The Fulton Community Supervision has seen great results since it launched a year ago, District Administrator Shannon Kimsey said.
"We define success as no (probation or parole) violations and no new charges after graduation," Kimsey said Thursday while addressing the Community Resource Network. "I'd say between 75-80 percent of our graduates have had no new charges or violations. We've had a couple who have relapsed, but they knew what they had to do to fix it, and they did."
The 42-bed Fulton CSC is the only Missouri CSC that accepts women. Operated by the Missouri Department of Corrections, the center offers a 120-day, four-phase program tailored to meet each resident's assessed needs, tackle intensive employment-readiness prep work, provide on-site substance use disorder services and much more, according to officials. The program targets women at risk of going to or returning to jail due to probation or parole violations.
Participating in the program is technically voluntary: The women aren't locked in, and they can leave at any time. However, doing so is treated as a probation/parole violation, and a warrant will be issued for their arrest.
"We are holding them accountable if they're not doing right," Kimsey said.
The DOC founded the program after realizing Missouri's recidivism rate among women was the highest in the nation.
"When you become No. 1 in that area, that's not a good idea," Kimsey said.
She said the program has found success by targeting factors that tend to disproportionately affect incarcerated women, especially trauma.
"Bluntly, men are usually a big part of why they go to prison," she said. "These women have been sexually, physically and emotionally abused. That's not an excuse to offend, but if you don't deal with those issues they're going to do the same thing again."
While 120 days isn't nearly enough, Kimsey and other program officials have worked to pack those days with counseling, classes and more designed to help participating women reboot their lives. The center offers a variety of structured programming Monday through Friday.
"We want to get them started thinking, No. 1, that I am valuable," she said. "Getting them to that place is very hard."
They've done so by partnering with community nonprofits and other groups to provide programming. The Center for Women's Ministries is one such partner. CWM Regional Director Jewel Holt started a group sharing session that quickly proved popular. Since then, she has introduced two more classes: "Making Peace with your Past" and "Recovering from the Losses of Life."
"It's been awesome," Holt said. "In six weeks, I've seen dramatic changes. They're forming support for each other. They're walking away from things they used to take part in or even start."
Her students are even recruiting additional participants, she said.
Women also take cooking classes at Central Christian Church. CSC employee Carl Bimm said cooking class is particularly popular - many of the women never learned basic life skills, such as how to cook, keep a budget or even load a washing machine.
"It smells amazing," said Nancy Hanson, who attends Central Christian Church.
Kimsey said the CSC is currently seeking more community partners. That includes organizations or individuals that can offer classes and nonprofits that need a helping hand.
"If you have a community service you help with, these ladies love to work; they love to give back," Kimsey said. "They might smoke - because they're not allowed to smoke (at the CSC) - but that's the worst I've heard."
So far, they have volunteered for The Salvation Army, CARDV and SERVE, Inc., she added. She'll make sure volunteers conform to any requirements the nonprofit might have.
Kimsey can be reached at 573-592-4061.