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WOMEN'S TRANSITION CENTER
Program
Overview
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 center for adult
female offenders. With a 60-bed capacity, it contracts with the MDOC and the FBOP for
the provision of correctional programming, security oversight and
educational opportunities to female offenders as they transition from
either the state or federal system. WTC has been accredited through
the American Correctional Association
since 1998, which ensures the consistent and
highest degree of quality service delivery to the resident populations
of this center.
View the Power Point presentation.
View WTC's program statistics.
View the Program Directory. (PDF 39
KB)
View the Resident Inventory list.
(PDF 16)
Program Goals
The following are the goals of
WTC:
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Promote
public safety by offering a milieu of programs
and services for adult female offenders in or entering local communities;
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Provide
programs and services that assist eligible offenders
with their transition from prison into the community;
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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;
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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;
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Meet the supervision and control needs of adult
offenders in a community-based correctional setting; and
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Establish
and maintain a continuum of programming through formal and informal links to other human service and correctional
agencies
Program Objectives
CCCS staff has established the following objectives to enable
WTC to best achieve stated program goals:
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Maintain a secure
facility and complementary security
practices so as to best preserve the safety of residents, staff,
visitors, and the general public;
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Provide residents with a case manager responsible for the development and constant
assessment of an individualized correctional programming and community transition plan;
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Provide residents with group and individual
Moral Reconation Therapy ® (MRT) and Cognitive Principles and Restructuring
(COG) programming;
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Provide residents with normal Criminal Thinking Errors programming;
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Provide residents with appropriate Chemical Dependency
programming (including aftercare, residential treatment and access to AA/NA) as required;
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Assist residents with the development of
positive Life Skills that include, but are not limited to money management and budgeting
skills;
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Provide residents with a full-range of
Employment Services designed to assist offenders with identifying, securing, and maintaining
suitable employment;
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Provide residents with Anger Management
programming;
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Provide residents with Parenting programming;
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Provide residents the opportunity to practice their spirituality and religion of choice;
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Provide residents with the opportunity for
regular group and individual recreation;
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Provide opportunities for family involvement in treatment and correctional programming
that include weekly visitation; and
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Provide residents with a continuum of correctional programming through formal and
informal links in the community and with other human service and
correctional agencies.
Program Eligibility
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;
- Offenders committed to the Montana Department of Corrections (MDOC)
who are within two (2) years of their parole eligibility or
discharge dates;
- Federal
offenders who are referred by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP)
and who are serving the last 10% of their sentence.
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Offenders are not subjected to discrimination based on an
offender's race, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or
political views.
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
Program Costs
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
the WTC program. A daily charge of $12 a day or $84
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.
Administration and Program Staff
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.
View a brief biography of our key program staff.
Program Security
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 function -- 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 the WTC.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Contact Information
Mr. Jay Grant, Program Coordinator 62 West Broadway
Butte, MT 59701 Phone: 406.782.2316 ext. 108 Fax:
406.723.1170
Making the Referral
Referrals
to the WTC can be made by almost every segment of the Montana criminal
justice and correctional system including correctional facility staff,
parole officers, local prosecutors, judges, pre-release staff, attorneys,
probation officials, and MDOC staff. When making
a referral, please complete the Admission
Application Form.
HTML version
PDF version
Please
submit as many of the following items as are available:
Please submit all
referrals to:
Steve McArthur
Director of Community Correctional Programs and Transportation
471 East Mercury Street Butte, MT 59701 Phone: 406.782.0417 Fax: 406.782-6964
or
Jay Grant
Program Administrator 62 West Broadway Butte, MT 59701 Phone: 406.782.2316 ext.108 Fax:
406.723.1170
Once a referral is received, the
CCCS staff and local screening committee will review the appropriate paperwork
(usually within 1 week of receipt) and determine the applicant’s
suitability for the program. In all cases, referring individuals
and agencies will be notified in writing as to the admissions status and
possible start date of the referred individual.
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