Harrison County, Ohio

Community Corrections Programs

The Harrison County Community Corrections Program offers the following programs to offenders:

Thinking for a Change & Advanced Thinking for a Change

Thinking for a Change 4.0 (T4C) is an integrated cognitive behavioral change program authored by Jack Bush, Ph.D., Barry Glick, Ph.D., and Juliana Taymans, Ph.D., with Michael Guevara, in cooperation with the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). T4C incorporates research from cognitive restructuring theory, social skills development, and the learning and use of problem solving skills. The intent of this program is to assist offenders with learning to make better choices in their lives and aid them to become productive citizens in society.  

Anger Management

In the Anger Management program, offenders become aware of the result of their anger being out of control. They discover that destructive behaviors are connected to a pattern of thought, beliefs and feelings. Learning to understand each of these , along with the awareness of body responses, provides valuable early warning. Offenders learn many effective alternatives and practical skills which give them the power to make new choices and create a different lifestyle.   

Victim Awareness

The Victim Awareness Program provides an opportunity for offenders to begin to see crime from a different perspective: from the perspective of the victim. An offender begins to see how the crime that he or she committed has affected the victim and allows the offender to take responsibility for the crime that was committed.

Pro Social Life Skills

The Pro Social Life Skills Program is an educational event in which research based information about social skills education and correctional education have been combined with the author’s personal and professional experiences to develop a social skills education to offer offenders in community transition programming with information to develop and maintain healthy relationships. 

Parenting Class

The Parenting Class is an educational curriculum in which research based information about parenting education and correctional education have been combined with the author’s personal and professional experiences to develop a social and parenting skills program for helping offenders in community transition programming become better parents. Our goal with this program is to break the cycle of criminal behavior. 

P.O.W.E.R.S. Group

Prosocial Oriented Women’s Empowerment Responsivity Skills or P.O.W.E.R.S. Group addresses the needs of the female offender population. The number of female offenders through the Harrison County Community Corrections Program is over one third of our caseload. This gender-specific program addresses the risk factors that can lead to a woman's criminal behavior. It provides women with alternatives to criminal activity by helping them identify and mobilize personal and community resources. P.O.W.E.R.S. Group draws on the evidence-based treatment models of relational theory and cognitive-behavioral therapy. The program can be delivered in approximately eleven weeks. 

Carey Guides

Carey Guides identify and address criminogenic needs in key life areas that have played an integral role in the formation of criminal thinking errors. Carey Guides are a more effective method to work with offenders to help them understand and address their identified criminogenic need and to teach them the skills they require to change their own behavior. They are designed to help officers do their job more efficiently by translating evidence-based practices (EBP) into a series of strategies and skill-building tools for the offenders. The criminogenic needs that are addressed through the Carey Guides are: Antisocial Cognition, Antisocial Personality, Antisocial Associates, Family/Marital, Substance Abuse, Employment, Education and Leisure Activities. The key life areas addressed are: Thoughts and Beliefs, Coping/Self-Control Skills, Friends/Relationships, Alcohol and/or Drug Use, Work, School and use of free time.

Ninety percent of the programming provided to the offenders is facilitated by the Harrison County Community Corrections staff who are certified facilitators.

Community Service Program 

This program is authorized by Judge T. Shawn Hervey and under the direction of the Community Corrections program. The program assists the community in a number of different aspects that range from cleaning up parks and minor landscaping, to painting and general cleaning with the various different entities in the community. Including but not limited to villages, townships, county offices, emergency services, local parks and cemeteries. 

Pre-trial Release Program

The purpose of the Pre-trial Release Program has three primary functions: to collect and analyze defendant information for use in determining risk, to make recommendations to the court concerning conditions of release, and to supervise defendants who are released from incarceration and given the privilege of being permitted to remain in society during the pretrial phase. 

Referrals 

The Harrison County Community Corrections Program acknowledges that community resources are vital to the success of our offenders. Therefore we refer offenders to licensed agencies within the community who can provide them with mental health, substance abuse treatment and other services based on each individual’s needs.

The Community Corrections program is under the guidance and direction of the Common Pleas Court General Division, by the authority of Judge T. Shawn Hervey.