CENTRE: CENTRE is an Acronym with the legal name being “Community Extended Nuclear Transitional Residence for Ex-offenders”. Centre’s programs and clients have greatly grown in numbers and programming has evolved since it inception in 1976.
Mission Statement: Centre Inc. is a private non-profit agency that provides rehabilitative services to individuals to achieve social re-integration.
Vision Statement: Centre is recognized as the leading provider of rehabilitation and socialization services in a changing social environment.
Values:
Integrity ~ We are trustworthy, respectful, ethical and accountable for our actions.
Compassion ~ We are understanding, caring, and empathetic to others and have a strong desire to help people.
Safety/Security ~ We ensure agency stability through policies, procedures, and practices that are designed to protect the staff, our clients and the community.
Empowerment ~ We create an environment and provide resources that allow individuals to make effective decisions and take the necessary actions.
Agency Background/Historical Perspective: CENTRE, Inc. is a North Dakota non-profit rehabilitative, correctional and human service agency which was formed in 1976 to assist the courts and other mainstream public agencies in providing community-based services to establish halfway houses as a cost-effective intermediate sanction as well as an adjunct to parole or probation supervision.
CENTRE, Inc. began operating a Transitional/Pre-Release residential program for male offenders referred from the U.S. District Courts including U.S. Probation, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the N.D. State Penitentiary and Division of Field Services in Fargo in 1977. Since that time, the agency has expanded to new facilities in Fargo, Mandan and Grand Forks. CENTRE, Inc. began providing services to females in 1987.
In 1990, Centre open a Social Detoxification facility in Fargo that was licensed by the ND Department of Human Services to provide Social Detoxification ASAM Level III.2-D services to individuals referred by the City of Fargo, West Fargo, Cass County, and Human Service Center.
Also in 1990, Centre began providing residential services to individuals referred from the Human Service Center in Fargo.
Also in 1990, Centre opened an Adult Residential facility in Grand Forks, ND for both males and females. This facility originally provided residential living supervision and services referred from Northeast Human Service Center. The human service clients referred were individuals receiving substance abuse treatment through the Human Service Center. Centre later expanded its facilities to accept individuals determined Severely Mentally Ill. Centre built a new facility that opened later in the year of 2000. Centre also accepted ND Department of Corrections referrals at this facility up until 2001.
In 1991, Centre opened a Transitional/Pre-Release residential program for male and female offenders referred from the U.S. District Courts including U.S. Probation, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the N.D. State Penitentiary and Division of Field Services in Mandan, ND.
In 1992, Centre began contracting and providing Residential Services to individuals referred from the Veterans Administration in Fargo.
Throughout the 1990’s, the agency has also developed many non-residential programs which are offered to courts and corrections agencies as treatment programs or intermediate sanctions for offenders. These programs include Non-Residential Alcohol/Drug Testing, Electronic Monitoring Services, Day Reporting Programming, Detoxification Services, Community Service, Non Residential Group and Individual Counseling, and Probation Services.
CENTRE’s Residential Facilities in Fargo and Mandan have undergone stringent certification standards in order to achieve federal status as a Comprehensive Sanction Center. This was accomplished in 1995.
CENTRE, Inc. began providing residential services as an alternative to jail for the Cass County Corrections Center in 1996, Fargo Municipal Court in 1997, and West Fargo Municipal Court in 1998.
In February of 2001, Centre opened an 8 bed Residential Treatment Center that is run in conjunction with Northeast Human Service Center. This facility and Program is licensed by the State of ND to provide Drug and Alcohol Treatment and is also licensed as a foster care provider.
In September of 2002, Centre opened an additional residential facility in Fargo. This 26 Bed facility serves as a quarter-way house, for offenders referred by the Department of Correction, primarily the Field Services Division and the County Jail and Municipal courts. This facility is a step down in restrictions/structure and intensity of programming from the other residential re-entry centers and serves as a needed level of care on the continuum of care for many of our clients.
In 2004, Centre purchased an apartment complex that was transformed into permanent housing for homeless Veterans.
In September of 2006 Centre began expansion project that included separating the male and female residential programs into different units. This project included creating a female unit with 35 beds, with an additional 15 overflow beds available. It also included a male unit with 84 beds. This project included a separate unit/program named HART. HART is an acronym, standing for "Homeless, Assessment, Rehabilitation, & Treatment. This is a 48 bed residential unit for homeless individuals. 36 of the beds are mandated for homeless veterans who meet the admission criteria of the VA per diem program. The other twelve beds can also be used for this same population; however they do not need to be Veterans. The per diem program allows for Veterans to reside in the residential program for up to 2 years. They must have either a substance abuse dependency diagnosis and/or mental illness diagnosis. The male and female residential units were opened in August of 2007. Program Hart opened in December of 2007.
In June of 2007 Centre purchased a building and devised plans to renovate the property/building in Mandan, ND. The plan included moving the 27 bed residential program in Bismarck to the new location. Centre renovated and opened a 76 bed facility in February of 2008. This building has separate residential units for males and females which include 28 female beds and 48 male beds.
In June of 2008 Centre opened its expanded detoxification program/operation which is now located at 1519 1st Avenue South in Fargo. The building is owned by the City of Fargo and allowed Centre to more then double its capacity for detoxification. The detoxification facility is co-located with the new homeless shelter.
Centre’s residential re-entry centers/halfway houses in Fargo, Mandan, and Grand Forks are licensed by the Department of Human Services to provide Clinically Managed Low-Intensity Residential Care, Adult ASAM Level III.5. These same facilities/programs are also licensed to provide Intensive Outpatient Treatment-Adult ASAM Level II.1 and Outpatient Services- Adult ASAM Level I.
The role of CENTRE, Inc. has been to provide for public safety by offering programs across the state which can effectively rehabilitate, supervise, and provide transitional housing to individuals in need of these services outside the institutions and jails/prisons.
A majority of CENTRE, Inc. programming has traditionally focused on treating criminogenic and/or other destructive behavior(s) with services tailored to their needs. Addiction programming/treatment is provided to those with substance dependence. Vocational counseling, job training and job placement are priority program objectives for all clients. The staff teaches accountability and personal responsibility to participants within structured programs. Good assessments, treatment planning, and counseling are the valued underpinning of the case management effort.
Rehabilitative Programs- Each client’s treatment plan within the context of the larger program is individualized and addresses the individual’s issues with a coherent, mutually agreed-upon treatment plan.
CENTRE, Inc’s programs that provide services to Federal inmates/offenders participate in a number of scheduled and surprise program audits that are conducted to ensure that the programs and facilities remain in compliance with the federal Statement of Work for Residential Re-Entry Centers. All facets of the agency are examined using standards based on those developed by the American Correctional Association. The agency’s administrative, organizational, and fiscal operations are audited in accordance with accepted practices. The facilities are inspected by local and state agencies responsible for ensuring compliance with safety, sanitation, and environmental and health standards.
CENTRE, Inc. facilities have always met or exceeded the compliance standards established by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Other referral agents or their designees conduct regular inspections and reviews of our facilities and programs to ensure compliance with program contracts. Centre has continued to evolve the programs and components to provide services that are in alignment with the 8 principles of Evidence Based Practices. Centre’s Residential Re-Entry Centers in Fargo and Mandan are working to achieve American Correctional Association Accreditation in accordance with their, “Performance Based Standards for Adult Community Residential Services 4th Edition”.