Archive
Newsmakers: Tara S. Hockaday
Tara S. Hockaday is the director of the new Mineral County Community Corrections Program.
Q. What is the main purpose of the new Day Report Center in Mineral County?
A. The main purpose of the Community Corrections Program is to develop a program of counseling and instruction that addresses the participants’ needs while at the same time being allowed to give back to the community by performing community service.
Another important purpose of the program is to save the taxpayers of Mineral County money. Each inmate housed at the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail from Mineral County costs $48.50 a day. The average monthly jail bill over the past two years has been $34,000.
Q. Bring us up to date on the current status of the center. When did it officially open? How many offenders are you currently serving, and what is left to do in order to bring the center up to full speed?
A. The Community Corrections Program is under the direction of the Mineral County Criminal Justice Board. The board consists of people from various agencies in Mineral County.
The program accepted its first client on Nov. 29, 2006. To date, the program has had 17 people.
The classroom at the Day Report Center is being renovated now; we are turning an old jail cell in the Mineral County Holding Facility into a classroom. We want to hold as many classes as we can in-house instead of contracting out to various agencies. We have obtained permission from the commissioners to hire a counselor, which will hopefully start Tuesday. Once the counselor is on board, we will develop educational classes for the clients. They will also have group and individual counseling sessions at the center.
Other than that, some outside work will be completed in the spring.
Q. How does an offender get assigned to the Day Report Center?
A. Clients are sentenced to the DRC from a circuit court judge or magistrate. Normally before the court hearing, I am able to discuss the potential client with their attorney and the prosecuting attorney to determine whether the DRC suits the client’s needs. The offender must be willing to accept help and take responsibility for their criminal actions.
This program is an alternative to incarceration. The client can at any time choose to serve his or her sentence in the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail. Most clients choose to participate in the program; however, some clients in the other counties that I visited chose to return to jail, that they thought the program was too difficult. The program is a minimum of six months.
Q. What does it cost the offender for the privilege?
A. There is a $100 monthly fee for the program to cover the costs of drug tests, materials and supplies, etc.
Q. What happens if someone is assigned to the center and does not successfully fulfill the requirements?
A. If a client violates the program, he or she will return to the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail until such time a violation hearing can be conducted in the court where they were sentenced.
Q. What type of background are you bringing to your position as director of the center?
A. Before starting in Mineral County in September of 2006, I worked for the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, Alternative Sentencing Division, for eight years. I worked as a caseworker for their Home Detention and Community Service programs. I spent one year working as a correctional officer in the Allegany County Detention Center. I loved working in Allegany County, but when this opportunity came along to develop a Community Corrections Program, I could not pass it up. I miss everyone at the Sheriff’s Office, but do not regret my decision at all.
Q. What type of person do you feel is best helped by the services offered at the center?
A. I feel the person who benefits the best from our program is anyone that has a substance abuse problem and wants to accept responsibility for their criminal behavior. One has to want to change their life and be willing to accept help. With our program, the client can remain employed and/or become employed and take care of their family and their financial obligations, and still receive the treatment they need. If one were incarcerated, they would not be able to take care of their family’s needs.
If a client enters our program and does not have their high school diploma or GED, they must follow the steps to obtain one before being released from the program.
Our program is designed for only nonviolent offenders.
Q. What type of person is not necessarily a proper fit for the center?
A. We would not accept anyone who is categorized as a violent offender. Anyone that does not want to take responsibility for their criminal behavior would not benefit from our program.
Q. What types of services are currently offered at the center?
A. Up to now, the clients have been involved in GED classes from the Mineral County Vocational Center, drug and alcohol counseling from various agencies, AA/NA meetings and community service projects.
Q. What other types of services would you like to see offered at the center?
A. Once our counselor is hired, we are hoping to have an array of classes at the DRC. They include drug and alcohol educational classes, anger management, job placement skills, journal(iz)ing, parenting skills and a financial class.
The clients are required to attend weekly AA/NA meetings and provide verification of the meetings. Clients are also required to perform community service. If a client is unemployed, they must complete at least 28 hours of community service per week; if employed, they must complete at least eight hours each week.
Q. What is the most difficult problem you currently face at the center?
A. Drug addiction. All the clients thus far have had some form of substance abuse problem. That is why our program is so important to the court system. Putting these nonviolent clients in jail will not solve their drug addiction; it will just prolong the problem.
If someone can get into a routine of going to classes and meetings and doing community service, then they can obtain the ability to develop a work ethic. Once a client is addicted to a drug, it is a battle to change that lifestyle. Five out of the 17 clients we have had in our program have violated due to a positive drug test.
Since November, I can see a change in some of the clients, and if we can help those clients, then the judicial system has been successful.
Q.What is your vision for the center for the next year?
A.I recently prepared a grant to the West Virginia Criminal Justice Services requesting state funds to help enhance our programs. If we are successful with that grant, then we can offer more services to the court system.
Just last month, we received $50,000 from the Attorney General’s Office to help enhance our Community Corrections Program. Last year, Mineral County received $25,000 from the Attorney General and $15,000 from the State Community Corrections Fund to develop the program.
I want our program to offer as many options as possible to the court system. I am working towards a multicounty program to invite surrounding counties to join us in reducing the cost to provide corrections. I want to decrease the recidivism rate and successfully introduce the client back to the community.
Q.What about the next five years?
A.I really want to see our program help other counties as well. I have met with Grant County and they have agreed to support our program.
Every county has been affected by the growing jail bills. I want to help more organizations with the aid of the Community Service Program. Any nonprofit organization that would like to learn more about how our program can help them, please call me at (304) 788-0593.
