MAHONING COUNTY Officials seek state grant for program

Nonviolent offenders would go to treatment programs, not jail.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County officials are seeking a $200,000 state grant to fund a program that they hope will help keep people out of jail.
If the county's application is approved, funding from the Ohio Department of Justice would become available in January, said Joseph Caruso, special projects director. The grant is for alternatives to detention, jail and prison for nonviolent offenders.
The money would be used for a program to screen inmates being held in the jail and people being sent to the jail for new crimes.
Nonviolent offenders who qualify would be released into treatment programs and monitored by program staff, rather than being kept in jail to await trial.
People could be referred into treatment for substance abuse or mental health problems. If treatment is not necessary, they could be placed in other social service programs or on electronically monitored house arrest.
"The goal is to decrease the average daily inmate population at the jail," Caruso said. "We can divert some people from jail into the community while keeping the community safe."
Reducing jail population
County officials have been working for months to find ways to reduce the jail's inmate population. They hope that by decreasing the number of people being held there, they also can decrease the cost of operating the facility.
Sheriff Randall Wellington said there is an average of 595 inmates per day in the jail, including about 45 inmates being held there while they await appearance in U.S. District Court on federal charges. The county is reimbursed by the federal government for keeping those inmates.
"Any method we can develop to alleviate our jail crowding, I'm all for it," Wellington said.
The sheriff laid off 54 deputies in March because of budget cuts, so he has fewer on hand to guard the facility.
An ad hoc committee of local court and safety officials began planning the inmate screening system in January, based on a similar program being used in Summit County.
June goal
Richard Billak, chief executive officer of Community Corrections Association, said the local program should be up and running in June.
He said CCA already has staff assigned to the jail to provide inmate services. Some will be reassigned to coordinate the screening program, beginning in June, at no cost to the county. If the program is successful, grant money will be used to hire people to staff it full time beginning in January.
One staff member would be assigned to the jail, one to CCA and two to Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime, which is a treatment program in Youngstown.
CCA will evaluate the inmates and assess them for participation in the program, and TASC will handle their case management, Caruso said.
If the grant application is not approved, the county will look for other grants to fund the program.
bjackson@vindy.com