With the addition of three new offices this summer, GEO Reentry Services and the Idaho Department of Correction have succeeded in establishing Connection and Intervention Stations in all seven of Idaho’s judicial districts.
Through this unique new reentry program, individuals referred by the IDOC undergo multi-phase evidence-based programming based on individualized behavior change plans. Participants also receive access to community resources for employment, education and housing; case management and counseling; and classes that encourage them to confront destructive beliefs and practice prosocial decision-making.
Whether a participant’s goal is to obtain their GED, maintain a healthy, drug-free lifestyle, improve their financial literacy or communication skills, secure a full-time job, or something else, CIS staff work with participants to create a personalized experience designed to address their criminogenic risks and needs.
“It’s really refreshing to focus on the participant as a person and being able to help facilitate the change for that individual and being able to spend that time with that person, and in that, helping create community safety by encouraging pro-social behavior and being productive members of society,” Lewiston CIS Program Manager Katie Morris told KLEW.
The first CIS were established in December 2020, when GEO Reentry Services teamed up with the Idaho Department of Correction to open offices in Boise, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Falls and Twin Falls. With the success of these four, IDOC opened new Lewiston, Pocatello and Nampa-Caldwell offices in July.
When choosing candidates to participate in the CIS program, IDOC District Manager for District Two Probation and Parole Summer Overberg told local news station KLEW that “our officers are looking at individuals who have high needs, likely are maybe struggling, and they need help getting back on track and avoid a parole violation or probation violation.”
Offenders typically spend six months in the CIS program. In-person services are delivered Monday through Saturday, along with technology-based programming and virtual services so participants across the state can access services remotely.
The CIS program is also a helpful resource for Idaho’s probation and parole officers, who are typically juggling caseloads of 65 to 70 offenders at a time. The program’s goal, said Jimmie Gentry, the IDOC District 6 manager told the Idaho State Journal, “is to both offer assistance to our probation and parole officers across the state and to provide support to our clients that are on probation or parole.” Another news outlet covered the opening of the Pocatello CIS office.
In addition to Idaho’s CIS program, GEO Reentry Services also operates non-residential programs, in-prison treatment services, and residential reentry centers for federal, state and local correctional agencies. GEO Reentry assists agencies with public safety efforts by combining research-based treatment and counseling services for incarcerated offenders, parolees, probationers and pretrial service defendants.