West Central Executive Director David Ervin is pictured sitting in the family room of the women’s wing at West Central Community Correctional Facility. After 25 years at the helm of the facility, Ervin is retiring. (Journal-Tribune photo by Kayleen Petrovia)
When David Ervin first arrived at the site of West Central, it may have been difficult to envision a Community Based Correctional Facility that would one day graduate over 7,000 incarcerated men and women from its program.
Especially difficult because, on that day in 1996, the 11.2-acre piece of land on Route 4 was only a soybean field.
Ervin, though, saw it for exactly what it would become: a place where people would find second chances.
“I truly believe each offender can change,” Ervin said.
After 25 years at the helm, Executive Director David Ervin is retiring from his position at West Central Community Correctional Facility.
“Starting a program from the ground up is quite a challenge, but I did it with the help of many others,” Ervin said.
West Central is an alternative correctional facility that offers rehabilitative treatment for non-violent offenders in eight counties: Champaign, Clark, Delaware, Logan, Madison, Marion, Morrow and Union.
Incarcerated men and women at West Central generally participate in a four- to six-month program in lieu of serving prison time, Ervin explained.
Its programming incorporates cognitive-behavioral therapy, individual mental health services, educational and employment opportunities and vocational training.
West Central also offers re-entry services, such as medication-assisted treatment, to help graduates return to the community.
Ervin has spent nearly 50 years working in the criminal justice system, beginning as a parole officer in Dayton. He later became a probation officer in Xenia before he was promoted to director of the area’s Adult Probation Department.
He later worked at the MonDay Community Correctional Institution in Montgomery County, where he managed women’s programming before becoming the facility’s program manager.
Ervin said his experience there provided an opportunity to see the impact of a structured environment in which offenders learned how to “think, behave, communicate and live in a pro-social way.”
“I fell in love with this concept,” he said of Community Based Correctional Facilities.
Ervin was hired in 1996 by the Judicial Corrections Board, consisting of judges from the eight counties West Central serves, to bring the concept to Union County.
He said he had “a lot to learn” because he had never built a facility.
With the guidance of other CBCF directors with experience constructing their buildings, Ervin planned a facility “conducive to the program.”
He noted that the design is not reminiscent of a typical jail, as West Central is a minimum-security building with “no bars, no cells.” Instead, residents live in dormitories and spend much of their time in communal spaces or classrooms.
Ervin said the building took three years to construct – during which staff was planning for everything that would happen within it.
Aside from the actual programming West Central residents would participate in, Ervin said he and his staff needed to create plans for meal service, security, clinical operations and educational offerings.
“Everything had to be created from nothing,” Ervin said.
The facility opened to its first 16 male residents on Oct. 19, 1999.
While “it was pretty exciting,” Ervin said one of his favorite memories came before the actual opening.
Ervin said his career in the criminal justice system was led by his faith and he wanted his work at West Central to be “God’s work.”
“At the end of day, the reason I’m doing what I do is because God sent me here to do this work,” he said.
Upon the building’s completion, prior to welcoming residents, hundreds of people gathered at the facility to tour it and pray in every room for the work that would be done there, Ervin said. The same thing was done before the women’s wing of West Central was opened in 2007.
“It was a really good day,” Ervin said.
He said it is just one example of the commitment of those involved at West Central over the past 25 years.
“I can’t say enough about this whole community and what it means to West Central,” Ervin said.
He said he feels blessed to have worked with judges and county commissioners who “believed people deserve another chance – a second chance, or a third chance.”
Ervin also emphasized the dedication of professionals who work at West Central, including individuals who were formerly incarcerated there, graduated from its programming and now work to help others do so.
“I didn’t do all of this myself,” Ervin said.
He said all those who have worked at or with West Central have shared the same philosophy of doing work to the best of their ability.
“If you’re not going to do the right thing, you should not do it,” Ervin said, adding that staff never took shortcuts at West Central.
Their dedication has not gone unnoticed.
West Central received the Clifford Skeen Award in 2018, a recognition of excellence in community corrections from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Ervin himself was also awarded the Dr. Bennett J. Cooper Award in 2019 from the Ohio Justice Alliance for Community Corrections, an award that honors “a lifetime commitment to the improvement of community,” according to OJACC.
Still, Ervin emphasized that he does not feel West Central is dependent on him.
He said he is confident in future leadership, which will guide the facility through its current expansion project.
Deputy Director Craig Shumaker will assume the role of director on Jan. 3, 2022. Lori Penrod, currently the facility’s accreditation manager, will take over as operations director and Scott Zwiezinski, West Central’s court services director, will become the facility’s program director.
“I’m handing this off to three people who are going to do an awesome job,” Ervin said.
While Ervin said it will be difficult for him to walk away, he said the reality is “you can’t work forever.”
“I love this place,” Ervin said. “I love what I do.”
Even so, he said he is looking forward to spending more time with his wife and children upon his retirement.
“Initially, I don’t plan to do much,” Ervin said.
He said he hopes to visit West Central occasionally, as he will particularly miss the “kind and humbling people” he has been surrounded by throughout his career.
In the meantime, though, he said he can step away feeling proud of the lives that have been changed at West Central over the past 25 years.
“I’m proud of the fact that I could make a difference… and we could give our people hope,” Ervin said.