Luzerne County renews day reporting center contract

Luzerne County will continue using a Wilkes-Barre day reporting center for qualifying offenders, county council unanimously decided this week.

Run by GEO Reentry Services, the county launched the day reporting program in 2010 to reduce county prison costs, overcrowding and inmate recidivism.

County Correctional Services Division Head James Wilbur told council the company’s contract had expired the end of 2022, and he discovered the contract renewal was never addressed before he started as prison overseer March 1.

GEO also provides a drug and alcohol program at the county prison on Water Street and nearby minimum offenders building on Reichard Street, Wilbur said.

The newly approved amendment will continue both services through 2025 and cost the county approximately $1.1 million annually, officials said.

The reentry service center is housed in a commercial property at 125 N. Wilkes-Barre Blvd.

It helps the county because participating offenders don’t have to be locked up at a higher cost as long as they complete customized programs and pass regular drug and alcohol tests.

An average 47 offenders participate in the reentry program each month, Wilbur said.

In this range, the county’s daily cost per participant is $48.19 and would increase to $48.91 in 2025, the county said. To compare, the county spends more than $100 per day for each inmate lodged in the prison, officials said.

County Councilman Tim McGinley said the day reporting center has provided “major savings” to the county for more than a decade because the county does not have to pay to house, feed and provide medical coverage to participants.

GEO Reentry does not use boilerplate programs and tailors treatment to individual risks and needs, the company’s area manager John Hogan said Wednesday.

“We’re teaching people to deal with some of the issues that have gotten them into the criminal justice system,” he said.

That includes role playing so participants can practice and talk through how they will respond when they encounter difficult situations, Hogan said.

Studies have consistently shown a large portion of reentry program graduates remain crime-free, he said.

Group and individual sessions also focus on anger management, parenting, life skills, employment readiness, financial budgeting and evidence-based treatment designed to change criminal thinking and behavior.

Other actions

Council also unanimously voted Tuesday to help boost the reserve fund with a deposit of $260,845 from a dividend the county received as a participant of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Trust.

The county’s budget reserve for unforeseen emergencies had been $1.23 million last year, but a council majority had reduced the 2023 reserve to $245,000 to help keep the real estate tax increase below 3%. Earlier this year, council increased the reserve by transferring $109,602 in state reimbursement related to a special election.

With approval of the latest transfer, the reserve is now more than $615,000.

Council approval is necessary for any departments to access reserve funds.

Council also unanimously voted Tuesday to seek a $2.75 million multimodal transportation fund grant from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority for the construction of bike lanes and roadway improvements on 4.1 miles of county-owned Honey Hole Road in Butler and Dennison townships.

The work would include base repairs and stormwater improvements, including pipe replacements.

No match would be required if the county is successful, said county Engineer Lawrence Plesh.

Plesh told council the county is focusing on Honey Hole Road because it was unsuccessful in two prior applications for a multimodal grant to address Ransom Road in Dallas and Franklin townships, he said.

Honey Hole Road “begs the need for the proposed bike lanes” because it provides access to Nescopeck State Park, the agenda said.