April 5, 2006                                                                            Contact: John Dipko (608) 240-5060

For Immediate Release                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

DOC’s new Day Report Center opens in Kenosha

Facility provides structure and programming to hold offenders accountable and reduce recidivism

KENOSHA – The Department of Corrections (DOC) new Day Report Center in Kenosha will

promote safety in the community by providing a single site for offenders being supervised by the

Department to be closely monitored while they access important programming needs, DOC Secretary

Matt Frank said today.

“The Day Report Center enhances the Department’s ability to hold offenders accountable in a

structured environment in the community, while providing them with opportunities for treatment and

other programs to reduce the risk of recidivism,” Secretary Frank said following a visit to the new

center. “The center will provide an option for probation and parole agents to hold non-violent

offenders who violate the conditions of their supervision accountable without necessarily revoking

them back to prison, saving $26,200 a year in per-inmate prison costs.”

The Day Report Center is located at Genesis Behavioral Services Inc. at 1213 55th St., as part of a

partnership between DOC and Genesis. Under the 2005-07 budget signed by Governor Jim Doyle,

the Day Report Center was made possible through an additional $70,250 per year, totaling more

than $200,000 in services spent annually in Kenosha County with Genesis. DOC estimates up to

700 offenders will be served each year at the Day Report Center, including about 100 as an

alternative to revocation.

The 2005-07 budget, passed with bipartisan support by the state Legislature, also includes new Day

Report Centers in Beloit and Milwaukee, both of which are in the planning stages.

National research has found such centers to be effective tools to hold offenders accountable and

reduce recidivism rates. The DOC already has had success with centers in Dane and Racine counties.

Limited programming at the Day Report Center in Kenosha began in early March.

 

“Through these centers, agents can connect offenders on supervision with treatment and other services

to increase the number of offenders who turn away from crime and become law-abiding citizens,”

Secretary Frank said. “This is part of the new direction in corrections policy set forth under the Doyle

Administration, a direction that stresses not just accountability and punishment, but also treatment and

prevention.”

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