Four times a year there is a very special meeting held on the 6th Floor of the Third Street Plaza Building in Williamsport. It has representatives from the Lycoming County’s district attorney’s office, adult and juvenile probation departments, the department of public safety, the prison, re-entry service, and Clinton-Lycoming Mental Health Joinder, among others. Chairing this impressive assembly is Court of Common Pleas Judge Nancy Butts.

It is named the Criminal Justice Task Force (CJTF), and it was established in September of 2002 designed to join county stakeholders in the courts, corrections, law enforcement, health and human service agencies, victim services agencies, and other community-based organizations to provide a forum for communicating critical issues and concerns. This collaborative effort is designed to evaluate, analyze, plan, and recommend action to assist key decision makers that would facilitate the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall system.

Of course, this might sound like just another feel-good, talk-talk kind of group gathering, but that is far from the truth. The work of the CJFT is seen in the shift from a retributive penal system to a rehabilitative one. Many counties in the commonwealth believe that criminals must first and foremost be punished for their offenses. Lycoming County has taken the approach that the best method is to address the causes of the offenses and thus prevent future crimes. Yes, to be sure, there are dangerous folks who need to be locked away, but the majority of law-breakers have behavioral patterns that need, or the pattern will lead to more law violations.

No better illustration of this can be found than the GEO Lycoming County Reentry Services. This was featured in this column two months ago (“A Solution that Works”), but space limitations prevented noting the incredible accomplishments of this work. Since many of those who choose this option over incarceration have alcohol or drug issues, they are tested every time they show up. If they show up at the door for any reason, they are given a breathalyzer test. In 2018, over 15,000 tests were administered, 99.6% of these came back negative. For those with substance abuse, 3,490 drug screens were administered, 85.3% were negative.

What is even more impressive is the employment rate increase. The County Landfill has offered opportunities for GEO participants to develop job skills, which allows them to become skill certified. In addition, the participants are placed in an employment readiness group in which they practice resume building, interviewing skills, and are given the opportunity to use the ACT Work Keys program to gather information on aptitude.

The results? In 2018, the average rate of employment at the beginning of the program was 17%. The average rate of employment upon completion of the program rose to 76%! This has been so impressive that the county’s efforts were recently recognized at a national conference in Boston on criminal justice.

Yet, GEO Reentry Services success is a county-wide success, as it involved the courts, district attorney’s office, the probation department, and the collaborative effort of the entire Criminal Justice Task Force. Lycoming County is making some positive strides against crime and doing it with groundwork done by hard work through teamwork.