THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 19, 1994 TAG: 9409190049
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 141 lines
For the past 17 years a pre-release center for 40 state and federal prisoners and probationers has quietly cast its shadow in the fashionable Ghent section of the city.
The house, designed to help men and women make the transition from prison to the working world, has existed in that area without controversy.
``Many people aren't aware it's there,'' said Christy Gallatin, director of Rehabilitation Services Inc., a private company that operates the Norfolk house. ``We've never had a problem in the community with a resident committing a crime.''
But in Chesapeake, residents have begun fighting a proposal for a community correctional facility nearly 10 times the size of the Norfolk house.
The proposed 396-bed pre-release center wouldn't be likely to blend in to the sparsely populated section of Bowers Hill like the two-story apartment building does in the populated section of Norfolk.
Residents believe they are going to be ``guinea pigs'' for a large facility. They see it as a hard-to-control cross between a minimum security prison and a halfway house, said Michael Brown, president of the Sunray Farmers Association in Bowers Hill.
Folks fear the facility will bring crime to their neighborhood.
When state corrections officials first proposed the idea of privately run community correctional facilities, they wanted to build more houses like the one in Norfolk but on a larger scale. State officials pushed for 150-bed facilities, said Michael Leininger, the legislative liaison for the state Department of Corrections.
But private companies proposed community correctional facilities that would house as many as 300 to 400 inmates who were set to be released from prison or who had violated the rules of their probation. The larger the facility, the more lucrative they are for the private operators, Leininger said.
In many ways, the two-story house in Norfolk is similar to the community correctional facility proposed for Chesapeake.
The facility in Norfolk is one of the most unusual in the state. Both state and federal prisoners are housed there shortly before being paroled. Some who have violated their probation are also accepted.
A portion of the building is dedicated to a women's dormitory with room for 12 female clients, which is rare, Gallatin said.
Gallatin said they have had a varied population, including an oral surgeon, several lawyers and drug dealers. Only nonviolent offenders are accepted.
``If there ever is any trouble the owners and managers are liable, so we have to be very careful about who we accept,'' Gallatin said.
In her five years at the Norfolk house, Gallatin said, occasionally a resident will sign out and not come back. One resident was caught shoplifting miles away in Virginia Beach - he was one of two people to be rearrested and taken back to prison since Gallatin became director.
``We have a good commitment from the state and feds to take care of anyone who would be a disruption,'' she said.
If the residents don't comply with the rules of the house, Gallatin said, they will be picked up within 48 hours and taken back to prison.
The brick house, painted pink and trimmed in white, sits on West 20th Street between The Palace Shops and the back edge of Maury High School. A day-care center is nearby. The nearby business people say they never have had any problems with the halfway house.
Unless residents work a night shift, they must be in by 10 p.m. Most residents come and go during the day, monitored only by buzzers at each of the doors. Residents are required to sign themselves in and out to go to work or to hunt for jobs. Administrators and counselors often will call to insure that the residents are where they should be.
The residents have a lot of freedom - an adjustment for most of the former prisoners. Their stay allows them a much slower, more orderly integration into the community.
On Friday, Randolph Wright left the Norfolk house after a three-month stay. The 23-year-old packed up his dormitory-style room and said goodbye to a few of the other residents. He was on his way to his own one-bedroom apartment off Little Creek Road in Norfolk.
Wright, who was convicted of drug charges, was sent to the home after he violated his probation. While at the home, Wright saved money from his job as a dishwasher at La Galleria and met other personal goals and responsibilities.
``It's a good program if you want to do better for yourself,'' Wright said. ``There's no real reason for people to be afraid of this house.''
Before they move out of the house, residents are required to save money, to meet personal and professional goals. While living in the facility most residents develop a routine of going to work, doing household chores and participating in recreational activities outside the home.
They also receive a variety of counseling, depending on their needs. Some residents receive substance-abuse counseling, while others meet only to set and discuss goals. Some are given lessons on budgeting.
Sandra Welch, a 27-year-old single mother, was unhappy when she heard the proposed facility has stirred controversy in Chesapeake.
``I think it's a great idea,'' Welch said. ``It will decrease the number of inmates in jail. It's a better environment and it gives a better outlook on life.''
Welch speaks from experience, as a resident of the Norfolk house for the past month she avoided going to jail after ``getting mixed up with the wrong crowd.'' She has since found a job and has been able to save a little money. She meets with a counselor on a regular basis, where she talks about her goals.
Her priority is to get out of the house within three months and to find a place for herself and her 15-month-old daughter, Unica, to live together.
Welch is working at a minimum-wage job while she takes classes to earn her general education diploma. She hopes to find a higher-paying job so she can support herself and her daughter.
``You have to have goals - something to look forward to,'' Welch said. ``I ILLUSTRATION: The privately operated house, run by Rehabilitation Services
Inc., sits on 20th Street at Llewellyn Avenue in Ghent.
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Randolph Wright, 23, reflects in his room at the Norfolk facility a
few moments before he was released after a three-month stay.
Wright heads out the door of the halfway house after saying goodbye
to a few of the other residents. He had been sent to the home after
he violated his probation.
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Sandra Welch, 27, has resided at the halfway house in Norfolk's
Ghent section for a month. She has found a job and has been able to
save a little money. She also is taking classes to earn her general
education diploma. ``You have to have goals - something to look
forward to,'' Welch says. ``I have a lot of determination.''
Christy Gallatin is director of Rehabilitation Services Inc., a
private company that operates the Norfolk halfway house. Only
nonviolent offenders are accepted at the facility.
KEYWORDS: HALFWAY HOUSE PRISONERS by CNB