June 8, 2006

DOC’s New Day Report Center opens
in Rock County

Facility emphasizes structure to hold offenders accountable to rules of community supervision

 

BELOIT – As part of efforts to increase options to hold offenders accountable and enhance community safety, Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary Matt Frank today formally announced the opening of the agency’s new Day Report Center in Beloit. Secretary Frank toured the center, which recently completed remodeling work and was included in the 2005-07 biennial budget signed by Governor Jim Doyle.

 “The new Day Report Center provides enhanced accountability for offenders by adding structure to their day and monitoring their rehabilitation, thus improving the chances that they will succeed as law-abiding citizens in the community and reducing the chances that they will reoffend,” Secretary Frank said. “If we can prevent new crimes, we not only can make communities safer, but we also can save taxpayers future incarceration costs.”

 The DOC is investing close to $100,000 a year in the new center and the programming it will provide, along with an additional $89,500 in new, annual funding for domestic violence and alcohol and drug abuse (AODA) treatment.  The new center is one of a series of initiatives launched under the Doyle Administration to strengthen the supervision of offenders in the community. The center provides additional oversight of offenders beyond the regular, individual supervision they already receive from probation and parole agents.

 Programming at the Beloit facility is designed to assist participants who want to change the behaviors that led them to criminal activity in the past, thus promoting rehabilitation. In addition to AODA and domestic violence, programming at the Beloit Day Report Center will cover cognitive intervention, anger management and employment. More than 100 offenders will report to the center in a given week.

 “We’re extremely pleased to have the Day Report Center as an additional option available to agents to hold offenders accountable in the community,” Secretary Frank said. “Offenders who report to the center are expected to be present, on time and committed to completing their assigned programming in order to be successful. National research has found that these types of facilities are effective in holding offenders accountable and reducing recidivism rates.”

 The Beloit center is one of three new Day Report Centers opening during the two-year budget cycle: One in Kenosha opened earlier this year, and another in Milwaukee is in the planning stages. The DOC also operates Day Report Centers in Madison and Racine.  The Beloit facility is located in remodeled space adjacent to the DOC’s Division of Community Corrections office at 1146 Grant St. in Beloit.

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06/08/06