News - 2009
California is CEC's Newest In-Prison Treatment Program
West Caldwell, NJ, May 2 - CEC's newest in-prison treatment program began operating within the California Correctional Institution (CCI), located in Tehachapi, California. The contract was awarded to CEC by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for the establishment of a 250-bed therapeutic community (TC) program.
Since January the center has welcomed more than 130 participants at the In-Prison Therapeutic Community, with approximately 25 residents arriving per week. Tehachapi, located north of Los Angeles is one of four CEC in-prison treatment centers in California. Dan Lane, California State Director for CEC is especially proud of the new treatment program which consists of a multi-phase system and was implemented on Jan. 26th.
The new multiphase system is based on a concept developed by Lane and Ryan Bone, new program director at Correctional Training Facility (CTF), Soledad in California, along with Paul Billeci, Western Regional Director for CEC and Ed Roberts, Director of Treatment Operations for CEC. Lane got the idea after attending the Leadership Conference in New Jersey and reading the article from Indian Creek, which addresses assessment and front-end resistance to treatment.
"This treatment program creates much more investment early in the process," says Lane. In the new 3-phase system, residents work in groups for 6-18 weeks at a time, and advance together as a group. At each 6-week interval "promotion weeks" are designed to promote graduation from one tier to another, complete with a graduation ceremony.
"Things are going great. The participants like it and want it. We feel we are off to a great start," says Diane Clayton, Program Director at the Tehachapi Correctional Institution.
"We are expanding rehabilitation in the state of California with a sound clinical base and whole new assessments," says Lane.
This is based on "A.B.900," an assembly bill in California that is in response to a 3-judge federal panel examining overcrowding. One of the newest arrivals at Tehachapi is a 6600 sq. ft. modular unit, which will accommodate staff offices and programs.
After an upcoming inspection, staff is hoping to move in and set up shop in their brand new space. Presently programs are being held in the dining hall. The modular will hold a community meeting twice a day, accommodating 125 residents in the morning and an additional 125 for afternoon programs. After the community meeting the space will allow for breakdowns of eight individual group areas, where smaller groups will have a more private setting.
"We are pleased and excited to return to CCI-Tehachapi. Our program staff and management team have had a positive working relationship with correctional staff at the institution for years. This new Division of Addiction and Recovery Services (DARS) project provides us the opportunity to renew our relationship.
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