Orange County NC Website
8 <br /> COUNTY COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS PLAN <br /> PAGE ONE OF SECTION B- -PROGRAM DESIGN­AND IMPLEMENTATION <br /> 1. Describe in detail the following: <br /> a) Need for the proposed community-based corrections program; how the advisory <br /> board decided the program was needed; <br /> b) The problem statement; <br /> c) The target offender population, including specific data about the target <br /> population; <br /> d) How the program will address the problem, and; <br /> e) The services the program will provide. <br /> The Orange-Chatham Criminal Justice Partnership Advisory Board, following <br /> lengthy deliberation and data analysis, decided to propose two programs -- one designed <br /> for a pre-trial population and the other for persons who might be sentenced to <br /> intermediate sanctions and found by assessment to suffer from alcohol and/or drug <br /> addiction. Two issues dominated the discussions from the beginning of the planning <br /> process. The issues were that the Orange County jail is overcrowded and that substance <br /> abuse is a contributing factor to crime in both counties.. <br /> The problems associated with the development of the pre-trial program were: <br /> (a) Pre-trial detainees comprise 83-89% of the jail population in Orange and <br /> Chatham counties and contribute to overcrowding. <br /> (b) The Orange County jail population exceeds the facility's rated capacity <br /> (capacity is 71 and average population is 94). <br /> (c) Many inmates remain in jail on bonds of less than $1000 with data <br /> indicating the median bond for persons in jail is $500. <br /> (d) There is no formal mechanism for misdemeanants to receive a bond <br /> review. <br /> The advisory board decided to contract with a private, non-profit agency to <br /> provide a Pre-Trial Release Program. The purpose of such a program is to expedite pre- <br /> trial release of certain low-moderate risk offenders prior to trial; thereby relieving jail <br /> crowding and enhancing the management of that limited resource. Ten counties in <br /> North Carolina have existing programs including Durham, Wake, Forsyth and <br /> Mecklenburg counties. This program would target offenders who meet the following <br /> characteristics: <br /> (a) is a misdemeanant or felon of low to moderate risk to the community, <br /> (b) is unable to make secured bond, <br />