’s STRUCTURE UNIQUE? Besides being a
regional facility, a quasi-Trumbull County Department, and a corrections
facility operated by judges, NEOCAP is also a partner with the Ohio Department
of Rehabilitation & Corrections (DR&C). The DR&C audits our programs
annually to assure that we comply with established operating standards. HOW IS NEOCAP
FUNDED? The Judicial Corrections Board establishes the budget, and it is submitted to the Department of Rehabilitation & Corrections for funding. The Bureau of Community Sanctions (a part of DR&C) administers funding which is provided from General Revenue Funds of the state of Ohio. For more information, visit the
N.E.O.C.A.P. web site at http://www.neocapcbcf.co.trumbull.oh.us.
|
|
Judge Eugene A. Lucci Lake County Court of Common Pleas, 47 North Park Place, P.O. Box 490, Painesville, Ohio 44077-0490; Main Tel. (440) 350-2500 |
