Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

NEWS RELEASE 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 16, 1999

CENTERS TO ASSIST IN THE REINTEGRATION OF RELEASED PRISONERS

(Columbus) --- Lt. Governor Maureen O’Connor and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) today announced grants to fund five Post Release Service Centers across Ohio. The centers will help facilitate the re-integration of released offenders into the community through employment, job retention, academic and other support services. The goal of the program is to increase public safety by maximizing the opportunity for released prisoners to improve their lives and meet their responsibilities as citizens.

"As a former prosecutor, I am aware that when offenders find gainful employment they are less likely to commit new crimes," said O’Connor. "Our hope is to facilitate a relatively seamless transition from prison to the community."

The five agencies will each receive approximately $150,000 for an 18-month period. The program is funded with a combination of federal formula grant funds received from the Ohio Department of Education. The population to be served by this program is released offenders who are under the supervision of the Adult Parole Authority on parole, transitional control and post release control. The pilot sites are:

• Community Connection, Columbus
• Urban League, Dayton
• Talbert House, Cincinnati
• Drug and Alcohol Resolutions Inc., Hamilton
• Goodwill Industries, Cleveland

"The centers are a natural evolution in the Department’s Community Justice initiative," says DRC Director Reginald A. Wilkinson. "We’ve been working hard to incorporate facets of restorative justice into our prison and parole operations and in our interactions with victims and communities. The centers will turn that focus on offenders, helping them to become productive citizens. This will help complete the cycle of restorative justice."

For more information contact the DRC Bureau of Public Information at (614) 752-1150.