Pictured above, four West Central Community Correctional Facility residents, in white shirts, help crew a hot air balloon during a television interview at the 2016 All Ohio Balloon Fest. Residents of the facility have donated 1.6 million hours of service to the community since it opened in 1999. (All Ohio Balloon Fest photo)
As part of their journey to rehabilitation, many West Central residents take time to serve their community.
As of Dec. 2019, West Central Community Correctional Facility Executive Director David Ervin said over 1,630,449 hours of community service have been completed by residents since the facility opened in October of 1999.
“Most, if not all, have been completed locally,” he wrote in a letter to the Journal-Tribune.
West Central is a minimum security, Community Based Correctional Facility (CBCF) located in Marysville.
It is designed to provide “a local alternative to prison with the primary purpose of rehabilitation for non-violent male and female felony offenders,” according to documents from the organization.
Much of the organization’s programming is geared toward preparing residents to reenter the community, Ervin said.
Specifically, many programs help residents develop and improve social skills.
One that many residents participate in is the community service program.
He said community service allows residents to go into the community they live in and practice social skills they’ve learned at West Central.
“For many, working with our partners is the first pro-social working experience they have been able to perform,” Ervin stated.
Being able to get involved through service in the community they eventually hope to rejoin is “extremely beneficial,” Ervin said.
He said a variety of local organizations partner with West Central to provide residents with community service opportunities.
These include churches, the Hope Center, Canine Collective, Union County Humane Society, Union County Joint Recreation Department, Wings Support and Recovery, the City of Marysville and Community and Seasoned Citizens.
Ervin said the community service sites typically initiate the partnership by reaching out to West Central.
Once a site is identified, he said the organization is invited to an orientation. During the orientation, West Central staff explains the community service program, provides information regarding rules and leads a tour.
Most importantly, Ervin said, the community service contract is reviewed by the participating organization.
“Residents have strict rules they each must follow while out of our building on community service,” he stated. “Each site must agree to follow the rules, as well.”
After the contract is signed by both parties, West Central schedules days and times for the activities.
West Central’s current capacity is 150 residents – 100 male and 50 female.
Each resident is referred to West Central by one of the Common Pleas Courts it serves, Ervin said. The courts include those in Champaign, Clark, Delaware, Logan, Madison, Marion, Morrow and Union counties.
Ervin said residents serve a maximum of 180 days.
Typically, residents are able to participate in the community service program about halfway through their time at West Central – sometime between their 90th and 120th days in the program, Ervin said.
He said those who are eligible to participate must have demonstrated a “level of success” in the program.
Ervin said residents are not able to participate in community service if they have “struggled with the program and are not completing the necessary benchmarks.”
Regardless, community service is only one of the many programs that pave the way for West Central residents to continue helping their community upon reentry.
“We are here to assist residents in their journey to make the changes necessary to live a productive, sober, pro-social life,” according to documents from the organization.