Carbon County Correctional Facility has been named a recipient of the 2016 Jail Overcrowding Best Practices award.

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein announced that the jail was selected as one of the winners in the small jail category for its community treatment program in the facility. The awards were announced Monday morning."It is a plus to show the residents who are complaining we aren't doing anything about the problems at the prison that we are making an effort and getting somewhere," Nothstein said, adding that the program was evaluated based on the approach, elements, expectations and goals and evaluations and sustainability of the approach.Sheriff Tony Harvilla, president of the prison board, thanked Jamie Drake, acting executive director at Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission, for her efforts in the application portion of the award and working with the board to get this program implemented.The cost, $54,000, is taken from the Carbon County Correctional Facility Commissary Fund."This goes a long way to improving corrections and is a really good foundation for programs like re-entry to get started," he said.County Controller Robert Crampsie said that the fact that the program is not costing the taxpayers is a plus."The money is coming from the commissary fund, so it's like inmates helping inmates," he said. "I think we all realized that we were lacking in providing treatment here and wanted to do something about it."The community treatment program was started in January 2015 at no cost to the taxpayers as a result of a growing epidemic of addictions in people being sentenced to jail time."Over 50 percent of the individuals served through the Functional Treatment Unit of Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission, Single County Authority are involved in the criminal justice system," the program outline states. "Due to the nature of their addiction many of these individuals continue to commit crimes to support their daily use of substances. ... Prior to January 2015 there were no treatment services to these individuals without interruption in order to achieve the best possible outcome for the individuals and the system as a whole."The prison implemented the program, which brings in a full-time counselor to provide both one-on-one and group based treatment services to help inmates while incarcerated, set them up with medical assistance through the MA Jail Pilot Program and then transition them to continuing outside treatment options once they leave incarceration.This method provides seamless transitions to give individuals the steppingstones needs to overcome addiction, county officials said, noting that this is possible through collaborative efforts between the prison, county commissioners, Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission, Blue Mountain Health System, county assistance office, the courts, Carbon County Criminal Justice Advisory Board, adult probation office and the newly-formed Re-entry Coalition."In the first year of the program, there were 77 active unique cases in outpatient or intensive outpatient in the jail setting," the program evaluation states, adding that of those who were enrolled in the program, 37 were female and 40 were male.Of that, 47 clients transferred from the correctional facility to the community based office for continuing treatment after incarceration and 48 percent are either still active in treatment or have completed their aftercare services.Looking forward, the program is looking at ways to increase the number of clients that can be served because there is currently a waiting list. One possibility is adding a second counselor in the future to meet the need.Nothstein said that the county will officially receive the award during a presentation at State College in June.