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08/01/2008 07:46 AM

 

Halfway Houses In Western PA. Have Few Serious Incidents August 1, 2008 ECO Staff -- Laure Cioffi, senior journalist When two men living at a halfway house in Sharon, Pa., were accused of assaulting two teenage girls, they were sent directly back to state prison. “As soon as we were aware that they were even being looked at by the police, we had them secured,” said Marcia Combine, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ regional director for halfway houses in western Pennsylvania. Combine, who ran the Sharon facility from 1993 to 2005 before becoming regional director, said the incident in Sharon which occurred on May 31, is the most serious to occur in any of the western Pennsylvania facilities. The state run facility, similar to a proposed privately operated halfway house in Wayne Township, serves as a stop for paroled state inmates to learn how to integrate into society after serving their state prison sentences. “It’s very rare that we have individuals commit offenses in that area or in any one of my centers,” said Combine, who oversees 10 halfway houses in western Pennsylvania. Three are located in Erie, five in Allegheny County, one in Sharon and one in New Brighton. Wayne Township residents have expressed concerns over community safety after learning that a 200-bed halfway house is planned on the site of the former G.J.’s Auto Service and Sales. Petitions opposing the plans have been placed in businesses in Wayne Township and Ellwood City. The construction of the facility, however, is not restricted because Wayne Township has no zoning laws. The only approval needed before work begins will be building code requirements. The Lawrence County Planning Commission is now reviewing plans and will meet Aug. 12. Dominick Farina of Community Alternatives and Gabe Cilli, the developer, say they want to be good neighbors and intend to have residents participate in community service projects. Farina said the facility will not be locked down, but residents will be monitored and must get permission before leaving. He said they will not admit sex offenders or arsonists. According to Combine, other halfway houses in the region are operated in a similar way. Some are state run like the one in Sharon and others are privately owned. Combine said the size of the facilities in this area range from 32 beds to 325 beds and the average length of stay for paroled inmates is three to four months. The facilities offer a range of different services. All are working to integrate the paroled inmates back into the community. There are no recent studies to show the impact participating in a halfway house program has on an inmate as opposed to just being released on parole, Combine said. An older study done by Pennsylvania State University did find that inmates going to halfway houses were three times more likely to not go back to prison again than those released directly to the community, she said. In the case of the two men housed in Sharon, there was no indication that they were a threat to the community, she noted. The men ended up at the halfway house after being incarcerated on drug and theft charges. According to reports, the men were accused of following two girls, ages 15 and 16, on May 31 as they filled out job applications in Sharon. The men, who had befriended the girls before that day, met the girls in a park where one of the men is accused of forcing the 15-year-old to perform a sex act. The other man is accused of grabbing the 16-year-old and exposing himself to her. “These men had no history of sexual offenses. One was a first time offender,” Combine said. Combine noted that police were getting ready to release the men from custody after charges were filed, but because they were halfway house residents they were able to keep them incarcerated. She reiterated this is the first serious incident to occur at the Sharon facility since it opened in 1974. “It’s understandable that there is community concern. We all live in these communities too,” Combine said. “But they [inmates] are going to come out of prison eventually. At least at a community corrections center we monitor them and can see how they are doing, as opposed to being released directly to parole and visiting a parole officer twice a week for maybe 15 minutes.” (Laure Cioffi can be reached at LaureCioffi@EllwoodCity.org)