The former Hocking Correctional Facility will become a rehabilitation center for women in the region who are struggling with drug addiction and have been charged with a misdemeanor, according to officials at a meeting Monday.
Rick Hodges, health policy executive in residence, led the discussion of what the building will be used for, what organizations would be participating and helping the new space, as well as other issues such as who can be housed there and how it will be funded.
Hodges said the project began back in March. Nineteen community organizations have come together so far in efforts to help move this project forward, some of which include the STAR Community Justice Center, Hopewell Health Center and the Hocking County Municipal Court. It is set to open sometime next year.
The facility is meant to complement the local jails, not compete with them.
“There is a dire need to have a facility to house females,” Lanny North, Hocking County sheriff, said.
It is going to offer vocational programs, such as plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), electrical and welding through STAR Community Justice Center.
The facility will include 210 beds on two floors for the jail. For the Community Based Correctional Facility, or CBCF, there will be 100 beds. North said if there are any extra beds, they can help make up for the lack of beds for women in the county jail.
Fred Moses, judge of the Hocking County Municipal Court, said a lot of women are going to jail because there is no other way to guarantee they can stay clean and safe.
“I don’t like keeping people in jail, but a lot of time I have to do it,” Moses said.
This new facility offers a way to provide services for people who don’t deserve to go to jail.
“The problem with sending them off to rehab is that they go to rehab and they come back in this nice little bubble and they get the help they need from a wonderful program,” Moses said. “But then we bring them right back in the house they lived in with drug addicts, or they have no place to live.”
Moses said he believes the community is a better place to treat people.
There is a $1.1 million grant for the project as well as a $200,000 planning grant from Hopewell Health Center.
