Sheriff’s Home in Transition

Sheriff’s Home in Transition; Halfway house on jail grounds gains support Worcester County Sheriff Guy W. Glodis remains committed to his campaign promise to turn the former sheriff’s residence at the Worcester County House of Correction in West Boylston into a halfway house for inmates. Saying he has refused the housing benefit that goes with the job of sheriff, he plans to transform the five-bedroom house on jail property into a 12-15 bed transitional program called “Almost Home.” The home would be modeled after and run by Worcester’s Dismas House, and it would be a “first step” program to reintegrate parolees and former inmates into the community. Sheriff Glodis said his office has been working with Dismas House, the Massachusetts Parole Board and the Executive Office of Public Safety to make the program a reality within the next year, ideally by this summer. The main hurdle is funding, both to support the program and to rehabilitate the house. “To physically convert the house will cost about $150,000 to $200,000,” Sheriff Glodis said. He said his office and Dismas House are “actively and aggressively pursuing different funding,” including federal grants, discretionary funds out of the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and funding from the Massachusetts Parole Board. “It will be run by an outside agency, at no cost to the taxpayers of Worcester County,” he said. “The only thing that might come out of my budget will be some operational costs.” David McMahon and Colleen Hilferty are co-directors of Dismas House. Ms. Hilferty said the Parole Board is “keenly interested” in supporting a re-entry program in Worcester. She said she hopes the board will provide substantial funds to help get the program running for its first year. She estimated the yearly cost of running Almost Home at $200,000. She said Dismas House has already received private grants from the Stoddard Charitable Trust and the Russell Fuller Foundation.. The program will be similar to Dismas House, which provides transitional housing, substance abuse counseling and job and housing services to former inmates, with the goal of reducing recidivism. “Massachusetts’ recidivism rates are on par with the national rates, but that’s not a good thing,” Ms. Hilferty said. “Sixty-two to 65 percent of released prisoners will be re-arrested within three years.” Dismas House has proved successful in reversing those rates for the former inmates who go through its program. Former inmates stay at Dismas House an average of six to nine months, and of those that graduate from the program, 69 percent to 75 percent will stay out of jail, Ms. Hilferty said. Sheriff Glodis said Almost Home is part of his goal to tackle recidivism rates by applying the Dismas model. “Some inmates don’t have a place to live when they get out, and many of them have substance abuse problems,” Mr. Glodis said. Ms. Hilferty said Almost Home, like Dismas House, would target parolees or inmates finishing their sentences who may not have had substance abuse or alcohol treatment on the streets or in jail. The Almost Home program will differ from Dismas House in its intensity. Considered a “first step” program that will last three months, the transitional home would be staffed 24 hours a day. Each resident will be required to participate in daily vocational training, substance abuse treatment, individual therapy and training for educational and life skills.