Lee Day Report Center Has Moved To Former Social Security Building in East Wheeling
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WHEELING - The Lee Day Report Center in East Wheeling has a new home within the neighborhood.
The facility, which provides counseling to criminal offenders, has moved into the former U.S. Social Security offices building at 123 16th St. Previously the center was located at 105 18th St., with administrative houses at the First State Capitol Building on Eoff St. These locations now are combined at the 16th St. location.
The Lee Day Report Center provides counseling to criminal offenders sent there by the court, Director Fred McDonald explained. Other clients are referred there by defense attorneys and prosecutors, as well as those recommended by probation officers and parole officers.
Random drug testing also is conducted at the center.
"If somebody comes up positive on a couple of tests, they are referred to us to do an assessment," McDonald explained.
Counselors address both those with addiction problems and those with non-addiction issues, he said. Other programs at the facility seek to help clients with day-to-day living skills, or to help those just out of prison adjust to living in society.
The Lee Day Report Center has been in operation for about 21 years. Initially a trial program initiated by the state, the facility in Wheeling was the first of its kind in West Virginia.
In addition to the Wheeling location, three other Lee Day Report Centers have been established in the Northern Panhandle in Weirton, Moundsville and New Martinsville.
McDonald said the four local centers together see about 40 to 50 clients each day, and the program outgrew its 18th Street location.
"We do a lot of drug testing from noon to 8 p.m., and it became too large of a group for testers and people at our former facility," he explained.
Many of those coming to the center are participating in a pre-trial release program that saves counties money, McDonald continued.
"We drug test those out on bond, rather than keeping them in jail," he said.
Clients determined as needing full rehabilitation start a 12-month program at the Lee Day Center. In the beginning, participants attend programming there for four hours a day, Monday through Friday. Most come for 8 a.m. to noon counseling, though there also are 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. sessions, according to McDonald.
"We have evening programs for those employed during the day, or who have babysitting issues," he said.
During the afternoons when clients aren't there, counselors handle assessment and case management work.
There also soon could be expanded programs for some clients in the afternoon. Clients already come in for some job skills and parenting classes at different times during the day, according to McDonald.
The centers are not affiliated with the West Virginia Supreme Court, but are stand-alone operations affiliated with the counties in which they operate. An executive board oversees the Lee Day Report Center.