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The concept of an assessment center was developed by the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) in 1998 as a method of providing a "step-down" process for male state inmates who have attained full-minimum status, which allows inmates to have unrestricted movement with hourly group supervision and housing off main prison grounds. Designed for relatively brief placement, inmates spend an average of 60 to 90 days in these secure settings. Throughout their stays, residents are allowed to have visits and receive telephone calls but are not permitted to leave the grounds, and furloughs are not granted under any circumstance. When inmates arrive at assessment centers, they no longer are addressed as inmates, rather, they are referred to as residents. While the difference in terms may be viewed as a question of semantics, the change serves as a constant reminder that those at assessment centers are one step away from release, but also one step away from prison.
Assessment centers were designed to provide residents with a comprehensive assessment of their needs and an orientation to a treatment regimen prior to their transition to a halfway house. They provide inmates with a master treatment plan and a comprehensive assessment that halfway house staff can use to assist residents as they plan for their immediate future in halfway houses. This experience orients residents to the treatment process so their transition to the halfway house is smoother than if directly transferred from the prison environment. In addition, the assessment center process evaluates inmates' current risk levels, thus high-risk residents about to be released into the community can be returned to prison. Assessment centers are a new concept and no pre-existing models were used for their development. At this time, all assessment centers are located in New Jersey with some potential expansion in other states.
New Jersey's First Assessment Centers
The first New Jersey assessment center, Talbot Hall, opened in 1998 in Kearny as a 500-bed facility. In March 1999, the Bo Robinson Assessment and Treatment Center in Trenton was transformed from a halfway house to a 320-- bed assessment and treatment center. Residents at Talbot Hall live at the facility for an average of 90 days, while Bo Robinson Center residents average a 60-day stay. The 30-- day...