PUT DAYTON'S REHAB CENTER UNDER SHERIFF

Dayton's Human Rehabilitation Center, the city-owned and -operated 459-bed
minimum-security facility on Gettysburg Avenue, can be a resource for the
region.

But it could collapse from neglect unless Dayton and Montgomery County
begin serious, fast-track negotiations designed to get it consolidated
under the management of Sheriff Dave Vore.

For consolidation to work, the rehab center has to be put on good footing
and its 100 or so employees have to land on their feet. But consolidation,
done right, would represent a victory for both the city and the county.

Montgomery County would get an ideally located facility that could meet
long-term needs for jail space at a fraction of the cost necessary to
develop another site.

For Dayton, consolidation would provide immediate relief from the financial
and administrative burdens of running a full-service correctional facility,
a business the police department doesn't want to be in.

Moreover, consolidation presents the best chance for both governments to
realize their shared interest in providing a secure, community- based
institution that gives low-level offenders a chance to get help--drug or
alcohol counseling, or high-school-equivalency courses, for example--here
in the community.

Montgomery County has the greatest legal and financial obligations for
providing short-term detention. But Dayton, on the other hand, has wanted a
facility that does more than just lock up people for 90 days or six months.
And Dayton has been especially sensitive to the need to keep offenders who
aren't dangerous here in the community, rather than sending them miles from
their families.

Both Montgomery County and Dayton have challenges that complicate their
ability to do right by the community and prisoners.

Montgomery County has the money but lacks space in its jail to handle all
the prisoners in the sheriff's custody. It sends overflow prisoners to
other facilities, for years sending them to the rehab center and paying
Dayton a per-diem rate. The shortage of beds makes it hard for the county
to offer a broad rehabilitation program, something Sheriff Vore knows
should be part of what he does.

The city has the opposite situation. It has space but lacks money. Dayton
depends on outside referrals to keep the rehab center filled. In some
years, the county's business has amounted to $3 million to $3.5 million
annually for the city, representing half or more of the rehab center's
budget. But running a secure institution can't depend on fickle business
relationships.

Moreover, running the rehab center has been piled on to the police
department's already-full plate. And the department's not getting the
substantial, additional resources it needs to do the job well. Not
surprisingly, all of this has taken a toll on the rehab center.

Sheriff Vore can't decide one month, or one year, at a time where he's
going to put his prisoners. He can't--and shouldn't--just hope Dayton will
turn its facility around. Understandably, he has moved his prisoners out of
the rehab center until the city gets a better handle on the facility's
operation.

Thus, while city-hired consultants inspect the rehab center, it's only
housing 50 or so prisoners. Meanwhile, about 100 employees are on the
payroll, and there's little money coming in to support them.

Sheriff Vore favors the idea of consolidation and is interested in
participating in serious talks. From the city, Mayor Rhine McLin is well
suited to lead. As a state legislator, she was on top of corrections
issues; she and Sheriff Vore can speak the same language. Equally
important, she has the respect of the union at the rehab center.

To lead effectively, Mayor McLin will need breathing room from both Sheriff
Vore and the rehab center union. They each have to give. Sheriff Vore, for
instance, needs to hear her concerns about labor issues. The union and
rehab center employees, on the other hand, have to know it's going to take
money and expertise to make the center into a first-class facility.

Consolidation can and should get done.