The Women's Transitional Center (WTC) is a comprehensive, community-based correctional program serving adult female offenders referred by the Montana Department of Corrections (MDOC) staff, Federal Bureau of Prison (FBOP) officials, and federal probation officers as well as district court judges and county attorneys.
WTC is designed to assist female offenders with their transition back into the community as well as to provide a cost-effective, program-intensive alternative to incarceration. WTC provides residents with a full-range of correctional programming, chemical dependency treatment, life skills development, and employment skills.
The Community, Counseling, and Correctional Services, Inc. (CCCS) purchased and renovated an old dilapidated hotel to its current use as a community-based correctional facility. In June 1992, WTC began providing services as a pre-release and the FBOP for the provision of correctional programming, security oversight and educational opportunities to female offenders. With a 60-bed capacity, it contracts with the MDOC educationjal opportunities to female offenders as they transition from either the state or federal system. WTC has been accredited throgh the American Correctional Association since 1998, which ensures the consistent and highest degree of quality service delivery to the resident populations of this center.
The program goals of the WTC are as follows:
- Promote public safety by offering a milieu of programs and services for adult female offenders in or entering local communities;
- Provide programs and services that assist eligible offenders with their transition from prison into the community;
- Provide an alternative to prison for those offenders who do not pose a significant threat to public safety and whose correctional programming and treatment needs could be best served by community placement;
- Provide an alternative to probation for those offenders who do not pose a significant threat to public safety and who require greater programming structure and monitoring than can be offered through probation;
- Meet the supervision and control needs of female adult offenders in a community-based correctional setting;
- Establish and maintain a continuum of programming through formal and informal links to other human service and correctional agencies.
Community, Counseling and Correctional Services is a company, through diversity, that continues to change lives, one-life-at-a-time, by providing services and programs to the persons in need.
CCCS staff have established the following objectives to enable WTC to best achieve stated program goals:
- Maintain a secure facility and complementary security practices so as to best preserve the safety of the residents, staff, visitors, and the general public;
- Provide residents with a case manager responsible for the development and constant assessment of an individualized correctional programming and community transition plan;
- Provide residents with group and individual Moral Reconation Therapy® and Cognitive Principles and Restructuring (COG) programming;
- Provide residents with normal Criminal Thinking Errors programming;
- Provide residents with appropriate Chemical Dependency programming (including aftercare, residential treatment and access to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous (AA/NA) as required;
- Assist residents with the development of positive Life Skills that include, but are not limited to money management and budgeting skills;
- Provide residents with a full-range of Employment Services designed to assist offenders with identifying, securing, and maintaining suitable employment.
- Provide residents with Anger Management programming.
- Provide residents with Parenting programming;
- Provide residents the opportunity for regular group and individual recreation;
- Provide opportunities for family involvement in treatment and correctional programming that include weekly visitation.
- Provide residents with a continuum of correctional programming through formal and informal links in the community and with other human service and correctional agencies.
The WTC is designed to serve the following types of adult female offenders:
- Inmates at the Montana Women's Prison (MWP), a Regional Prison or Jail, or any other contract secure correctional facility who are within two (2) years of their parole eligibility or discharge dates;
- Female offenders committed to the Montana Department of Corrections (MDOC);
- Federal offenders who are referred by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) and who are serving the last 10% of their sentence.
- Offenders are not subjected to discrimination based on an offender's race, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or political views.
The WTC is NOT designed to serve the following types of adult female offenders:
- Offenders with sex-related crimes;
- As a general rule, WTC does not accept offenders with history of violent crime. However, each offender is considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Offenders who have serious medical or mental health problems that would prohibit or significantly limit participation in correctional programming and chemical dependency treatment. Again, offenders are considered on a case-by-case basis. The local screening committee considers many factors including the following: 1) Nature and number of offenses; 2) Previous community placements; 3) Behavior at other institutions; 4) Desire to change and motivation to participate in programming; 5) Medical or psychological limitation that could prevent participation in the program.
Accepting responsibility and ownership for the cost of incarceration and correctional programming is an important part of the CCCS program philosophy. Therefore, residents are expected to contribute to the cost of their participation in WTC. A daily charge of $14 for each day or $98 per week will be charged to all residents referred by components of the Montana criminal justice and correctional systems. Federal residents will be expected to pay 25% of their weekly gross income. Inability to pay for services will not preclude offenders from participating in the WTC program. Indigent residents (those in arrears $360 or more) may apply to have room and board waived.
A dedicated team of staff distinguished by both education and experience provide services at WTC. CCCS has carefully selected a diverse, professional staff to ensure that residents receive the most effective environment for correctional programming and community transitional services.
CCCS considers public safety paramount and places a premium on security. As such, CCCS has implemented a strict security program for the WTC. This program includes a secure facility and complementary security functions — hourly counts, physical checks, urinalysis screening, etc. — to hold all offenders accountable and preserve a safe, secure environment for staff, visitors, and the general public. These are the following:
- Resident Assistants monitor residents 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Program security and public safety are primary objectives for all employees of CCCS.
- Resident movement inside the facility is closely monitored. The program maintains an average security staff to resident ratio of 1:5. All areas of the facility accessible by residents are actively monitored by staff.
- Resident Assistants conduct regular and random security counts to verify the location and activity of all residents. As with all CCCS community programs, disciplinary action including felony escape charges are filed against any resident who leaves WTC without authorization or who is unaccounted for.
- Through regular and random urinalysis and breathalyzer tests, staff screen for chemical use. Regular searches of living and common areas complement facility security and minimize the frequency of contraband in WTC.
- Due to the nature of the WTC program, residents regularly leave the facility for employment, education, and other activities. Prior to leaving the facility and upon returning, residents must check-in with staff. When outside the facility, residents are required to adhere to a strict schedule that has been approved in advance by their Case Managers. Any deviation from the approved schedule will result in disciplinary action.
- Resident Assistants conduct regular physical checks on all residents who are outside the facility. This means that staff visit the residents' places of employment as well as other areas to verify the location and activity of all residents.
- Public access to the facility is also restricted. All visitors—whether for staff or residents—must check-in at designated areas with assigned staff and may only access approved areas in the WTC facility.
Referrals to WTC are only made by the Montana Department of Corrections or the Federal Probation System. Once a referral is received, the CCCS staff and local screening committee will review the appropriate paperwork (usually within one week of receipt) and determine the applicant's suitability for the program.
This screening committee is composed of six members, including: 1) the Program Administrator for the BPRC/WTC; 2) an at-large Community Representative; 3) a local Parole & Probation Officer representative; 4) two members of CCCS' Board of Directors (one sitting in the capacity as an "alternate"); and 5) the Sheriff (or designee) of Butte-Silver bow county. A majority approval vote of the Local Screening committee members is required and assures the offender applicant is eligible for placement in either the BPRC or WTC.
| Name: | Travis Hettick |
| Title: | Program Administrator |
| Address: | 62 West Broadway |
| Butte, MT 59701 | |
| Phone: | 406-496-5070 |
| E-mail: | thettick@cccscorp.com |
|
Letter on Inventory |
Personal Property Inventory |
Sponsor Form |