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Western ohio regional treatment and habilitation center |
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Our Mission |
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Our Mission |
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The W.O.R.T.H. Center is a residential probation center, operated by the Facilities Governing Board for the district comprised of Allen, Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin, Mercer, Paulding, Putnam, Shelby, and Van Wert Counties for male and female offenders from the nine counties placed on probation by the Common Pleas Court that otherwise would be sentenced to incarceration in a state penal institution. The W.O.R.T.H. Center seeks to strike a balance between control, punitive sanctions, and rehabilitative treatment in an intensive, self-contained and positive psychological environment which emphasizes face-to-face staff-to resident interaction. It will be a highly structured program and is staff intensive with an aftercare component. It is the basic philosophy of the W.O.R.T.H. Program that the correctional system should be viewed as a continual process with the emphasis on treatment in the community for nonviolent male and female offenders and incarceration at state institutions reserved for control of offenders who are judged dangerous, violent, or incapable of rehabilitation. W.O.R.T.H. supports the concept of keeping offenders in touch with their home community where the mutual adjustment of community and offender must eventually take place. It is the task of W.O.R.T.H. to facilitate the socialization of offenders in such a way as to preserve their dignity and safety of the general community. Prison is only one sentencing alternative. Other alternatives, less expensive to the tax payers, are possible and provide a more measured response. Punitive sanctions, victim restoration, societal restitution and treatment intervention in a community-based corrections setting, close to family support and employment, can more successfully reintegrate the individual back into the mainstream of his community. Community corrections can be a more effective, for some offenders, in addressing the underlying contributing factors that often lead to criminal behavior. W.O.R.T.H. will address positive values such as self-esteem, self-reliance, and human dignity, and make an effort to create a sense of belonging as if in a family structure, to promote stability so that an environment is created where the individual can internalize positive change. As residents progress through the W.O.R.T.H. Program, privileges will be earned as individuals become more responsible for their lives. Conversely, if negative behavior warrants, more controls can be imposed and privileges can be restricted in a progressively intrusive manner to the point of probation revocation and sentence to long term incarceration in a state prison institution. It is realized that crime originates locally and offenders are returned to their home communities from prison usually without assistance upon their release, which, often perpetuates the cycle of crime and dependence upon the local community. |
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