North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility, Lorain County, Ohio

Modeled after the Baltimore County facility, this facility opened in 2000. The new, 552 bed DUI prison houses 545 felony DUI offenders, defined as a fourth or subsequent offense in six years or vehicular homicide. The prison term includes a comprehensive assessment of each prisoner and has a strong emphasis on community service. The North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility is considered an intensive program prison (IPP). DUI offenders in the prison system are eligible to enter the IPP if they were sentenced to terms longer than the 60-day minimum and the sentencing judge approves of their placement. Three-fourths of IPP participants are admitted to the program within three months of admission to prison. Offenders accepted into the IPP have the opportunity to significantly reduce their prison time, since the IPP program lasts 90 days and the average sentence of an IPP offender is 14.7 months (Parks 2001). Successful completion of the program converts the offender’s sentence to time already served, and offenders are released to a 30-to 60-day immediate transitional detention in a halfway house (State of Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction 2003).

How Much Does the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility Cost?

According to the facility, daily costs per inmate are $62.58. The facility is privately operated with an annual operational budget of $12,841,962.

How Effective Is the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility?

Preliminary figures indicate IPP offenders have lower rates of DUI recidivism than non-participants. Data indicate 16.7 percent of the IPP participants were re-arrested after release compared with 36.6 percent of non-participant DUI offenders. The reason for most of the IPP participant re-arrests was parole violation as opposed to the non-participant group, 48.9 percent of whom were returned to prison for a new DUI offense.