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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The plan is still to treat people for drug and alcohol abuse, but the latest proposal by Jim Casey doesn&#8217;t involve state parole violators.</p><p>On Wednesday, Casey will resubmit his application to the Wilkes-Barre zoning board to convert a former warehouse on Hill Street into a 100-bed, privately operated facility.</p><p>It differs from the proposal he presented to the board in May to house up to 150 men who violated their parole by using illegal drugs and alcohol and were required to undergo up to 90 days of treatment.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re not going to be affiliated with anybody other than the client,&#8221; Casey said.</p><p>Casey heeded the advice of the board that questioned how the center he wanted to create in the middle of the city differed from a prison. The board tabled a vote to review the testimony and information presented during the two-hour hearing in May.</p><p>&#8220;I appreciate Charlie McCormick (board solicitor) and the zoning hearing board bringing that to my attention. &#8216;Do you really want to do this?&#8217; No, I don&#8217;t,&#8221; Casey said.</p><p>The center originally proposed fit into the state&#8217;s plans to contract out services as a cost-saving measure, Casey told the board. Rather than hold prisoners until their sentences run out, they are paroled to make room for other inmates. Some parolees who violate the terms of their release are then sent to private centers instead of returning them to a prison that costs approximately $60,000 a year for incarceration.</p><p>The public had a mixed reaction to the Hill Street site housing parolees. Some said it didn&#8217;t belong in that location next to businesses and close to a low-income housing complex on South Wilkes-Barre Boulevard. Some who&#8217;ve benefited from treatment centers supported it. It was also pointed out the Salvation Army operates a similar facility next to the vacant warehouse.</p><p>Casey, who operates a halfway house on South Main Street a few blocks from Hill Street, said the area has a dire need for what he&#8217;s going to present to the board. His center will provide rehabilitation, counseling, and a place for people released from a local crisis center after a drug overdose to live for three to six months.</p><p>&#8220;There is no place from crisis to care locally,&#8221; Casey said, adding people have to travel to Altoona, Allentown or Philadelphia to find such a service.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Jim Casey still wants to convert this vacant warehouse on Hill Street in Wilkes-Barre into a drug and alcohol treatment center. But Casey now wants to focus on local people released from crisis centers and not state parole violators. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Hill-St.-property.jpg</photo0><caption0>Jim Casey still wants to convert this vacant warehouse on Hill Street in Wilkes-Barre into a drug and alcohol treatment center. But Casey now wants to focus on local people released from crisis centers and not state parole violators. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>HILL STREET HEARING</strong></p><p>What: Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board public hearing</p><p>When: 4:30 p.m. Wednesday</p><p>Where: Wilkes-Barre City Hall, 40 E. Market St.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

State parole violators no longer part of proposed treatment center