Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The new facility is the sixth owned by CCA on Market Street.
YOUNGSTOWN — Community Corrections Association Inc. has added another Market Street building to its list of treatment facilities and expanded help services to area people convicted of nonviolent crimes.
The large, two-story building that housed the South Branch Library for years has undergone a transformation and is now the new day-reporting facility for CCA.
The association spent about $70,000 to acquire the building and an additional $200,000 in renovations.
The former library facility is the sixth building owned and operated by CCA on Market Street.
David Thompson, CCA day- reporting coordinator, said the new building would be strictly for people involved in the day-reporting program. He said those in the program are people often referred to the facility by the courts. Participants receive drug treatment, behavioral modification, domestic- violence treatment and job training.
The day-reporting program usually has 30 to 40 participants at one time on a rotating basis as some graduate from the program and others are brought into the program. The program lasts up to eight weeks.
Richard J. Billak, CCA chief executive officer, said CCA wanted to increase services to those using its facilities and needed additional space.
The new facility contains computer connections, classrooms, a meeting room, office space and an exercise space for women living in a nearby CCA facility.
“Basically, the program here is day-reporting, but we have expanded that and enhanced it beyond the core curriculum,” Billak said. “We are most proud of the 10 computers we now have here that are tied into the One-Stop programs and Ohio Adult Basic Education to work on job placement and GEDs.”
One-Stop, which has offices in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, offers coordinated work-force development and direct customer service to employers and job seekers — at one accessible location.
The meeting room in the new facility, Billak said, will allow females housed at other CCA buildings to have longer visits with family members in a less crowded, more intimate environment. There are five large, circular tables with multiple seating in the room.
Billak said the exercise room also will be incorporated into the lives of female residents at the other building. There are treadmills and other machines available in the room.
“They are living with us for four to five months out of the year, and part of their weekly activity will be coming into the building here for physical fitness. This acts as a stress reliever,” Billak said.
CCA has 170 beds for nonviolent felons who are recently released from prison and looking to reintegrate into normal society. Billak said operations at the new building will work with operations at other CCA facilities to prevent convicted individuals from returning to prison.
“The whole point of this is to reduce jail and prison crowding and provide more-effective programs to reduce overall recidivism.”
CCA || Facts and figures
Community Corrections Association has opened a new day-reporting facility on Market Street, bringing the total number of CCA facilities on Market Street to six. Here are some facts and figures about the organization:
Has been in the community for 35 years.
Provided residential services for 714 people in 2008.
Provided services such as educational classes and substance-abuse program for 1,016 people in 2008.
Provided day-reporting services for 209 people in 2008.
Prepared 478 pre-sentence investigative reports for the courts in 2008.
Source: CCA Inc.