ST. LOUIS — Dismas House, which runs the oldest halfway house in the country, is being replaced as the home of recently released federal inmates.
The Justice Department contract was awarded Friday to Exodus Reentry Villages Inc., say.
Officially known as a residential reentry center, the halfway house serves ºüÀêÊÓƵ and the counties of ºüÀêÊÓƵ, St. Charles and Jefferson, plus Madison, Monroe, Jersey and St. Clair counties in Illinois.
Gene McNary, an Exodus board member and former ºüÀêÊÓƵ County prosecuting attorney and county executive, said the group is “encouraged and really excited about the opportunity.â€
McNary called it a “paradigm shift†and said residents could be put to work in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
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Thomas Utterback, who leads Exodus, referred questions to McNary.
McNary said the new halfway house would be established in the former home of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 3225 North Florissant Avenue, in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Place neighborhood.
“North ºüÀêÊÓƵ needs the activity. They need the jobs there,†he said.
McNary said the facility could house as many as 160 inmates and has to open by March 1 under the contract terms.
“There’s a lot of work to be done but we’ll be ready,†he said.
The facility is currently being used by City Hope ºüÀêÊÓƵ as a homeless shelter.
A mayoral spokesman on Thursday, when rumors of the change were circulating, said that city officials had not been approached about the move.
In a statement, a Dismas official called the loss of the contract “surprising†and said the Bureau of Prisons did not provide any reasons for breaking Dismas’ uninterrupted string of contracts to run a halfway house here.
“Dismas House is confident that the proposal submitted to the BOP to renew its contract would deliver maximum value for the taxpayer and is built on a record that is second-to-none in providing successful second chances for individuals reentering our community,†the statement said.
It wasn’t immediately clear what would happen to Dismas employees.
“Our administrative team maintains a great plan for our 50+ employees; paying good wages, tuition reimbursement, and exceptional medical benefits. We always keep our employees’ best interests firmly in mind,†said Carly Haas, Dismas House human resources director, in the statement.
Doug Burris, former longtime head of the federal probation office and recent director of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Department of Justice Services, welcomed the change.
“Most of the experience that I had in my 18 years working with Dismas House was frustrating because they seemed motivated to do the minimum required in contracting, even when what we had approached them with would have resulted in substantially higher successes. And there are times when they agreed to do some of our request but the follow-up was horrendous,†he said.
The troubled halfway house, at 5025 Cote Brilliante Avenue in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ Kingsway West neighborhood, has been the scene of violence and has been criticized for conditions there, as well as high pay for executives.