MERRIMACK COUNTY DIVERSION CENTER
2003 ANNUAL REPORT

“2003 was a record year for the Diversion Center as referrals and collected restitution reached new highs.  In addition, the creation of the FAST Program has helped us reach a historically underserved population of drug and alcohol offenders.”

 Steven T. Casale, Director

The Diversion Center is a division of the Office of the Merrimack County Attorney
Daniel I. St. Hilaire, Merrimack County Attorney

MERRIMACK COUNTY DIVERSION CENTER

The mission of the Merrimack County Diversion Center is to hold offenders accountable while providing the resources, skills, and education to prevent them from committing new crimes.

The Diversion Center has been serving Merrimack County since 1992.  In the last 12 years Diversion participants have performed over 110,000 hours of community service and paid in excess of $144,000 in restitution to victims of crime.

 2003 HIGHLIGHTS

•  FAST (First-time Alcohol and Substance-abuse Treatment) Program created— a new program to address drug and alcohol offenders at the district court level
• $14,439.61 program fees collected— program fees help defray the costs of drug testing and other essential services
• 187 Total referrals received
• Adult Diversion:    113 referrals (58 felonies, 51 misdemeanors, 4 violations)
• FAST Program:      53 referrals
• Bridge Program:    21 referrals

 2003 REFERRALS COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS

• 12,688 hours of community service— sites include Donation Depot, Hopkinton Fair, Capital Center for the Arts, Bow Bike Race, Canterbury Shaker Village, and many others
• $30,765.99 restitution collected for victims of crime

2003 RESTITUTION COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS

 MERRIMACK COUNTY DIVERSION CENTER

• State Wide Model— The Diversion Center was selected to be part of a special presentation during the annual meeting of the NH Association of Counties.  The panel presentation highlighted innovative and successful county programs from across the state.
• Facilities— The Diversion Center office space was greatly expanded and now includes a conference room that provides space for classes to be conducted in-house.  Furthermore, the entire staff now has private offices that increase client confidentiality.  Diversion clients provided the labor for moving and painting the new space as part of their community service.
• Chemical Free Activity— Diversion staff and 8 juveniles in the Bridge Program went on a day-long canoe trip down the Merrimack River in July. This event included a barbecue, swimming, and other activities designed to demonstrate positive recreation without drugs or alcohol and was completely funded by a grant from the ADAPT Program.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

The Diversion Center houses four programs:  Adult Felony and Misdemeanor Diversion, The FAST Program, and the Bridge Program. The programs share the same mission and resources, but target different populations.  Below is a brief description of each program.

Adult Felony Diversion

Offender Profile: First time adult felony offenders, non-sexual offenders, non-violent offenders

Program Length:  12 months

Program Components:400 hours of community service, 20 hours of life skills classes, 20 hour progress group, drug testing, correctional facility tour, $350 program fee

 Adult Misdemeanor Diversion

Offender Profile:  First time adult misdemeanor offenders, non-sexual offenders, non-violent offenders

Program Length:  4 months

Program Components: 50 –100 hours of community service, 10 hours of life skills classes, drug testing, correctional facility tour, $150 program fee

 The FAST Program

Offender Profile:  Violation/misdemeanor alcohol and drug offenders, no DWIs, minimum age of 16

Program Length:  3 months

Program Components: 12 hour Substance Abuse Education Class, drug testing, correctional facility tour, $300 program fee

 The Bridge Program

Offender Profile:  Juvenile offenders, non-sexual offenders, non-violent offenders

Program Length:  6 months

Program Components: 25 hours of community service, classes, drug testing, teen group/challenge program

MERRIMACK COUNTY DIVERSION CENTER
163 North Main Street, Concord, NH 03301
(603) 226-1921 FAX (603) 228-2143

 STAFF DIRECTORY

To avoid spammers harvesting email addresses from our website and clogging up our servers, we ask that if you wish to contact a member of the staff by email you address it by using the person’s first intial and last name at mcadp.net. For example: jsmith@mcadp.net

Steve Casale, Director
phone extension 104
 
Randy Whitehead, Program Coordinator
phone extension 107
 
Dave Seguin, Case Manager
phone extension 105
 
Cheryl Thompson, Case Manager
phone extension 113
 
Starr Smith, Case Manager
phone extension 103
 
Cheryl Wilkie, Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor
phone extension 110
 
Abigail Hayes, Community Service Supervisor
phone extension 112
 
Linda Burns, Secretary
phone extension 100

[Home] [Administration] [New Job Postings] [County Attorney] [Adult Diversion] [Staff] [Victim/Witness Info] [Sheriff's Dept Home] [County Treasurer] [Registrar of Deeds] [Nursing Home] [Dept of Corrections] [Human Services] [MC Conservation District] [UNH Coop Extension] [Grants] [FY 2006 Budget] [County Directory] [Links & Contacts] [Towns & Cities]