News - Local News

POSTED: Wednesday, Jul. 01, 2009

Former inmates set to move into Bellingham halfway house

BELLINGHAM - Seven former federal prison inmates will have a place to call home - a new halfway house in the Mount Baker Neighborhood.

The former inmates, all men, will be taken from a center in Seattle to the new facility Wednesday, July 1, said Albert Diaz, the facility's director.

The federal Bureau of Prisons is contracting with Seattle-based Pioneer Human Services, which operates the facility, to fill 16 of the 34 available beds.

If all 16 beds are filled, the initial five-year contract will be worth $817,000 annually, said Larry Fehr, Pioneer Human Service's senior vice president.

An open house Tuesday gave community members a chance to tour the facility, which is in the old SSP Alternatives Corrections Facility at 1641 Baker Creek Place.

Pioneer Human Services is in the process of opening a second, larger facility in the City Gate apartment complex on East Holly Street, Fehr said. That will house 38 people recently released from state prisons and the Whatcom County Jail.

Fehr said the halfway houses offer former inmates a better chance in succeeding in their transition to life on the outside.

Without facilities that provide housing during the transition, many inmates are simply given $40 and a bus ticket upon their release, Fehr said.

"It's a hard transition," Fehr said. "In prison all the decisions are made for them. This is an alternative to provide housing for them. They have to find a job within two weeks."

All residents who will stay at the Baker Creek Place facility have ties to Bellingham or Whatcom County, and their average stay will be about three months, Fehr said.

Security cameras and in-house monitors will keep watch on the residents, Diaz said. The facility has 13 staff members.

Counselors and case managers will develop programs to provide residents continuing treatment for substance abuse and other behavioral or mental issues, as well as connect them to needed social services, Diaz said.

Under the current contract, the facility will house 12 men and four women, on different floors, Diaz said.

The residents will be allowed to leave for about eight hours a day to obtain jobs and then work at those jobs but will be given breath tests when they return, Diaz said.

They also will be subject to random urinalysis to ensure they are not using drugs. A positive test will result in expulsion, Diaz said.

Mount Baker Neighborhood Association President Don Hale and City Councilman Gene Knutson, whose Ward 2 includes the neighborhood, said they've spoken with residents and have heard only positive comments about the facility's potential.

Knutson said residents had some angst about what would replace the SSP facility but have voiced support for its use as a halfway house.

"The neighborhood is very supportive," Knutson said. "In tough times we need this kind of thing now more than ever."