Youngstown's CCA receives high marks in state survey

Earlier this year, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics released the findings of the largest recidivism study ever conducted in the United States and what they showed was that 67 percent of former inmates released from state prisons in 1994 committed at least one serious new crime within the following three years. This represented a rearrest rate 5 percent higher than that among prisoners freed about 10 years earlier.
Within three years, according to the Justice Department, 52 percent of the 272,111 released prisoners were back behind bars either because of committing a new crime or because they had violated their parole conditions, such as failing a drug test or missing a parole office appointment.
We make reference to the federal study to provide some context to the page one story in Thursday's Vindicator regarding a survey conducted by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections on recidivism rates for all community-based correctional facilities and halfway houses in Ohio. There are 33 such facilities, including Community Corrections Association of Youngstown.
The bottom line: CCA in Youngstown has one of the best programs in the state for keeping offenders out of the criminal justice system.
Dr. Richard Billak, CCA's chief executive officer, his staff and members of the board of directors have every reason to be proud.
No easy task
As the federal report on rearrests makes clear, addressing the problem of repeat offenders isn't easy. It takes a major commitment on the part of individuals involved in the criminal justice system and special programs designed to change the mindset and the attitude of criminals.
That is why CCA's rating warrants special recognition. As Dr. Edward Latessa, who oversaw the state research project, noted, "The CCA program has demonstrated that treatment can be an effective correctional alternative." Latessa is with the University of Cincinnati.
The survey focused on all offenders released between 1996 and 1999, and it shows that CCA's community-based corrections facility had the second-best recidivism reduction rate in Ohio, and its halfway house had the fourth-best rate. A halfway house is a transitional facility for offenders who are coming out of prison, where they spend time before being fully released. The corrections facility is an alternative to prison.
In commenting on CCA's performance, Dr. Latessa said the reduction in recidivism "represented a significant effect on criminal conduct for those offenders who pose the greatest risk to public safety."
The results of the state survey are a testament to the programs instituted by Billak and the board of directors. Their goal is to change the way criminals think, and in Youngstown a goodly number are thinking less about crime and more about taking control of their lives.