Immediate Release
October 8, 2009
Batavia, Ohio. The Clermont County Common Pleas Court Adult Probation Department has received the Clifford Skeen Award, presented by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The award recognizes the department for operating the “outstanding non-residential community corrections program in the State of Ohio for fiscal year 2009.” The Clermont program was selected as the Skeen Award Winner from 47 community corrections programs across the state. Clermont County Common Pleas Administrative Judge William Walker accepted the award during the Ohio Justice Alliance for Community Corrections conference in Columbus on October 1, 2009.
The Clifford Skeen Award is presented in honor of the late, eight-term Ohio Representative, who sponsored the Community Corrections Act passed by the Ohio Legislature in July 1979. The purpose of the act is to reduce the number of non-dangerous offenders being sent to state prisons.
“We are honored to have been selected for this award,” said Clermont Common Pleas Court Judge William Walker. “This program has been quite effective in reducing recidivism and is helping many individuals turn their lives around. As a result of the program, 67 offenders are successfully diverted from prison each year, resulting in a cost savings to citizens of around $1,474,000.”
In Clermont County, Common Pleas Court Judges refer probationers to three components within the Adult Probation Department Prison Diversion Program – The Intensive Supervision Program, The Success Through Employment Program (STEP), and the Aftercare Recovery Group. The program is designed to protect the community, facilitate reparation to victims, and reduce recidivism by assisting probationers as they move through the stages of positive behavior change.
Pictured above: Bruce Gibson, Bill Epeards, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) Director Terry J. Collins, ODRC Deputy Director Linda S. Janes, Judge William Walker, Anne Zimmerman, Mary Brock, Nick Gescheider, John Sheshull, and ODRC Assistant Director Ernie Moore
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For additional information about this or other county news, contact Clermont County Communications Director Kathryn Lehr at (513) 732-7597 or by e-mail, klehr@co.clermont.oh.us.