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03/12/2002 - CEC's Assessment Centers Featured in Corrections Today

Washington, Mar 12 -

CEC's Assessment Centers Featured in Corrections Today



ROSELAND, NJ (March 12, 2002)--Helping offenders prepare for release is the ultimate goal of Community Education Centers (CEC)'s assessment and treatment programs. "Assessment centers were designed to provide residents with a comprehensive assessment of their needs and an orientation to a treatment regimen prior to their transition to a halfway house," according to Ralph Fretz, PhD, author of the article, "Helping Inmates Take the Final Step Toward Release," which appears in the February issue of Corrections Today. "The assessment centers in New Jersey operate as modified therapeutic communities to assist full-minimum status inmates as they return to society," explains Dr. Fretz, Assessment Director for Community Education Centers.

In his article, Dr. Fretz describes the philosophy behind assessment centers, the assessment and treatment process and the continuum of care concept. He also discusses the role of the classification committee, which helps determine a resident's placement after leaving the assessment and treatment facility. According to Dr. Fretz, the assessment process improves public safety because it identifies high-risk inmates who should not be transferred to the less restrictive halfway house environment.

In 1998, The New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) developed the concept of an assessment center as a method of providing a "step down" process for male state inmates with full-minimum status. Later that year, CEC opened the nation's first assessment center, Talbot Hall, a 500-bed facility in Kearny, New Jersey. A second facility, known as the Bo Robinson Assessment and Treatment Center, opened in Trenton in 1999.

Community Education Centers (CEC), a Roseland, New Jersey-based company, is a leading provider of rehabilitative services to the criminal justice population. CEC provides a variety of comprehensive treatment services for adults and juveniles through its 26 locations, which range from residential, secured treatment to work release to electronic monitoring. The CEC management team has over 30 years of experience in the development of effective rehabilitative programming