Commissioners renew lease

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By Wayne Allen

[email protected]

The Scioto County Commissioners last week approved the renewal of a lease with The Counseling Center, for use of county property.

Since 2011, The Counseling Center has leased the former Juvenile Detention Center located at 526 5th Street, in Portsmouth, from the Scioto County Commissioners. When the original lease was signed in 2011, an option was written into the agreement allowing The Counseling Center the option to renew the lease for five additional one-year terms.

The Counseling Center is seeking a renewal of the lease for one year — July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016.

According to www.thecounselingcenter.org, “The Second Chance Center is a quality supportive housing program. The treatment team and residential staff can communicate with and relate to clients as fellow recovering people. Our recovery messages, experiences and services promote dignity and hope in our clients. We share with the clients what we know about alcoholism, addiction and maintaining a long term recovery lifestyle.”

The Second Chance Center (and Compass Point Housing) employs eight full-time employees and eight part-time employees.

Jail Diversion clients demonstrate reduced criminal recidivism after receiving treatment for addiction. Employability is enhanced (after completing treatment with help from our Job Training program) and family relationships are repaired with improved quality of life and enhanced community involvement. According to program officials, residents of Second Chance Center have volunteered with area organizations working in the community, such as the Red Cross, The Salvation Army, Main Street Portsmouth, Notre Dame High School Athletic Association, Operation Christmas Child and the Second Presbyterian Church Food Pantry.

When it comes the potential of extending a lease on the facility, Mike Crabtree chairman of the Scioto County Commissioners said, “it depends on what we’ve got going. We have not had anybody standing in line to lease it (former Juvenile Detention Center). Until they moved in there, it was costing us a chunk of money to keep it sitting there.”

Crabtree said, although The Counseling Center does not pay rent to the county. He said The Counseling Center covers maintenance of the facility and the county saves money with the centers jail diversion program.

“The diversion costs from people that would have been in our jail are substantial. I do know it costs us about $65 a day to keep people in jail. When you factor in all of that stuff, there’s a significant benefit to us having them there,” Crabtree said.

Wayne Allen can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 1933 or on Twitter @WayneallenPDT

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