Community Corrections Expertise

ComCor began providing residential community-based correctional and treatment services in El Paso County in 1977. ComCor has developed and implemented a wide array of correctional and treatment programs to meet the needs of El Paso County, the 4th Judicial District, the Colorado Department of Corrections, the state of Colorado and the Federal Bureau of Prisons during the last 30 years.

ComCor owns and operates four residential facilities located in Colorado Springs, all of which are ACA-accredited. ComCor currently provides residential and nonresidential community corrections and treatment programming for federal, state, county and municipal offenders in correctional and treatment programs that are based on the “what works” literature.

ComCor began providing nonresidential community-based correctional and treatment programs in El Paso County in 1977. Originally ComCor’s nonresidential programs were an adjunct to the primary residential services offered by the agency. More recently, however, new nonresidential programs have been developed and implemented as stand-alone and adjunctive correctional and treatment programs designed to meet the unique needs of the referral and regulatory agencies that contract with ComCor to provide services for offenders.

Currently ComCor offers nonresidential services in four locations within the state of Colorado: Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Montrose. The nonresidential programs currently supervise over 500 offenders in a wide array of programs including electronic monitoring services, day reporting programs, outpatient mental health programs and more traditional nonresidential components such as nonresidential diversion, transitional work release, intensive-supervision parole programs and YOS programs.

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• 3615 Roberts Road – Administration & Programming facility
• 3808 North Nevada – Transition Program
• 3844 North Nevada – ComCor Womens facility
• 3820 North Nevada – Dining facility
• 3950 North Nevada – Diversion Program

During the initial accreditation audit, ComCor received a 98 percent compliance rating with the ACRS standards, 3rd edition. The initial accreditation period extended for three years from January 2002. During this period, ComCor converted from the 3rd edition ACRS standards to the 4th edition standards, which include 105 outcome measures in addition to the standards.

The initial accreditation report noted that ComCor is an “exceptionally proactive organization” and cited examples including:

• Offering offender programming well beyond requirements of contracts
• Hiring and retaining highly professional program staff to conduct offender programs
• Actively researching for best methods to improve program operations.

During the audit, the audit team evaluated ComCor’s conditions of confinement and noted the “overall quality of life to be exceptional.”

ComCor was reaccredited under the Adult Community Residential Standards (4th Edition) in January 2005. The 4th Edition ACRS Standards have 33 mandatory standards with which ComCor had 100 percent compliance. The standards include 218 nonmandatory standards with which ComCor was 97.9 percent compliant. The visiting committee found the “offender rooms, common areas and offices to be very clean and sanitary.” The committee was also impressed with the “level of sanitation in the food preparation and the dining room area.”

Electronic Monitoring Services (EMS)
In 2003, ComCor’s Electronic Monitoring Services Program earned the distinction of being only the sixth program in the nation to be accredited under ACA’s Electronic Monitoring Program standards (1st edition). ComCor’s Electronic Monitoring Services program offers several distinct monitoring technologies that can be used independently or in conjunction with one another to create an individualized supervision model customized to meet the needs of the community and the offender. Services include passive Global Positioning System, home monitoring receiver (with both wrist and ankle transmitters), in-home alcohol station and voice verification systems . All systems are provided through ComCor’s contracts with BI, Inc. and Drug Impairment Detection Services, Inc.

Adult Day Reporting Program (ADRP)
ComCor also contracted with the American Correctional Association to accredit the new State Day Reporting Program for 4th, 7th and 10th Judicial Districts under ACA’s Adult Day Reporting Program Standards, field test version. The initial accreditation audit was conducted in September 2005. ComCor’s day reporting program model was found to be compliant with 100 percent of the mandatory standards and 97 percent of the nonmandatory standards. Staff from ComCor’s State Day Reporting Program attended the final accreditation commission hearings in January 2006.

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Division of Criminal Justice Risk Factor Analysis
DCJ was mandated by the state legislature (through House Bill 02-1077) to develop and implement a schedule for auditing community corrections programs that was based on risk factors. As a result, DCJ developed and implemented the Risk Factor Analysis instrument, which is a multidimensional measure of program performance based on 27 independent performance measures that fall into four categories: outcome factors (11%), program stability factors (16%), performance factors (62%) and contract/statutory compliance factors (11%). ComCor’s Diversion and Transition programs continue to develop, implement and monitor best practices that encourage offenders to accept personal responsibility, reduce criminal behavior and increase public safety. In December 2004, DCJ published their second-year measurements of community corrections programs risk factor scores, and both ComCor’s Residential Diversion and Residential Transition programs scored in the lowest possible risk category.

Alcohol & Drug Abuse Licensure
ComCor is a licensed Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse/Dependence Treatment Provider in good standing in accordance with Section 6 CCR 1008-1, Colorado Code of Regulations, through the Colorado Department of Human Services, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADAD). ComCor is licensed by ADAD to provide offender education and treatment (non-DUI). ComCor’s full ADAD license was renewed on November 13, 2005 and is currently in effect until November 13, 2008.

Colorado Department of Corrections, Division of Adult Parole, Community Corrections & Youthful Offender System Standards
ComCor meets or exceeds all CDOC standards issued on July 1, 2005, for Community Return to Custody facilities. ComCor also meets or exceeds all requirements established in CDOC Administrative Regulations, particularly Administration Regulation #250-50 “Community Return to Custody Facilities.”

CDOC Approved Treatment Provider
ComCor is a CDOC-approved treatment provider to provide the following services effective July 1, 2005:

• Substance abuse treatment services
• Sex offender treatment services
• Sex offender psychosexual evaluations

Sex Offender Standards
ComCor complies with the Standards for Guidelines for the Assessment, Evaluation, Treatment and Behavioral Monitoring of Adult Sex Offenders promulgated by the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board in the operation of both the Community Responsibility Program (for direct sentenced offenders) and Transition Sex Offender Program (for Department of Correction’s offenders).

American Correctional Association
ComCor is accredited by the American Correctional Association (ACA) under the Adult Community Residential Standards, 4th edition, the Electronic Monitoring Program Standards, 1st edition, and the Adult Day Reporting Programs, field test version.

National Recognition
ComCor’s innovative internally developed mission-critical database CATS! (ComCor’s Automated Tracking System) received national recognition when ComCor received the 2004 Unisys Catalyst Award for Leadership in Correctional Technology jointly awarded by the Unisys Corporation and the American Correctional Association.

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