| Project Team: Recipe for Reentry
Success
Karen
Thurber, Weed and Seed Coordinator, Ogden, Utah
Ogden Neighborhood Career Center. |
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In 2001, Ogden's eight-block Weed and Seed site had
one of the highest concentrations of adult offenders on probation
or parole in Utah—nearly 12 percent of the entire population.
In many cases, an apartment building would have 3 of 4 units
rented to offenders, and parole officers had caseloads that
exceeded 40 adults. Supervision was identified as one of
the biggest challenges because offenders knew that their
probation officers might get to them only once a month. It
was generally accepted that parolees committed half or more
of the crimes in and around the site. During a Crime Prevention
Through Environmental Design training, trainer Pat Harris
said that he could not imagine how Ogden could possibly revitalize
the area given its extreme concentration of offenders.
An aggressive partnership between the Ogden Police Department
and the Utah Division of Probation and Parole began in early
2002 to address the high concentration of offenders and to
tighten supervision. This partnership administers Project Team,
which pairs probation officers with community police officers.
Funding for the project comes from a partnership with Project
Safe Neighborhoods and Weed and Seed, providing critical overtime
dollars for both the police and probation agencies. Upon release,
when parolees list the Weed and Seed site or the blocks immediately
surrounding it as their intended residence, a meeting is held
with the parole officer and community police officer. The parolees
are informed that they will be enrolled in Project Team and
will receive home visits from both parole officers and the
police. Parolees receive between three and five weekly visits
and their homes are watched daily by officers on routine patrols.
Lieutenant Scott Conley has even requested that patrol officers
park outside parolees' homes to write reports, giving
parolees the feeling that they are being watched constantly.
Some parolees immediately decided to find residence elsewhere
in the county and others moved within the first several months
of parole.
These activities accomplished the first goal of Project Team—a
68-percent reduction in the number of offenders living in and
around the site. Scattering adult offenders throughout the
county and to neighboring counties not only reduces crime but
also has provided offenders with a better chance of successful
reentry because they are not encountering other offenders on
a daily basis. Ken Bingham, a Weed and Seed area supervisor
for adult probation and parole, reports that the remaining
Weed and Seed area parolees—a number fluctuating between
25 and 35, down from a high of more than 90—are more
compliant with the terms of their parole. Bingham tells a story
of the wife of one parolee who called him to thank Project
Team. It seems that her husband is afraid to use drugs or to
do anything wrong because he is always being watched. She reported
that this has been the longest time her husband, who has been
in prison many times, has remained outside prison walls without
recommitting a crime. She said he is in drug treatment, and
that she has high hopes for his successful reentry.
Because 70 percent of returning adult offenders in Ogden lack
diplomas and many are considered functionally illiterate, the
next phase of Project Team will offer various community services
to help parolees obtain high school diplomas and access a basic
education. Through Ogden City's Enterprise Community,
three neighborhood career centers have been established, including
one in the Safe Haven: Central Middle School. Adult education
services include English-as-a-Second-Language courses and a
computer class offered at the Safe Haven, as well as adult
basic education, high school completion, and GED classes offered
near the Safe Haven.
Parole officers are accompanying adult offenders to their
first meeting with a job coach now that job counseling is included
in reentry plans. The job coach helps the adult offender with
skills assessments, adult education and job training matriculation,
employment readiness, and the job search. Then, this coach
provides ongoing tracking and counseling to help the offender
continue his or her education and retain employment. The Utah
Department of Workforce Services, a partner in the career centers
project, provides free skills assessments and will help parolees
connect with employers who might be hesitant to hire an adult
offender.
Under the auspices of Project Team, the residents of the Weed
and Seed area are safer—as evidenced by a reduction in
crime and an increase in private investment—and adult
offenders are given a solid chance at a law-abiding future.
For further information, contact:
Ken Bingham,
Utah Division of Probation and Parole
Lt.
Scott Conley,
Ogden Police Department
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