A time of major growth and expansion is underway at KPEP. Our sixth facility opened its doors on January 20th in Kalamazoo! This facility joins with two others in Kalamazoo, and one each in Benton Harbor, Battle Creek and Muskegon to serve a major role in corrections and in the rehabilitation of offenders in West Michigan. This physical growth of KPEP comes along with an expansion in the programming options and types of offenders we are now being asked to serve.

Our newest KPEP location will be the largest single facility in the program, located in the former Borgess Nursing Home, at 537 Chicago Avenue. The nursing home operation was a 121-bed facility until November 18, 2009. From the beginning, it became clear the size (nearly 40,000 square feet) and layout of the building was a perfect fit for the growing needs of our programming. The separation offered by the 'winged' structure of a former nursing home allowed us to move our Women's program and our Men's Office of Community Corrections-funded program as well as our Jail Release program.

Each program operates independently, but we've gain significant cost savings by housing more than one program under the same roof. The cost savings are even greater because of the excellent kitchen facilities in the new building. Canteen Services, which has provided food service to our Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor and Muskegon facilities since October 2009, will operate out of the kitchen in this facility and deliver food to both the Park and Olmstead locations daily.

The need for a sixth location became clear in the last year, with rapid growth in both our residential and outpatient programs. With the growing need for space, we were forced to move the administrative offices across the street to a rented suite at 612 S. Park, in order to allow adequate space for both the residential and outpatient programs at the 519 S. Park location.

Why has there been such growth? There has been and will continue to be a need for expanded community corrections programming on the federal, state and local level. KPEP provides quality, cost effective programming that meets the needs of the communities we serve.

In addition, the KPEP Board of Directors as part of its strategic planning, has made the decision to pursue growth in both traditional programming as well as new programming. The Residential Sex Offender Treatment Program (RSOP) is a good example. Ann Webb, Director of Treatment Services, has provided an RSOP report in this newsletter.

In the last year, the legislature adopted the recommendations from a Council of State Governments report, recommending the Parole Board release inmates at between 100-120% of their minimum sentence. Many of the inmates who have served well past 120% of their sentence were sent to prison on a sex-related offense. The average referral so far had a minimum sentence of a little over 6 years, but served an average sentence of over 10.5 years. The MDOC has identified over 500 of these people as low-risk and therefore eligible for parole, but only if an appropriate treatment program is available. Ann will better explain the details of the program and success in reducing recidivism in her report.

I applaud our Board of Directors for its vision and courage in supporting this new program. Even though many of these offenders have committed crimes society considers outrageous and unforgivable, I believe every person has the ability to change. From a criminal justice perspective, I believe that if a person serves their sentence they should be paroled. I also believe that if they are paroled and violate the rules there should be consequences, up to and including a return to prison.

It has been an interesting time for me as we prepare for this growth and implement these new programs. On the one hand, I hear from people who believe that KPEP is too restrictive and that we monitor people too closely. On the other hand, I read stories in the paper, watch the news on television and hear people talk about how we shouldn’t be letting certain offenders out of prison, even if they have served their sentence. The common sense approach is somewhere in between. We need to release people, while providing structure and accountability as part of the parole process. This is what programs like KPEP and the Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative are working toward on a daily basis.

Strategic planning has been a critical part of the preparation for adding this new location, including determining which programs will continue at the Park and Olmstead facilities. Olmstead will continue to house parolees in our Transitional Housing Program and Commercial Placement Program. Both of these programs provide housing in addition to assistance in finding housing and employment, for parolees with no approved residence. We will also operate RSOP in this facility. We are now able to reduce the population in this facility by about 20 residents.

We will continue for now to house people in the Federal Program at the Park Street facility. It is also our plan to open a licensed residential substance abuse treatment program at this location in the spring. This type of treatment program is currently not available in Southwest Michigan, so the opportunity for growth and expanded service appears to be evident and should create additional demand for KPEP services.

I don’t think we’re done with growth yet. As the need for cost-effective and responsible options for corrections expands, KPEP plans to continue to be the leader.