Study finds program is 'highly effective.'
(PRWEB) November 30, 2009 -- The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation released results of a comprehensive study of many of its community-based programs, and BI Incorporated’s Fresno Day Reporting Center (DRC) was awarded a “highly effective” rating, the highest mark attainable. Located at 1466 Van Ness Ave., the Fresno DRC is a unique community-based supervision, treatment and training program for at-risk parolees. Today, the center supports CDCR to supervise more than 100 parolees daily. BI also operates centers for the CDCR in San Diego and Stockton.
BI Incorporated, the nation’s largest provider of technology, treatment, training and supervision for correctional agencies, was very pleased with the results. “In today’s tough economic climate, correctional agencies need to know the programs they fund work,” said John Thurston, BI Vice President of Reentry and Supervision Services. “We are always trying to improve our cognitive behavioral programs and incorporate evidence-based techniques and practices so costly recidivism can be reduced and lives restored. We’ve had great success in Fresno and at the other DRCs we operate nationwide.”
As part of its training for certification by the University of Cincinnati, a team of CDCR researchers evaluated the Fresno DRC using the Correctional Program Checklist (CPC), a widely respected correctional assessment tool. The CPC evaluates how effectively offender intervention programs reduce the likelihood that participants recidivate and return to prison or jail. The CPC assesses five areas: program leadership and development, staff characteristics, offender assessment, treatment characteristics and quality assurance.
More than 400 community correctional programs have been assessed using the CPC, and only 7 percent nationally have attained the “highly effective” rating BI achieved in Fresno.
For information on the CPC and highlights from the report, see http://bi.com/sites/all/themes/BI/pdf/FresnoDRC_report.pdf.
BI has operated the Fresno DRC since 2005. The center was opened to serve offenders who had proven resistant to treatment or had previously violated parole. Parolees participate in a four-phase program that combines supervision, counseling, treatment and educational and vocational classes. BI closely monitors the behavior of parolees referred to the Fresno DRC with daily check-ins, drug testing techniques and intensive case management. While in the program, parolees receive ongoing treatment and training to help break cycles of criminal behavior. Parolees attend at least 20 hours of programming weekly, including classes for substance abuse education and treatment; adult basic education; Life Skills development; cognitive behavioral therapy; parenting; domestic violence; anger management; employment skills building and career development counseling; and aftercare.
The center also houses an Employability Resource Center, including computer workstations for parolees to access job information. Parolees can earn a Work Readiness Certificate, a credential useful for gaining employment. In addition, BI delivers a program called Community Connections, which links parolees to valuable local resources for housing, health services and additional counseling services.
If parolees reporting to the center are non-compliant to conditions of release and program guidelines, they may be moved to a more intensive phase of the program, with tighter curfews and more frequent reporting. If non-compliance continues, participants can be placed in a “violator’s track,” which may include the use of home electronic monitoring technologies.
Parolees may report to the center for more than six months; the state saves money long term if these individuals stay out of the correctional system once they exit the program. The center sets a very high goal of 100 percent employment or full-time enrollment in school upon exit from the program. More than 1,100 parolees have been served by the Fresno DRC since it opened in 2005.
About BI Incorporated (www.bi.com)
Established in 1978, BI Incorporated is the leading technology, treatment and supervision company in community corrections today. BI contracts with approximately 900 governmental agencies nationwide, supporting them with a full continuum of intensive supervision technologies and community-based cognitive behavioral reentry programs for adult and juvenile offenders. BI’s ISO-certified national monitoring center, owned and operated by BI, provides 24/7 expert support supervision services exclusively for governmental agencies. BI works closely with local public corrections officials to cost effectively reduce recidivism, promote public safety, and strengthen the communities it serves using evidence-based practices in a community setting.
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