Forty graduates of the Tuolumne County Day Reporting Center were celebrated recently in a graduation ceremony, known as a transition celebration, for succesfully completing the DRC’s intensive reentry program.
The local newspaper The Union Democrat attended the ceremony, recapping the night in a great feature.
Nearly 100 people attended to honor the graduates in a celebration presided over by Crescencio Castaneda, district manager for GEO Reentry Services. Castaneda delivered the keynote speech, telling the graduates, “Don’t settle for being average. Average will not get you to a higher quality of life or a better tomorrow. Tonight, you are surrounded by above-average people.”
One graduate shared his experience with the The Union Democrat, crediting the program with changing his life. A drug user from the age of 8, the graduate said he’s now taking classes at Columbia College and has accumulated a 4.0 GPA.
Tuolumne County Chief Probation Officer Adele Arnold also called the DRC program a “shining star” since it opened following the passage of AB 109. “We’ve had career criminals who have gone through the program and remain in the community,” she told the paper.
The center provides evidence-based treatment and training designed to change thinking that can lead to criminal behavior and includes an assessment and planning phase, a treatment phase and an aftercare phase. Participants typically report to the program for six to eight months.