2004 News Archive

CCCS center revives Glendive

Montana Standard - 12/30/04

Growth of the Butte non-profit Community Counseling and Correctional Service is helping revive Glendive, in eastern Montana, while also expanding statewide drug treatment services in the Butte area.

Glendive suffered after the 2003 Legislature closed the Eastmont Human Service Center for developmentally disabled individuals, which employed about 100 people. Mayor Jerry Jimison compared the loss to Butte losing 700 jobs.

"Probably the first real challenge as mayor of Glendive was the news that the Legislature was going to close the Eastmont training center," said Jimison, who has been mayor for three years.

After Eastmont closed and the patients were relocated to a Boulder facility, according to Jimison, the Montana Department of Corrections considered using the five vacant state-owned buildings. Because of a long-standing relationship, the department contacted CCCS to possibly open a pre-release center there.

"We have been doing business with Community Counseling and Correctional Services for about 20 years, and we've contracted with them for a variety of services, and they have been very good partners," said Mike Ferriter, administrator of the Community Corrections Division for the Department of Corrections.

But the effort to open a pre-release center failed largely because the vacant Eastmont facility sits near a neighborhood that opposed those plans, Jimison said. The Department of Corrections and CCCS then switched gears and proposed a drug treatment center.

Ultimately, Glendive approved a 40-bed felony DUI treatment center that will mainly house women. Applicants will be admitted to the six-month program after being screened by a panel composed of law enforcement officials, elected representatives, Department of Corrections staff and townspeople.

"It doesn't come close to what we lost, but it's something we can grab and grow with," Jimison said.

CCCS Chief Executive Officer Mike Thatcher of Butte said the Glendive program was named after its Warm Springs DUI treatment facility and will be called WATCH East. It is expected to create 22 new jobs in Glendive and open Feb. 1, 2005.

"I'm confident that within a year we will be able to establish our credibility (in Glendive)," Thatcher said. "We want to be a good partner, and we want people to know what we are doing."

The new Glendive facility will not increase the number of beds the state offers to treat felony DUI offenders through CCCS — the state's only felony DUI treatment provider. That's because 40 of the 140 total beds available are merely being transferred from the Warm Springs facility to Glendive.

However, the 40 vacant beds in Warm Springs will be used to double the number of beds the state offers through CCCS for a 60-day drug treatment facility. That program is called Connections Corrections. It is based in Butte and differs from the WATCH program by offering services to people addicted to all types of drugs instead of only alcohol.

Expanding the Connections Corrections program is the central aim of relocating felony DUI offenders to Glendive, Ferriter said. The need for that expansion is apparent by the 100 people on a waiting list to enter that program, officials said.

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Men in Butte prerelease receiving medical care

The Montana Standard - 12/21/04

Men at Connections, the Butte prerelease program, are receiving medical care and education about men's reproductive health, thanks to a $48,861 grant. The grant will be used to work with men involved in the Community Counseling and Correctional Service programs for the next 12 months, said Barbara Mueske, director of Family Services at the Butte Silver Bow Health Department.

The grant was made by the Regional Family Planning Office in Denver in early November and was part of a special grant initiative received through the Montana Family Planning office.

Mueske said that she applied for the grant because she saw a gap in programs focusing on men's reproductive health. "Men's reproductive health has not had very much attention at all," she said.

Mueske said the program focuses primarily on education — giving male participants information about pregnancy prevention, cancer, screening through testicular self-examination and the transmission and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs.

Mueske said that although teen pregnancy rates are down, STDs are on the rise.

"That tells us that people are practicing contraception, but not safe sex," she said. "STDs are now the number one contagious disease in the country," said Mueske, listing genital warts caused by the human papillomavirus, genital herpes and chlamydia as the most common types of STDs.

"Chlamydia is the number one STD in the nation and in Butte," said Mueske. Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted bacteria that, if left untreated, can lead to sterility in both men and women. Mueske said that both gonorrhea and syphilis are on the rise, as well as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. "Hepatitis C in the correctional population is just rampant," she said.

Mueske said that the new grant program provides testing for gonorrhea and chlamydia, and clients who have engaged in risky behaviors are referred to the health department for further testing for other STDs.

Clients choosing to participate in the grant program work with nurses from CCCS and local physician Pat McGree, a family practitioner at the Rocky Mountain Clinic in Butte. McGree said that male reproductive health can be a touchy subject, and most men in the program are generally hesitant to talk about that particular aspect of their anatomy at first. "They are probably more embarrassed than anything," he said. Once the conversation is initiated, things start to change.

"A lot of them are kind of relieved. They do have a lot of questions," added McGree. Those questions often reveal worries about cancer and other diseases and infections.

Statistics show that men are less likely to address their health concerns. "It's probably cultural-kind of a macho thing," said McGree.

Despite the traditional avoidance of the topic, McGree said the program seems to be well received. "My assumption is that if they keep coming, they're accepting it pretty well," he said.

Mueske said that overall; the Butte Family Planning Clinic has a 16 percent participation rate by men, which is much higher than the 4 percent state average. Mueske said that the increased participation by men in these programs is due to the health department's focus on prevention and aggressive education programs. "We have been out there educating men and talking to men," she said.

This page was last updated on 08/05/09.