SUSSEX COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS CENTER
Route 6, Box 700
Georgetown, DE 19947
(302) 856-5790
WARDEN: Bill Oettel
DEPUTY WARDEN: David Wilkinson
The Sussex Community Corrections Center (SCCC) consists of two buildings and five programs. These programs are:
- The Crest Substance Abuse Treatment Program
- The Sussex Work Release Center
- Home Confinement Program
- Supervised Custody Program
- Sussex Violation of Probation Center
The Sussex Community Corrections Center is located in Georgetown, Delaware. Each facility and program is classified as Level IV (4). Sussex currently accommodates male and female offenders in each of its programs.
The Crest Program at Sussex is one of four Crest programs in the State. Crest is the second part of Delaware's internationally recognized three-step drug treatment continuum. KEY is the first phase. Aftercare is the third phase. At Sussex, the program is called Crest-South. It is a residential treatment program for drug and alcohol abusers. It is based on the concept of a therapeutic community - a total treatment environment - for offenders with a history of substance abuse. The Crest program is a 6-month program. For the first three months of the Crest program, resident/offenders are not permitted to leave the facility until they have successfully completed this period of the program. Offenders are immersed in substance abuse treatment, therapy and counseling. Security personnel escort them to off-site court appearances and medical appointments. During the second three months of the program, resident/offenders are permitted to leave the building unescorted to job seek, work, travel to outside medical appointments or to attend court appearances. Treatment continues through this second three-month phase. The Crest-South program at Sussex accommodates offenders for the entire six months of the program.
There are different ways in which an offender can come to be in the Crest-South program. Many residents come to the Crest program after completing the KEY program at Howard R. Young Correctional Institution prison, the Sussex Correctional Institution or the Webb Correctional Facility or the KEY Village program at the Baylor Women's Correctional Institution. They have either been ordered by a court to participate in the Crest program or classified to the program by Department of Correction officials.
Offenders go through several phases of treatment during their time at Crest:
- Entry, evaluation, orientation: offenders become acclimated to life outside prison.
- Primary: counselors and offenders explore the weaknesses of individual offenders and prepare appropriate responses to minimize the likelihood of relapse.
- Job-seeking: offenders develop job seeking and interview skills.
- Work release: offenders maintain residence at Sussex (Crest) while working in the community.
Sussex offers other treatment and programs to supplement the Crest program. These programs include the James H. Groves Adult Education program that helps offenders to earn their GED, Bible study, parenting classes, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
SUSSEX WORK RELEASE CENTER
The Work Release Program is a transition program for offenders who are preparing to live in the community full-time. Work release is a program in which offenders job seek, work, attend outside medical appointments and participate in any mandated treatment programs. Offenders return to the facility at night to sleep. An offender can be ordered by a court to participate in work release or can be classified to the program by Department of Correction officials. Some offenders come to work release after a prison stay. Some come directly from the community. Offenders normally stay in work release less than one year with the average stay of four to six months. Work release offenders typically work for private employers and participate in treatment and educational programs. Department officials must approve employers. Random substance abuse testing is mandatory for all offenders and continues throughout their stay at SWRC. Offenders must display pro-social behaviors such as honesty, responsibility, and accountability. While employed full-time, offenders must pay a $25 a week room & board fee and pay $25 toward any court obligations that have been imposed.
The Home Confinement Program allows offenders to live at home full-time. Individuals wear battery-powered ankle bracelets. A monitoring device is connected to the individual's telephone. It reports each time an offender enters or leaves his or her residence. Offenders must agree to several rules and regulations for participation in the Home Confinement program. Some of these rules include prior DOC approval of a host residence, not leaving the residence for any purpose other than work, treatment or a visit to his/her Probation Officer. Individuals are permitted a two hour free period for approved activities.
The Supervised Custody Program is responsible for supervising offenders that have been approved to finish serving their Level V (5) sentence in the community. Offenders must agree to several rules and regulations prior to placement in the Supervised Custody Program. These could include attending meetings with a Probation Officer, adherence to a curfew and participation in substance abuse treatment or other appropriate counseling.
SUSSEX VIOLATION OF PROBATION CENTER
Route 6, Box 700
Georgetown, DE 19947
(302) 856-5790
Warden: Bill Oettel
The Sussex Violation of Probation Center(SVOP) is a 250-bed Level IV (4) facility in Georgetown, Delaware. SVOP opened in November 1999. SVOP currently houses male and female offenders. Male and female offenders are segregated.
The Sussex Violation of Probation Center is a new concept in Delaware corrections. The SVOP is the first of two Violation of Probation Centers to open in the State. The other is the Central Violation of Probation Center near Smyrna, Delaware. The Violation of Probation Centers are not prisons. They are Level IV (4) facilities. Level IV facilities are transition units or programs - housing offenders who are preparing to return to the community full-time. Level IV housing means work release, residential drug treatment (Crest), home confinement or violation of probation custody. The Violation of Probation Centers house primarily offenders who have violated the terms of their probation. These "rule breakers" have not committed any crimes during their probation in the community. They have committed "technical" violations that could include failing to report to their probation officer, changing residence without notifying their probation officer, failing a drug test or failing to abide by a curfew. The Department of Correction believes such violations warrant brief periods of incarceration. The Sussex Violation of Probation Center provides a military-style, highly regimented program of discipline, behavior modification and community service in a stark, no-frills environment. Offenders rise daily at 5 a.m. for community service or institutional assignments. Work includes maintaining their personal living space, cleaning the common areas of the facility and working in the kitchen. Offenders also participate in community service projects that benefit towns, churches, non-profit organizations, American Legions, senior and recreation centers, schools and cemeteries. In Fiscal Year 2001 (July 1, 2000-June 30, 2001), offenders from the Sussex Violation of Probation Center performed 130,013 hours of community service.
Time spent at a Violation of Probation Center gives offenders a chance to adjust their attitudes and change their behaviors so they are better able to abide by the terms of their probation once released back to the community. Additionally, a Violation of Probation Center is a more appropriate correctional placement for these offenders. The VOP Center keeps violators from being returned to a prison population where more serious offenders are housed. This frees up more higher security beds for more serious offenders.
The SVOP offers other treatment and programs to supplement the Crest program. These programs include Bible study, parenting classes, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. The CVOP is planning on bringing more programs on-line in the future.
Bill Oettel is the Warden of the Sussex Violation of Probation Center.
Inmate Mail Address
Inmate Name
Sussex Community Corrections Center
Rt. 6 Box 700
Georgetown, DE 19947
