Pubdate: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 Source: Macon Telegraph (GA) Copyright: 2004 The Macon Telegraph Publishing Company Contact: http://www.macontelegraph.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/667 Author: Gray Beverley, Telegraph Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) OFFICIALS SAY NEW CORRECTIONS CENTER WILL MAKE MACON SAFER Officials say a new corrections program for non-violent offenders will make area streets safer and save money. Calling it part of the "centerpiece of the transformation" of the state's correctional system, Georgia Corrections Commissioner James Donald unveiled a new day-reporting center in Macon on Monday. The center, which is expected to start seeing clients in February, targets those who chronically violate the terms of their probation. They will spend nights at home and receive intensive training at the center during the day. Donald said the roughly 30,000 violent offenders in the corrections system, or about 60 percent of the prison population, will not walk through these doors. "I say if we're afraid of them, we ought to lock them up. In fact, we ought to throw away the key," Donald said. "If we're (just) mad at them, let's do something else. The people who will walk in and out of these doors will be the sons and daughters of Bibb County." Bibb County Sheriff Jerry Modena said he'd be the "first to raise my voice" if he thought the day-reporting program would release violent criminals onto the county's streets. But he said he is "very excited" about the center, because he said it will ease overcrowding at his jail by giving judges an option for non-violent offenders. Joe Baden, who will run the Macon operation, said judges can sentence offenders to the center, or clients can be referred by probation and parole officials. The center will serve about 100 clients at a time. The program takes nine to 12 months and comes in two phases. In the first week of phase one, clients are evaluated to see what help they need. For the next four weeks, clients spend full days at the center getting "stabilized" - learning abstinence from drugs and alcohol as well as social and job skills. The next phase lasts five months and requires clients work full time (a state Department of Labor official will help clients find a job if necessary). Baden said this phase includes a "rigid" schedule that gives multiple drug tests each week, can help clients obtain a GED and requires community service on weekends. Much of the training, he said, is to change the way a criminal thinks: It's wrong to rob a liquor store, no matter how tough one's life has been; unlocked car doors should not invite theft. Once a month, clients must bring a loved one to the center for a progress report. Area ministers have offered to mentor clients. Clients are sometimes required to take part in programs outside of the center - to help them "take ownership" of being tax-paying, law-abiding citizens, Baden said. Clients are supervised at home, too. One member of the center's 8-person staff is a surveillance officer who will patrol client neighborhoods. Macon Police Chief Rodney Monroe said sharing information about clients allows his officers to keep an eye on them. The first day-reporting centers will operate in Bibb, Clayton, Floyd, Fulton and Tift counties. Officials tout economic and safety benefits. Seven percent of graduates of the Atlanta center, which has been open since April 2001, commit a new felony and are sent to prison, said its administrator, Anitra Washington. Baden said about a third of those released from state prison wind up back in the system, and most repeat offenders commit non-violent crimes. Beth Oxford, director of parole for the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, said 95 percent of those in prison are eventually released. She said the centers will steer offenders away from crime. "Programs like this are not soft," Oxford said. "Programs like this are safe." Moreover, Donald said his department spends about $12 per day on each client of a day-reporting center, versus $45 spent daily on a state prison inmate. Plus, building enough prisons for the state's growing criminal population would cost about $1 billion during the next five years, he said. The facility has not always drawn cheers. In April, officials backed off placing the center in a residential neighborhood after a public outcry. The new 7,400-square-foot center will be located on Second Street, in a downtown commercial district. Baden said the location is preferable, as it is near partner organizations and related services and is easily accessible by public transportation. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D