Community Corrections: sentence minus bars
A decade ago, justice on Martha's Vineyard consisted of two options. If you broke the law, a judge could send you to jail, or hand you over to the office of probation. If probation was your fate, it was pretty much up to you to stay out of trouble, and the office of probation had limited resources to make sure you did.
Jail or probation are no longer the only choices for judges sentencing offenders at the Dukes County Courthouse. The Community Corrections Center now offers an alternative. Photo by Susan Safford
With the establishment of the Dukes County Community Corrections Center in November of 2000, there was another option. After nearly nine years of operation, the center has become a tool for rehabilitating offenders and keeping them out of trouble, according to chief probation officer Jack Mezzetti and Dukes County Sheriff Michael McCormack, who oversee the program.
Community Corrections is a diversion program. It includes intense supervision using electronic monitoring, drug testing, and other methods designed as an alternative to a jail sentence. Established by an act of the legislature, it was intended to relieve overcrowding in the state's corrections system and to deal with criminals in a way that costs less, yet still protects the public.
"It was a perfect program to address our needs," Mr. Mezzetti said.
It is not for all offenders. Under the enabling legislation, people who commit sex crimes, crimes that involve a firearm, or crimes that seriously injure someone, are not eligible.
Instead, community corrections programs target the underlying issues that often lead to crimes. "About 80 percent of the individuals who offend and end up in jail have substance abuse issues in their life," Sheriff McCormack said.
On the level
Capt. David Murphy, the program's manager, oversees the monitoring and testing of offenders at the Community Corrections Center, housed in a building near the Martha's Vineyard Airport terminal.
He explained that there are two levels of close supervision in the program.
Level IV is the highest level of supervision for offenders sentenced to the Community Corrections program. The Corrections Center tracks the whereabouts of Level IV offenders 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with an electronic monitor worn around the ankle. These probationers must report to Community Corrections Center five days a week, and on two of those days they will spend time doing community service. They are tested for drugs and alcohol regularly and randomly. If the offender violates the conditions of his or her sentence, chances are pretty good Mr. Mezzetti is going to know about it, and he will make a recommendation to the court whether to send the offender to jail or change the conditions of the sentence.
Level III supervision involves similar drug and alcohol testing, but may or may not involve electronic monitoring. It is designed for people who hold a full-time job. They must report to Community Corrections twice each week, and perform one day of community service.
Technology has extended the reach of supervision. Some offenders are required to use a device called an intoximeter, which measures blood alcohol levels from a remote location, and transmits the data instantly over the phone. They must call in three times a day to verify their sobriety. The devices incorporate safeguards to ensure that the offender cannot have someone else take the test. Mr. Mezzetti said that a decade ago, a sobriety check often involved having the offender come to the probation department, so an officer could visually judge if the person was intoxicated. Drug tests were only available at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital, at a cost prohibitive to many clients. Now, the Community Corrections Center tests offenders at no cost to them.
"It's a great tool for recovery," said Mr. Mezzetti. "Testing puts some responsibility on the clients."
Safe haven
For people sentenced to Community Corrections, the center can become a haven of sorts, where offenders are safe from the influences that got them in trouble. They have access to tools that will help them stay out jail in the future and a structured environment that leaves little time for trouble. Programs include general equivalency diploma (GED) classes, counseling, life skills education, job development, and employment placement. The first step for every offender is an evaluation by treatment manager Jeremy North. He uses a variety of assessment tests to determine the best course of treatment.
"My role is to make sure people receive the current treatment," said Mr. North. "I develop the curriculum, the drug treatment plans."
Mr. North also helps with job development and placement. He works with Island employers in the retail, health care, and construction sectors to find employment for people who successfully complete the programs.
A 2002 statewide comprehensive study of recidivism indicates that offenders assigned to Community Corrections programs turn back to crime at a rate of 50 percent, about the same as those incarcerated in a House of Corrections. That rate includes those who do not complete the program, because they violated the conditions, those who were assigned to other treatment, and those whose sentences ended, or for a variety of other reasons.
But the statewide study, done for the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission, also shows that those who complete programs successfully are significantly less likely to commit crimes within a year of entering the program. Of the offenders who were part of the study, 39 percent committed crimes again. The study also indicates that the longer an offender remains in the program, the less likely he or she is to turn back to crime.
Community Corrections officials on the Island have no hard figures to measure the local recidivism rates, but Mr. Mezzetti said his impression is that the numbers are much lower than the statewide figures. Community Corrections officials estimate only one in 10 offenders who go through the Dukes County program wind up in trouble again. People stay in the Island program longer than is the case in any other community corrections facilities in Massachusetts, according to Captain Murphy. He sees that statistic as a measure of success. "The people who go through the program, they don't come back," said Capt. Murphy
Cost and critics
Sheriff McCormack sometimes hears criticism of his approach to incarceration and rehabilitation from those who advocate tougher measures. He is quick to offer his record with Island voters as evidence of the community's approval of the Community Corrections program.
"It's a matter of philosophy," said Sheriff McCormack. "I've been elected twice. The community understands my philosophy, and they agree with what we're doing."
The price tag for the entire Community Corrections Center in fiscal year 2007 was $420,271. It was funded at exactly the same amount in fiscal year 2008. The facility is funded entirely through the state budget, with no local assessment for Vineyard towns. There are five full-time staffers and one part-time staffer at the local center, according to the sheriff.
Sheriff McCormack estimates it costs about $45,000 to $48,000 per year to keep an inmate incarcerated at the Dukes County House of Correction.
From July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2008 (fiscal years 2002 through 2008), a total of 132 people successfully completed community corrections programs, an average of 19 people per year.
The center's operating expenses include more than the cost of monitoring people who are in Level III or Level IV supervision. Some come to the center only for drug testing, others only for community service. In fiscal year 2007, the center handled 857 drug tests, and 257 referrals for community service. In fiscal year 2008, the center handled 1,019 drug tests, and 330 referrals for community service.
The sheriff says without the program, the cost to the community would be much higher. He cites the community service program as another benefit to Island communities. Judges often include community service as a condition of a sentence.
Brian Kennedy oversees the program, supervising offenders who work for public and nonprofit organizations. These offenders are assigned to a variety of jobs, everything from cleaning animal stalls at the FARM Institute to setting up equipment at the Agricultural Society Fair. They are also assigned to painting, mowing, and landscaping jobs.
Mr. Kennedy estimates offenders put in about 850 to 900 hours per month in the summer, and 350 to 400 hours per month in the winter.
"That is man-hours the community is receiving at no cost, thousands and thousands of man hours," said Sheriff McCormack. "That alone justifies the cost of the program, in my opinion."
