Conference to examine transitional reentry for Highland County offenders
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
Through a collaborative effort, the Highland County Office of Reentry Services, Turning Point Applied Learning Center, and FRS Counseling will be hosting a conference Friday at Southern State Community College in Hillsboro that will examine the components and agencies that go into making a successful transition for offenders back into the community.
The conference is supported in part through a grant from the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. FRS is the fiscal agency for the grant.
The mission statement of FRS Counseling is to provide comprehensive diagnostic, treatment, referral, education and prevention services for behavioral healthcare, alcohol and drug abuse, and ancillary services to the citizens of Highland County. This includes providing professional services for those behavioral healthcare issues that frequently arise from living in an alcoholic and/or dysfunctional family, and all ancillary services.
Rhonda Fannin, director of the office of reentry services out of Turning Point, said the conference will examine the perspectives of all the agencies that are a part of the transition process.
"The conference is to truly show how reentry, as a whole, is a community process, and it truly takes all the community partners to make all our individual efforts successful," Fannin said. "What we're looking at is everything from law enforcement to those that provide treatment and counseling, those who provide employment training and then all those community agencies that provide the social services that are needed. There are a lot of different programs that are going on in Highland County that have to pull in our area agencies to make it successful. Not just one agency can do it."
The office’s mission, according to Fannin, is to ensure successful offender reentry to Highland County, to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety through collaboration and efficient use of resources.
"Turning Point is the employment and training facility and the only re-entry certified program in Ohio that offers employment training and counseling and the GED educational component," Fannin said. "Our office of reentry is trying to basically provide a holistic approach to reentry services. It takes in everything from sentencing to alternatives to incarcerations, but the goal is when someone is released, to provide a successful transition."
The conference will be moderated by Ann Barnum of the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. Featured speakers will include Orman Hall, director of Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services; Matt Donahue, from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office; Judge Rocky Coss, Highland County Common Pleas Court, and Judge David McKenna of Hillsboro Municipal Court.
"What we're trying to do is provide different perspectives," Fannin said. "Even the the employers. Our judges will also be speaking about the trends and things they're seeing locally, and with all the changes at the state and how that affects us locally, not just as an agency, but as a community."
Additional speakers include Deanna Hoskins, of the Hamilton County Reentry Coalition; Charles Gorman, of Southern State Community College; Jeremy Ratcliff, of Highland County Probation Department; Sgt. Chris Lengefeld, Highland County Jail Administrator; and Bill Smith of Weastec.
The philosophy behind the program is that if people being released from jail or prison have a more structured reentry and are provided with the tools and training needed to get jobs, they will be less likely to reoffend and more likely to be productive, contributing members of the community.
Friday's conference will examine law enforcement's perspective, Law Enforcement Perspective, the use of evidence-based practices by corrections, employment perspective, health care perspective, the impact of substance use/abuse on reentry, substance abuse treatment perspective and the impact of intensive case management.
Fannin said the office's goals include:
• Assist ex-offenders and other at-risk community members by providing resources, opportunities and support for successful transitions.
• Demonstrate benefits of alternatives to incarceration.
• Assist Highland County Criminal Justice Advisory Committee members in using a holistic approach that begins with law enforcement, corrections and the court system in collaborative efforts with education, families, health services, substance abuse, employment, housing and faith-based entities to reduce recidivism in Highland County.
"We really want people to know that reentry, as a whole, is a community process and we all have an investment here," Fannin said. "It's our community. We live here and we want people to be successful, and we want to have a safe community."
The event is free and open to the public. Lunch and refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact Jill Wilson at (937) 393-4562.
Through a collaborative effort, the Highland County Office of Reentry Services, Turning Point Applied Learning Center, and FRS Counseling will be hosting a conference Friday at Southern State Community College in Hillsboro that will examine the components and agencies that go into making a successful transition for offenders back into the community.
The conference is supported in part through a grant from the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. FRS is the fiscal agency for the grant.
The mission statement of FRS Counseling is to provide comprehensive diagnostic, treatment, referral, education and prevention services for behavioral healthcare, alcohol and drug abuse, and ancillary services to the citizens of Highland County. This includes providing professional services for those behavioral healthcare issues that frequently arise from living in an alcoholic and/or dysfunctional family, and all ancillary services.
Rhonda Fannin, director of the office of reentry services out of Turning Point, said the conference will examine the perspectives of all the agencies that are a part of the transition process.
"The conference is to truly show how reentry, as a whole, is a community process, and it truly takes all the community partners to make all our individual efforts successful," Fannin said. "What we're looking at is everything from law enforcement to those that provide treatment and counseling, those who provide employment training and then all those community agencies that provide the social services that are needed. There are a lot of different programs that are going on in Highland County that have to pull in our area agencies to make it successful. Not just one agency can do it."
The office’s mission, according to Fannin, is to ensure successful offender reentry to Highland County, to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety through collaboration and efficient use of resources.
"Turning Point is the employment and training facility and the only re-entry certified program in Ohio that offers employment training and counseling and the GED educational component," Fannin said. "Our office of reentry is trying to basically provide a holistic approach to reentry services. It takes in everything from sentencing to alternatives to incarcerations, but the goal is when someone is released, to provide a successful transition."
The conference will be moderated by Ann Barnum of the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. Featured speakers will include Orman Hall, director of Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services; Matt Donahue, from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office; Judge Rocky Coss, Highland County Common Pleas Court, and Judge David McKenna of Hillsboro Municipal Court.
"What we're trying to do is provide different perspectives," Fannin said. "Even the the employers. Our judges will also be speaking about the trends and things they're seeing locally, and with all the changes at the state and how that affects us locally, not just as an agency, but as a community."
Additional speakers include Deanna Hoskins, of the Hamilton County Reentry Coalition; Charles Gorman, of Southern State Community College; Jeremy Ratcliff, of Highland County Probation Department; Sgt. Chris Lengefeld, Highland County Jail Administrator; and Bill Smith of Weastec.
The philosophy behind the program is that if people being released from jail or prison have a more structured reentry and are provided with the tools and training needed to get jobs, they will be less likely to reoffend and more likely to be productive, contributing members of the community.
Friday's conference will examine law enforcement's perspective, Law Enforcement Perspective, the use of evidence-based practices by corrections, employment perspective, health care perspective, the impact of substance use/abuse on reentry, substance abuse treatment perspective and the impact of intensive case management.
Fannin said the office's goals include:
• Assist ex-offenders and other at-risk community members by providing resources, opportunities and support for successful transitions.
• Demonstrate benefits of alternatives to incarceration.
• Assist Highland County Criminal Justice Advisory Committee members in using a holistic approach that begins with law enforcement, corrections and the court system in collaborative efforts with education, families, health services, substance abuse, employment, housing and faith-based entities to reduce recidivism in Highland County.
"We really want people to know that reentry, as a whole, is a community process and we all have an investment here," Fannin said. "It's our community. We live here and we want people to be successful, and we want to have a safe community."
The event is free and open to the public. Lunch and refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact Jill Wilson at FRS at (937) 393-4562.
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