By JIM MEYER – Staff Writer
At one time, Venango County relied on the state probation board to administer cognitive behavioral classes to inmates. Now, the county probation board is depending on itself – licensing its own officers to provide the service in-house.
Probation Director Robert Daugherty said his department is partnering with the county’s human services to provide life skills programs to a class of 10 inmates.
The inmates, Daugherty said, were chosen based on a risk/needs assessment and are receiving training on basic decision-making and life skills to help them reintegrate successfully into society.
NCTI was founded in 1981 and specializes in behavioral therapy for criminal rehabilitation.
“They’re going into the jail and they’re conducting programs prior to these folks’ release,” said NCTI spokesperson Jeff Koenig. “Whether they are on probation or parole, hopefully they will be able to utilize these skills to stay away from drugs and violence.”
The curriculum makes use of a value discrepancy model, Koenig explained.
That experience, he said, has shown him that most people have good values, even if their behaviors don’t line up with those values.
“No matter who the person is, even if they’re in prison for horrible things, they have high values,” Koenig said. “They want to be good.”
After values are identified, the curriculum asks the inmate to identify how their own behavior can change to align with the values.
“Rather than going in and telling them what they should do, we have them coming up with what they should do,” Koenig said.
Another piece of the curriculum is a personality inventory, which determines a person’s temperament with a goal of helping inmates understand themselves and how to better interact with others.
Koenig emphasized the programs are designed to be modified to fit the risk and need of each inmate.
“You can’t do one-size-fits-all,” he said. “If you have someone who is a drug user, you don’t want to put him into a gang program because you will have crossover, meaning that at the end of the program you will have a new gang member.”
Shelley Tantlinger, a county probation officer who teaches the program at the Venango County jail, said, “I was scared to begin with. I’m not going to lie. I worked in Turning Point, but I never worked in a jail.”
During her first session, Tantlinger said she found her fears were unfounded.
Inmate Gregg Militello said the classes have helped him to better understand himself and his behaviors.
Militello, 47, is serving time for bad checks and previously served time in state and federal prisons.
An Army veteran diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, Militello said he has battled with drug and alcohol addiction throughout his life.
“With all the PTSD, I’ve never been social at all,” he said. “Now I’m wanting to be social and I want to be around positive people.”
Militello has a chance of parole in December and said he hopes to be a better father to his daughter as he moves forward.
“I ain’t getting time off for (the classes). I’m looking at it as it opens up another outlook on life itself,” Militello said. “It’s a calling for me to understand who I am and what I need to do. My daughter deserves better.”
