COUNTY GOVERNMENT

CORRECTIONS

     Barnes Hall (Juvenile Detention Center) — Barnes Hall, which opened in 1963, is a licensed 23-bed secure facility used to detain youth from ages 10 to 18 until their release by the Court. A referral to Barnes Hall is made by either a judge or a juvenile probation and parole officer, and only after it is determined that less secure alternatives pose a risk of flight or danger to the child or community. Some 7,500 youngsters have stayed at Barnes Hall since its opening. The center is administered by a board made up of the county commissioners, the controller, and the sheriff, and by a director appointed by the commissioners. The center offers the following services: a 12-month education program provided by I.U. 13, individual and group counseling by a staff therapist, spiritual counseling and services by the center’s chaplain, medical services by a staff physician and nurse, a weekly family support program, recreation, and visitations with parents/legal guardians and grandparents. The Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center is scheduled to replace Barnes Hall in 2002. Telephone: 299-7821; Fax 295-5921; Website: www.co.lancaster.pa.us

     Lancaster County Prison — The Lancaster County prison is administered by the prison board and a warden appointed by the commissioners. By law, the board is made up of the county commissioners, a judge, the district attorney, the sheriff, and the controller. Prison programs include: the outmate program, which allows persons approved by the court to leave prison during the day to work at their regular jobs or, through the community service program, to provide free labor to the community, and in 2000 some 9000 hours of service were provided; the prison drug and alcohol education unit; the inmate trustee program, which supplies workers within the prison; and the school program, with a focus on GED attainment — 56 inmates completed their GED in 2000 —  and continuing high school education for those under 21.

Seminars are held on parenting and health issues and on such subjects as domestic violence, and a fatherhood initiative, started in 1999, focuses on the father and his role in the family and his impact on his children.

     Prison chaplains provide spiritual counseling and the prison has added a second mental health counselor to help individuals with decision making as well as anger and stress management. A new program, Transition to Community, was developed in 2000, with faith-based groups and churches assisting inmates and serving as mentors and providing a support system for those released from prison. In addition, the prison has established a housing area for those inmates taking part in educational and motivational programs.

     In 1991, the prison board developed the Intermediate Punishment Program which provides alternatives to incarceration, such electronic monitoring and intensive supervision. The prison’s Cost Recovery Program, established in 1995, requires those sentenced to serve time at the prison to pay $10 a day toward their living costs and to be accountable for medical services received.

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