State recognizes CCA for halfway-house program

By Justin Wier

jwier@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Community Corrections Association CEO David Stillwagon said people who complete his organization’s halfway-house program reoffend at a lower rate than state and national averages.

The most recent information for CCA shows that about 22 percent of people who complete the program reoffend, compared with 40 to 45 percent nationwide and 28 percent in Ohio.

That has earned the organization a Clifford Skeen Award for having the state’s best program.

“It’s great that what we are doing is working and being acknowledged across the state,” Stillwagon said.

It’s the fourth time CCA’s halfway house program has received the award. It won the inaugural award when Gov. George Voinovich initiated the awards in 1993, and again was honored in 2007 and 2014. For the first time, CCA received recognition as a finalist in the Clifford Skeen Award’s jail diversion category for its day-reporting program.

Stillwagon said it validates the hard work the staff puts in on a day-to-day basis.

“Each employee has a vested interest in the success of the individuals they’re working with,” he said. “[They have] bought into the mission, and they believe that somebody can and will change if they’re given the chance.”

CCA operates residential and nonresidential programs in Mahoning County as alternatives to prison.

The organization touts reduced costs to taxpayers, community service and the return of productive individuals to society at the end of their sentence.

Stillwagon said, however, there isn’t a special formula that can deliver results.

“If there was a magical recipe that we could bottle up and sell, we wouldn’t have incarceration at the rates that we do,” Stillwagon said.

The award will be presented Oct. 11 at the annual Ohio Justice Alliance for Community Corrections conference in Columbus.