HALFWAY HOUSE RISKS DEBATED

Opponents of a proposed halfway house say they'll be giving the Cape Girardeau City Council an earful at a public hearing on the proposal tonight.

The city's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approving the Gibson Center's request for a rezoning and special use permit to operate the halfway house, which would house 16 to 20 inmates who are within 90 days of their release dates.

The Gibson Center, 1112 Linden, has contracted with the Missouri Division of Probation and Parole to operate a halfway house for parolees in need of substance abuse treatment.

Parents of students at nearby Parkview State School for the Severely Handicapped and residents in the area say they're worried about security risks from the inmates.

No guards will patrol the facility and opponents are concerned about what types of offenders will be living at the center.

Two security guards will be on duty during the day and one guard will be on duty at night. In addition, one full-time and one part-time parole officer will be assigned to the center.

"What I'm worried about most is I don't feel there's enough security over there and it doesn't look like they're going to put any armed guards or anything in," said Angie Beauchamp of Scott City.

Her 7-year-old son, Preston, who has cerebral palsy, attends the school.

"I just don't feel like the kids are going to be safe. It just makes me feel uneasy that they're going to be living that close to the school," Beauchamp said.

Larry Beussink, president of the Parkview PTO, said the group has been circulating petitions asking the City Council to deny the rezoning and special use permit needed for the halfway house to open.

Beussink's son, 12-year-old Jeremy, is severely mentally retarded and autistic.

Beussink said his son is non-verbal "and very trusting of anybody. If Jeremy wants to go outside or if he wants anything, he'll go up to anybody. So I am very scared that if anybody wants to make contact with him, Jeremy would go with them."

"This scares me a lot," Beussink said.

Candy Birdsong, a teacher at Parkview, said she's also concerned about the proposed halfway house.

"There are going to be no armed guards," said Birdsong, who has taught at the school for three years. "That is very much a concern of mine. And with the prisoners there, it can be anything from bad check writers to child molesters."

She said it's her job to keep the students safe, "but I don't know if I could safeguard my children from these people who've been in a prison."

Birdsong said she's also concerned for the residents of an apartment complex for elderly and disabled adults located across the street from the Gibson Center.

"We've got our elderly and our handicapped right here and we're putting them right in the middle of these prisoners?" she said. "It scares me."

Birdsong said she isn't opposed to putting a halfway house for parolees in Cape Girardeau, but she thinks the Gibson Center is a poor location, with its proximity to the school, the apartments for the elderly and the Head Start center for preschoolers.

"I'm in favor of rehabilitating anyone," she said. "But there's got to be places where there is more lighting or better security."

Supporters of the project say the halfway house concept has worked well in other communities, including St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield.

They also argue the facility will give inmates a smoother transition back into the community once they are released from prison.

Clarence Ackman, regional supervisor for the Division of Probation and Parole, said the state needs to have treatment plans in place for parolees once they are released.

"This way, it'll be in place before the fact rather than after the fact," he said.

If the council approves the request for the halfway house, Ackman said, his department would like to meet with concerned citizens "and work on their concerns and how we can best handle them."

A public information meeting also will be held on the program "probably within the next two or three weeks" if the request is approved.

If approved, the halfway house would be the only one in Southeast Missouri.