Lake County Adult Detention Facilities

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Annual Report - Jail Services 2006
Minimum Security Detention Facility
by Jerry Retter

       The Lake County Minimum Security Detention Facility opened in February, 2001, providing 76 additional beds for male offenders who were afforded work release privileges or who qualified for placement there by virtue of their classification status. It is a unique venue in which offenders can serve their jail sentences and also receive mental health and chemical dependency services in an environment that is centralized and secure. Because of its central location, it has served as a place where probationers residing in the community receive services as well.
        An important component of providing social services in a correctional setting is the positive working relationship between the Sheriff’s Department, the Western Reserve Counseling agency, Neighboring Mental Health Services and, beginning in 2006, the Lake Geauga Center on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. Each of theses agencies has been instrumental in providing services at the Minimum Security jail. The Lake County Board of Alcoholism, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) continues to contribute to this effort by funding services from the aforementioned agencies.
    The following services are available to inmates of the Minimum Security jail, as well as to eligible probationers in the surrounding area:

	Anger Management Education groups, provided by Western Reserve Counseling
	Anger Management Therapy group, also provided by Western Reserve Counseling
	Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, provided by volunteers from the local AA community

	Chemical Dependency Aftercare group, provided by the Lake-Geauga Center on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
	Narcotics’ Anonymous meetings, provided by volunteers from the local NA community

-Anger Management Therapy-

        Western Reserve Counseling provides an intensive therapy group focusing on the anger management issues of its participants. This group, funded by a grant from the ADAMHS Board, meets weekly at the Minimum Security jail. It is intended for probationers who have been ordered to receive anger management counseling from their sentencing Court. The group is open to inmates of the Minimum Security jail as well as probationers who attend from their homes. Many participants begin the group as inmates but complete after their release from jail.
        This program has continued uninterrupted from its March, 2001 beginning. The chart on the next page depicts the success/failure rate for group participants during the past year.
        In all, twenty-two (22) individuals participated in this group in 2006. Twelve (12) clients, or 86% of those who completed treatment, did so successfully within the year. Eight clients who began in 2006 remain in treatment. Two clients, or 14% of those who completed, were considered unsuccessful terminations because of non-attendance. These numbers are lower than 2005 figures, in which 30 probationers participated and 24successfully completed.

All of the participants in this program were convicted on Domestic Violence charges. The table below depicts the average weekly attendance at the Anger Management Therapy Group during each month of 2006:

	Service: Anger Management Therapy Group
	For: Court-ordered inmates and probationers from the community
	When: Tuesday evenings, 6:00 - 7:30pm
	Provider: Western Reserve Counseling through ADAMHS Board grant

As the chart above depicts, the Anger Management Therapy Group averaged nearly one client less per month compared with 2005 figures. It continues to be one of the more under-utilized services provided at the Minimum Security Jail.

This was the fourth year that probationers from the community were referred to this group. It provides an excellent example of the utilization of the Minimum Security Jail as a service center for county probationers from each of the courts. The pie chart depicts the referral pattern in 2006.

The "other" category represents the Adult Parole Authority, the Domestic Relations Court, the Department of Job and Family Services and self-referral from the Minimum Security Jail, each entity contributing one referral to the total number of persons served in 2006.

-Anger Management Education-

As part of the grant from the local Alcoholism, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board mentioned above, the Western Reserve Counseling agency of Painesville provides weekly educational sessions for all of the residents of the Minimum Security jail on topics related to anger, its appropriate and inappropriate expressions, its impacts on individuals, families and society and on improving one’s management of anger. This is a mandatory activity for residents of the jail. Lectures are provided at two different times, enabling full participation for all residents regardless of the shift they are scheduled to work.
The chart on the following page shows average weekly attendance for these lectures in 2006 compared with the previous year:

Unlike other services available at the Minimum Security facility, the Anger Management Education group is completely dependent upon the actual population of the jail rather than on referrals from outside sources. Differences in attendance figures between 2005 and 2006 are directly related to actual jail population. In 2006, 600 inmates attended the Anger Management Education program.

	Service: Anger Management Education
	For: All Minimum Security Jail inmates
	When: Wednesday afternoons/Wednesday evenings
	Provider: Western Reserve Counseling through ADAMHS Board grant

-Chemical Dependency Continuing Care-

The Minimum Security Detention facility again provided continuing care services to offenders who successfully competed the Jail Treatment Program in 2006. The continuing care group was staffed for the first half of the year by a dual-diagnosis specialist provided by an ADAMHS Board grant from the Neighboring mental health agency and a chemical dependency counselor employed by the Lake County Adult Probation Department. Beginning in the first quarter of FY2007 (July, 2006, the service was purchased from the Lake-Geauga Center on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse through funds provided by the Ohio Bureau of Community Sanctions.
The Continuing Care Program lasts for 12 weeks and is based on a model developed specifically for the offender population. The program reinforces the idea that addicts suffer from a chronic and progressive illness that requires continuous monitoring. It promotes 12- Step Self Help groups as being integral to successfully managing this chronic condition. The program explains in an easy-to-understand way how and why AA works. It also explores relapse triggers and how to manage them.

	Service: Chemical Dependency Aftercare
	For: Inmates and probationers from the community who have completed the Jail Treatment Program
	When: Monday and Thursday evenings, 6:00 - 8:00pm
	Provider: Lake Geauga Center on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse

The Jail Treatment Program Continuing Care Group served seventy-one (71) offenders in 2006. This represents an increase of nine (7) clients compared with 2005, about 11%. This is an artificially low figure, given that a moratorium was placed on admissions around the time that the transition to the Lake Geauga program was imminent. As in previous years, most probationers took advantage of the group on an "out-patient" basis, i.e., they came to the Minimum Security Detention facility from their homes and returned home when that day’s service was completed.
The charts and statistics below reveal some information about who participated in the Continuing Care Group and how successful they were:

Demographics

    The chart above depicts the typical "descending" pattern of most offender statistical charts, with the lower age groups being represented more than their elders. 2006 was unique in the sense that a decrease in the number representing participants in their 30s was offset by an increase in those in their 40s. Offenders in their late teens and 20s again made up about three of every five participants. Average age was 31.6.
    Felony offenders accounted for 63% of the participants in the continuing care program, a number that has remained relatively consistent for the past three years. Painesville Municipal Court contributed one in five participants, the same proportion as in 2005.
    The percentage of participants convicted of a drug-related offense has nearly doubled in the past two years (22% vs. 41%). Property crimes continue to be highly represented. OVIs declined in 2006, from 21% to 14%. No offenders convicted of sex crimes were referred to the continuing care group in 2006.
    For the first time since 2003, less than half of the participants named alcohol as their drug of choice. Cocaine apparently continues to grow more popular, named as drug of choice by a higher percentage of participants in each of the past five years. A "new" category, amphetamines, was added for 2006, as 6% of participants named it as their drug of choice. The percentage of participants identifying opiates as their favorite drug has been relatively steady for the last three years.
    Of the individuals who did complete the program within 2006, 67% did so successfully. This represents a slight increase over 2005. The range of successful completions since 2002 has been remarkably consistent, within about three percentage points during the entire 2002-2006 period.
    Twelve of the 17 participants who failed to successfully complete the program had chronic attendance problems. Five were charged with new offenses and/or probation violations.
    The charts below show how treatment success varied in relation to referring offense type, drug of choice and age category.
    Offenders convicted of a drug-related crime , OVI and violent offenses successfully completed at a rate higher than the overall rate. Probation violators have traditionally done poorly as far as successfully completing aftercare, but the sample is so small that no reasonable conclusion can be made with respect to the efficacy of the program with this category of offender.
    Seventy-three per cent (73%) of felons who completed the program in 2006 did so successfully (19 of 26). Four were charged with a probation violation and discontinued attending; three failed to comply with program expectations. 60% of misdemeanor offenders successfully completed the program (15 of 25). This is a marked improvement from 2005, when less than half of the misdemeanor offenders successfully completed the program.
    As in prior years, alcohol and cannabis addicts were the most successful in terms of completing treatment. Unfortunately, cocaine addicts did much more poorly than in previous years, although the sample is small enough that significant conclusions cannot be drawn from this data.
    The "pattern" which emerged last year, i.e., 30-40 year olds being the least successful of candidates for the program, has been reversed, at least for the time being. Eight of nine participants in that category successfully completed treatment in 2006. Whereas the "thirty-somethings" were successful about 88% of the time, the rate for those in their 20s and 40s was around 62%.

The Weekly attendance at the Continuing Care Group declined on the whole as compared with 2005. The average weekly attendance dropped to 2004 levels. However, as the chart above clearly demonstrates, attendance is reaching record levels as we head into 2007. As previously noted, admissions were purposely curtailed as the transition from the in-house program to the Lake-Geauga program neared. As with any "new" program, there was a period where all parties concerned - service providers, referral sources and clients - proceeded cautiously. During the last third of 2006, however, attendance improved significantly, and there is no reason to believe that this is an anomalous trend. It would not be surprising if attendance would average 20 or more clients per week in the coming months.

-12 Step Groups-

The Minimum Security Detention facility currently offers two 12 Step meetings each week, one each for Alcoholics’ Anonymous and Narcotics’ Anonymous. This is the second year that Narcotics’ Anonymous has provided volunteers at the Minimum Security Jail. All 12 Step meetings are voluntary and open to any resident of the facility.

	Service: 12 Step Meetings
	For: Any interested inmates
	When: Wednesdays, 8:00pm, Fridays, 7:30pm
	Providers: Volunteers from the community

The chart depicts average attendance at AA meetings during each month of 2006:

As is the case with the Anger Management lecture series, attendance at 12 Step meetings is to some extent reflective of the jail population as a whole. The obvious difference is that attendance at 12 Step meetings is voluntary, while inmates are expected to attend the anger management lectures. As can be seen from the above chart, weekly attendance at 12 Step meetings was less, on average, than in eight of the twelve months of 2005. This can partially be explained by the fact that meetings were offered with less regularity than in the past. Several volunteers discontinued their service after having performed "above and beyond the call of duty" for the past couple of years. The Minimum Security Detention facility has secured new volunteers and continues to solicit additional ones so that this valuable service can be continued. We are extremely grateful to the volunteers from the 12 Step community who give their own time to bring the message of recovery to the inmates at the Minimum Security Jail.

- Film Series -

Beginning in February of 2004, the Minimum Security Detention facility began offering inmates a series of educational films on various aspects of drug abuse, alcoholism, the treatment of these conditions and successful recovery from them. With the cooperation of the Jail Treatment Program and support from the Sheriff’s Department, about 30 titles are available for this service. The films range in style from documentaries to "big budget" Hollywood productions that deal with the addiction problem. The films are shown three days per week during the lunch hour; viewing is mandatory for inmates.