Allen County Community Corrections

:: ReEntry Court

Background | Program Operation

Background:
In 1999, the Indiana State Legislature passed a law known as the Community Transition Statute. This statute allows each county in the state to develop its own Community Transitions Program to which inmates at the Department of Correction may be released early to community supervision. It allows each county’s judges to determine what level of supervision would be used. The statute excludes the following individuals from consideration for the early release program:

• Nonresidents of the State of Indiana

• Individuals with active warrants or detainers

• Individuals not serving a minimum 2-year sentence

The statute also fixed the number of days early an inmate may be released on the program by the class of offense for which the inmate was incarcerated. Class A and B felons, the most serious offenders in Indiana, are granted a 120-day early release. Class C felons receive a 90-day time cut, and Class D felons are eligible to be released 60 days early. Individuals who are classified as nonviolent by the department of Correction and are incarcerated on a drug offense are eligible for a 180-day early release.

In 2000, Judge John Surbeck of the Allen Superior CourtCriminal Division, Sheila Hudson, Executive Director of Allen County Community Corrections, Terry Donahue, a Fort Wayne native working for the United States Department of Justice, and Graham Richard, Mayor of the city of Fort Wayne, began to examine the recidivism rates of individuals serving sentences at the Department of Corrections and being released to parole supervision. They found that the statistics for Allen County mirrored the national statistics that showed that approximately 45% of offenders were returned to prison for technical violations or new charges within the first year after their release from the Department of Correction. This percentage increased to nearly 67% after the third year. After examining those statistics, they conceived the idea of a voluntary, 12-month “Reentry Court” program. This program is funded by reallocating existing resources at the state and county levels and supervises participants for the first four to six months of their release under electronic monitoring while also providing direct access to assistance with issues facing the returning offenders. The mission of the program is to significantly lower the rate of recidivism of returning offenders through gradually decreasing levels of supervision and enhanced delivery of services while maintaining public safety.

Since the statistics showed that 63% of the offenders returning to Allen County, Indiana, were returning to the southeast quadrant of the City of Fort Wayne, Phase I of Reentry Court Program focused the two-year pilot program in that area. If the program were successful, it would be expanded to the entire county. The first offenders were released to the program in June 2001. Phase I of the Reentry Court Program concluded on June 30, 2003. Preliminary evaluations of the program were favorable, and on July 1, 2003 the Reentry Court Program was expanded to Parolees being released to the entire county. Beginning July 1, 2004 probation cases are included in Phase III of the program. Currently there are approximately 160 offenders under the supervision of the Reentry Court Program.

Program Operation: back to top
Allen County Community Corrections receives notice from the Indiana Department of Correction 60 days in advance of an offender’s eligibility for early release on the Community Transitions Program. Allen County Community Corrections conducts a screening of inmates and contacts the eligible offenders via mail and supplies written information about the program and requires the offender to either send a letter denying the program or complete an Information Release and Residence Information Form as notice that the offender is accepting the conditions of the program.

Allen County Community Corrections then contacts the individuals with whom the offender wishes to reside and explains the conditions of electronic monitoring supervision and the Reentry Court program. Those individuals then sign the appropriate paperwork accepting the conditions. A court order is then issued to have the offender transported by the Department of Correction to Allen County Community Corrections. The Department of Corrections also provides some institutional records of the offender to enable the Reentry Court to create a complete history of the offender for assessment purposes.

When the offender arrives at Allen County Community Corrections, he/she returns to the place of residence that was investigated prior. At the intake the participant is scheduled for a forensic assessment to determine the needs of the participant. Based on the needs identified in this process and individual Reintegration Plan is created for each offender. The participant appears before the Reentry Court Judge for their first Reentry Court hearing and is introduced to the court process. The participant is required to return to court before the judge who imposes the Reintegration Plan as a condition of the participant’s continued freedom in the community. Participants are then ordered to reappear before the court every two to five weeks for review of their progress on the Reintegration Plan.

Prior to each court appearance, the Reentry team staffs cases for review in front of the Court and makes recommendations on sanctions or rewards appropriate for the participant. The Reentry Team consists of the following members who are employed by Allen County Community Corrections: The Special Courts Coordinator, Case Managers, Forensic Specialist, Mental Health Therapist, Probation Officers, Victim Services Coordinator and assistant, Family/Victim Investigator, and a Clinical Psychologist contracted to oversee diagnoses. The local community mental health center also provides a staff person to the team to facilitate access to mental health services when warranted. The district parole supervisor is also a member of the team and address parole issues as they arise.

Throughout the process, the court uses a pre-established set of graduated sanctions to reward positive progress and sanction negative conduct. Continued misconduct and/or noncompliance on the part of the offender results in the participant being returned to the Department of Correction. The case manager also conducts reviews of the participant’s progress at 90 and 120 days on the electronic monitoring portion of the program. A positive review at those points results in a reduction of 30 days on the electronic monitoring being reduced to four months. The term of electronic monitoring supervision may be extended past the six months lack of compliance or may be reinstated in lieu of returning the participant to the Department of Correction. Participants who are released to participate in the Reentry Court Program are required to be under electronic monitoring supervision for the amount of time they were released from prison early.  The time on electronic monitoring may be extended or reinstated for lack of compliance with the program.

The Reentry Court is able to draw from a number of programs that offer activities designed to facilitate the reintegration of offenders into the community. In addition to the supervision discussed previously, the Court utilizes the following programs: GED classes and other educational programs through local post-secondary institutions, soft skill pre-employment training, cognitive skill development, sex offender intervention and treatment, violence intervention programs, crisis intervention, substance abuse programs, assistance with reinstatement of a Driver’s License, and victim/offender conferencing. Additionally, Allen County Community Corrections has developed a 30-hour employment academy to better equip participants for reentering the workforce and to assess their motivation to obtain and maintain employment. The community mental health center also provides direct access to services and medications for mentally ill participants, and the Division of Family and Social Services provides expedited access to benefits for qualifying participants.

Faith-based organizations have been actively involved in the Reentry Court since its inception. The Unity Christ Church developed the “Unity of Love Family Reconnect Program” to assist returning offenders successfully reintegrate into their families. They provide family dinner workshops where the participant and his/her family members share a meal with volunteers and staff members from the program. In addition to providing fellowship time with members of their own families, the program provides information on how to develop successful family relationships. The program also provides recreational time for the families that participate.

The Faith-based community has also been instrumental in providing mentors for Reentry Court Program participants. Mentors are required to complete the training curriculum and are mentoring participants who have agreed to be part of the mentoring program. The coordinator of the mentoring program is involved in an ongoing process of recruiting, training, and overseeing additional mentors. Some faith-based organizations also assist returning offenders with housing. Five halfway houses in the city that are faith-based also have continued to provide housing and programming for offenders returning to the Reentry Court program. back to top