Pubdate: Thu, 01 July 1999
Source: Tribune, The  (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune
Contact:  P.O. Box 112, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406-0112
Website: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Author: Raven J. Railey, The Tribune

FIRM HAS CAPTIVE AUDIENCE

Company Provides Electronic Devices To Monitor Clients' Whereabouts

Most businesses turn a profit providing services and products that make
their customers' lives easier and more convenient. At Sentencing Concepts,
Rick Berlow and Dan Reynolds are marketing a service that does just the
opposite: their clients pay to be on house arrest.

After a year in the business, the San Luis Obispo branch of Sentencing
Concepts is only recently beginning to operate in the black by providing
electronic monitoring services to convicted criminals who might otherwise be
sent to jail.

Clients are referred to company programs as a condition of their probation.
If they fail to comply, they are sent back to jail.

Sentencing Concepts arrival in San Luis Obispo marks the communitys first
foray onto a path well-established in other parts of the state using
high-tech devices as a means of punishing people while allowing them to be
productive citizens and hold down jobs. It also follows a growing trend of
private companies taking on government services in areas such as
corrections, health care and even education.

Sentencing Concepts' main "product" is electronic monitoring, which consists
of installing a lightweight, waterproof anklet or wrist unit on an
offender's body while he or she is on probation. The unit sends a signal to
a box placed in the home. If the offender leaves home, a message is sent to
Sentencing Concepts, which relays the call to the probation officer.

A schedule can be arranged to allow the adult or juvenile to go to work or
school. Random checks are done by phone to verify that the person is in the
right place at the right time.

Proof of activities, in the form of pay stubs, enrollment records or grocery
receipts are turned in at regular case-management meetings. If the
individual breaks the pre-arranged schedule, the violation means a return to
custody.

Programs are individualized to meet the needs of the offender. Drug and
alcohol counseling and testing, provided by the company, are often a program
condition. Among the services provided are the drug patch and VICAP,
equipment that videotapes the client performing daily breath alcohol tests
at home.

To address domestic violence, Sentencing Concepts offers anger management
counseling, including the only program for female batterers in the county.

Victims can be given The Shield, a system that will detect the signal from
the offenders anklet within a given range. If the offender is nearby, the
victim is notified to leave the area.

An ambush detector will also send warning if the perpetrator comes near the
victims home.

All these services are paid for by the offender as a condition of probation.
In the case of juveniles, the family picks up the tab.

There are strict criteria for who can qualify, but no one is turned away for
inability to pay, said Reynolds. Most clients pay according to a sliding
scale based on income. Some cases are pro-bono.

For the first nine months, the local office of Sentencing Concepts Inc.
finished each month in the red, said Reynolds. In March, the company began
breaking even and has showed a continued increase during the last quarter.

March displayed a 9 percent increase over February, with April profits up
another 10 percent. In May, it jumped 22 percent. So far, it appears that
June profits are already exceeding May, he said. Reynolds did not name
specific profit figures.

Reynolds, who previously worked for non-profit and government agencies,
admits that there is a lot of skepticism in those arenas about private,
for-profit businesses like Sentencing Concepts. He had a "bad taste" about
private programs once, too.

He's changed his thinking. Reynolds left a secure position at County Drug
and Alcohol Services to join Sentencing Concepts, attracted to its
innovative approach to working with criminal populations.

Sentencing Concepts Inc. is headquartered in Anaheim, with offices in
Stockton, Lake Forest and Rodgers, Ariz. The company has been in business
since 1994 and was acquired last fall by Correctional Systems Inc., a
publicly held firm that operates private jails in California, New Mexico and
Texas.

Last year, Sentencing Concepts opened offices in San Luis Obispo and Santa
Barbara counties. The expansion was initiated at the request of Chief
Probation Officer John Lum.

"Most areas had electronic monitoring decades ago," said Lum. "This is
clearly a need that we have in this county. There is not a strong
infrastructure of services to work with offender populations."

Only 30 percent of criminals convicted of felonies in this county serve time
in the state prisons, he said. The majority of the remaining 70 percent are
placed on probation, adding up to approximately 4,000 adults and 2,000
juveniles each year.

Sentencing Concepts still serves only a small percentage of that potential
market. It provided services to 200 clients during the past year, Reynolds said.

By referring criminals to organizations like Sentencing Concepts, said Lum,
the County can focus its limited resources on the more difficult cases.

"The cost impact to tax payers for the administration of justice is not
cheap," he said. "If somebody is gainfully employed, they are contributing
taxes and are not a drain on the system."

Because the fees that Sentencing Concepts collects are limited by clients'
income, Berlow and Reynolds have focused on efforts to increase the number
of offenders enrolled, looking to cover program costs through higher volume.

Unlike traditional businesses, however, Sentencing Concepts has not aimed
its marketing at the people who will be using its product.

Instead, such efforts have meant many hours talking with judges, attorneys,
bail bondsmen and officials from the district attorney's office and probation.

Gaining support for the product has also led to a focus on meeting community
needs. Currently, the company is working to offer satellite services in Paso
Robles and Nipomo for clients with transportation problems.

"We are trying to provide a good service," said Reynolds. "The people are
happy. Probation is happy. Thats better than advertising. We are confident
this is going to be a fixture for San Luis Obispo for a long time. Were in
for the long haul."

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