Pickaway Correctional Institution

PICKAWAY CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION

Sheri Duffy

• The Therapeutic Community (TC)/ Intensive Prison Program (IPP) are long-term (6-12 months) residential Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) treatment programs. The TC approach views AOD abuse as a reflection of chronic deficits in social, vocational, familial, economic, and personality development. The aim of the Therapeutic Community is to promote prosocial behavior, attitudes, and values as a method to attain abstinence from alcohol and other drugs and eliminate antisocial behaviors. The TC’s at PCI and at the Ohio Reformatory for Women are collaborative efforts between the Ohio DRC and the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
• Cam to Believe:  This is a 12-week program that is available to inmates meeting the qualification for entry into each service component.  Inmates are initially oriented into the program, then must complete classes on rational self-counseling, lifestyle changes, criminal lifestyles, and relapse prevention.  The program addresses issues in their lives that were created by substance abuse.
• OPI Meat Processing Career Center:  PCI is home to the OPI Meat Processing Career Center which provides inmates training in the meat processing industry.  Inmate training is provided by Ohio Penal Industry employees and Ohio State University, Animal Sciences Department, Meat Science Division.  Currently the processing center provides pork and beef products to 18 correctional institutions statewide.
• OPI Beverage Processing Center:  The OPI Beverage Processing Center is also located at PCI.  Inmates currently assist in maintaining a herd of dairy cows.  The cows are milked twice daily and the raw milk is processed for consumption.  The dairy currently provides milk, flavored beverages and water to all department facilities.  Inmates are taught farm operations and milk processing plan operations.

Reading Room
 

In 2000, former First Lady Hope Taft approached the Director about establishing a reading room for the children who visited their incarcerated parent at the Pickaway Correctional Institution. This idea spread across the state, and now the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction maintains children’s reading rooms in each of the 32 institutions. The reading rooms encourage family literacy by providing a pleasant and comfortable setting for both child and incarcerated parent. Each room is stocked with a wide variety of children’s books and has an inmate narrator who reads to the visiting children twice a day. The role of the inmate narrator is to read picture books to the children in much the same manner that children’s hour would be done at a public library. A variety of arts and craft supplies for the children are also available in most of the rooms. Many of the supplies and books are donated by employees and service organizations. This past year the Department served over 45,000 children. The inmate narrators worked over 32,000 hours in reading to and with the children.
 

Visit the Reading Room at Pickaway

• Closed Tuesday and Wednesday
• Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day
• All visits by reservation only
• Split Sessions: 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (no admittance after 10:00 a.m.)
•  or 12:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m (no admittance after 2:30 p.m.)
• Reservation Number - Call 614-877-6955.
• Reservation telephone operation hours from 8:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

For general visiting information or to download a visitor application, go to http://www.drc.state.oh.us/web/visiting.htm.