News

November 17, 2009

County eyes jail alternative

Reporting center would offer testing and training for lesser criminal offenders.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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Low-level offenders may soon report to a center every day instead of sitting in a prison cell.

As part of an effort to alleviate prison overcrowding, the county Prison Board voted Monday to seek requests from companies interested in operating a “day reporting center.”

County officials have been discussing the possibility of such a center for years.

Non-violent offenders selected for the program would be placed on home confinement and report to the center five or six days per week for drug testing and participation in their mandatory treatment plans, said prison Warden Joseph Piazza.

Treatment plans may involve drug and alcohol counseling, group therapy, completion of a high school equivalency diploma and assistance with life skills, he said.

“The ultimate goal is to reduce the recidivism rate and to stop inmates from making this a revolving door,” Piazza said.

Offenders who comply with reporting requirements will eventually have to show up fewer days until they complete the program and go on probation, he said.

The reporting center is expected to save money because it will be cheaper than housing each inmate in the prison at around $88 per day, county officials say.

It’s unclear if the plan will also include a center in the Hazleton area, Piazza said.

County consultant Public Financial Management (PFM) suggested a day reporting center in its recent financial recovery plan for the county.

The plan says Franklin County in southern Pennsylvania reduced its prison population and inmates’ length of stay by implementing a day reporting center. After the center opened, the average daily population decreased from 376 in 2005 to 328 in 2006. While overall admissions increased, the length of stay decreased from 62 to 52 days.

PFM credited the day reporting center for the county’s current average population of 293.

In Franklin County, offenders are released from jail early if they qualify for the day reporting center program, according to the county.

BI Inc. operates the center and has expressed an interest in working in Luzerne County.

Judges decide what happens to offenders who fail to appear at the center and comply with their treatment plans, with options including more strict sanctions or a return to prison.

Luzerne County’s seven-member prison board voted unanimously to seek the proposals.

Prison Board member Stephen A. Urban, a county commissioner, said he has supported a day reporting center for years.

“This center could take 150 inmates out of the prison, and it would provide a lot more rehabilitation and programs that the county prison couldn’t offer,” Urban said.

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