News - 2006
Casper Re-Entry Center's Therapeutic Community Graduation Attended by Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal
Roseland, NJ, Aug 18, 2006 - A graduation ceremony was conducted today for fifteen Therapeutic Community (TC) residents at the Casper Re-Entry Center (CRC) to celebrate this important milestone on their road to recovery. Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal was in attendance to offer his support for the program and the residents who had completed this intensive treatment program.
"Community Education Centers is honored that Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal attended this important graduation ceremony. CEC takes great pride in the successful future of each graduate and looks forward to making a positive impact on recidivism in the State of Wyoming," said John Clancy, President and CEO of CEC.
The Casper Re-Entry Center, Community Education Centers' Wyoming-based residential treatment center, has a total capacity of 400-beds with two separate programs under one roof. One is a 200-bed adult community corrections program and operates as a work-release program for male and female adult offenders; the other, a Therapeutic Community, operates as a secure treatment facility for up to 100 adult male offenders.
CRC's TC is a nine to twelve month, intensive, inpatient, drug and alcohol treatment program that focuses on substance abuse rehabilitation, education, and re-socialization of men exiting the criminal justice system. The program addresses criminal and addictive behaviors in order to successfully reintegrate residents back into their communities.
"It is refreshing to see the State of Wyoming has expressed a willingness to solve offender's substance abuse problems from a clinical perspective," said Steve Roth, CRC's Adult Residential Drug Court Treatment Program Director. "We know that drug abuse is sending our community members into the criminal justice system. We also know that treatment works. CRC's Therapeutic Community is an incredible opportunity to give back to the state by giving addicted offenders a second chance. And it works. This graduation shows that."
In February of 2006, the first thirty residents graduated from the Therapeutic Community. Since then, ninety-two men have come through the doors of the TC and successfully reentered their communities as contributing members of society. All of the TC graduates were formally incarcerated for substance abuse related crimes.
"The program is designed to give these men their lives back," said Jim Piro, Director of the Therapeutic Community. "After graduating the TC these men become productive members of our communities. They work, pay taxes, and take care of their families. The TC graduates' successful reentry takes a burden off of the taxpayers because we've taught them how to become citizens again. It's a win-win situation for everyone."
Community Alternatives of Casper is a 200-bed community corrections and work-release program that provides residential and non-residential services to adult male and female offenders referred by the Wyoming Department of Corrections and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This program has been in operation since October 1985 on a site adjacent to the new Casper Re-Entry Center building.
"I can see the changes in these men upon graduation from CRC's Therapeutic Community. We have had family members, friends, fathers and mothers, even people in our community call and tell me personally, that they can see the significant changes their sons, friends, and family have made," said Lisa Graham, Facility Director of CRC.
The Casper Re-Entry Center was constructed and is managed by Community Education Centers (CEC). CEC is the leading provider of rehabilitative and reentry services to the criminal justice system in America. CEC's facilities provide a full range of therapeutic residential and non-residential correctional services with an empirically documented record of reducing recidivism.
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