Community corrections was officially initiated in the state of Colorado in 1974 with the enactment of the first “Community Corrections Act,” Senate Bill 55, by the Colorado Legislature led by Sen. Ralph Cole and a group of local officials and local and state lawmakers.
The strength of Colorado’s community corrections model, envisioned by Sen. Cole, is its emphasis on local control and a system designed to reintegrate offenders back into local communities with the necessary skills to become successful contributing members of society.
Local community corrections boards and programs were authorized by the 1974 act. In 1976, Senate Bill 4 encouraged judicial districts to divert adjudicated nonviolent offenders away from prison and into local residential or nonresidential programs. Limited funding was provided for purchase of services, and these funds went to programs in Larimer, Boulder, Denver, Mesa, El Paso and Pueblo counties that had previously operated on federal grants or served county correctional agencies.
ComCor, Inc. was formed in 1977 by the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners as the El Paso County Community Corrections Program. In 1984 the county formed a private nonprofit agency known as Community Corrections of the Pikes Peak Region, Inc. to take over the community corrections services that the county had been administering. In 1991, the agency officially changed its name to ComCor, Inc. and has evolved into one of the largest private nonprofit community corrections programs in Colorado.
The heart of ComCor’s mission statement, “We believe people can change, and we provide the opportunity,” portrays the true focus of the agency. ComCor’s attention to research-based treatment and core correctional services, including case management and substance abuse screening and testing, with a strong emphasis on public safety, has guided the agency for the last 28 years.
Each fiscal year the Colorado State Legislature appropriates general fund monies to fund community corrections services pursuant to Colorado Revised Statue 17-27-101. Local communities also use state, federal and local funds to augment the state of Colorado’s funds. The Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Justice allocates the state funds to 23 different community corrections boards throughout the state. Each board subcontracts with local community corrections programs to provide community corrections services within that board’s jurisdiction.
ComCor, Inc. provides community corrections programs for state offenders in the 4th Judicial District (El Paso and Teller counties) under the jurisdiction of the El Paso County Community Corrections Board, which is supported by the El Paso County Division of Justice Services. ComCor also provides community corrections programs in the 7th and 10th Judicial Districts under the jurisdiction of the identified community corrections boards in those districts.
ComCor’s community corrections programs have been designed to provide individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary for a successful reintegration back into the community. Individuals typically begin their community corrections sentence in one of ComCor’s residential programs where they live at a ComCor facility, work in the community and attend treatment and life skills courses to address their individualized criminogenic needs. Upon successful completion of the residential component of their sentence, individuals are then transferred to one of many nonresidential programs including electronic monitoring services and day reporting programs.
According to the Division of Criminal Justice, the profile of a “typical” community corrections offender is male, Caucasian, single with a high school diploma or general equivalency degree. The “typical” offender has one prior felony conviction and is currently serving a sentence for a class 4 felony. The age range for the typical offender varies based on which program they are in. Most individuals in ComCor’s programs are serving sentences for nonviolent, mid-level felony offenses, with the most common types of offenses being drug-related offenses, theft and burglary. |
