ODRC - Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW)

ODRC - Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW) basic information to help guide you through what you can do for your inmate while they are incarcerated. The facility's direct contact number: 937-642-1065

The inmates housed at ORW located at 1479 Collins Ave in Marysville, OH are placed according to their custody level (determined by a number of factors including the past criminal history and the length of their sentence). There are ample educational and vocational training programs for all inmates, especially ones that show a willingness to learn new things that will prepare them for a better life when they are released. The mission is to promote and prepare the offender to leave in better shape than when they arrived, giving them the best chance to never come back and thus lower the state's recidivism rate.

Ohio Reformatory for Women serves as the primary correctional facility for females in the state and acts as the reception center for women entering the correctional system. The capacity of the prison is 2,956 inmates. The facility primarily houses minimum and medium-security inmates but also houses close custody offenders and one death row inmate. The Reformatory participates in the correctional industries program operating an optical shop, an embroidery shop, a sewing shop, and a mop head manufacturing shop. Additionally, this facility offers vocational courses in various building trades, cosmetology, landscaping, general office systems, steam engineer, and boiler operator. Inmates can also participate in community service programs that allow offenders to work with dogs and wildlife. Academic studies in adult basic education and the ability to earn a GED are also made available to inmates.

Unique Programs

The Short Term Offender Unit is designed to service offenders that are newly received into the prison that are serving sentences of 90 days or less. The curriculum for the program was designed to enable the offenders by providing suitable programming that is accelerated to enhance their reentry back into the community. Daily classes on Life Skills, Coping Strategies, Family Services, Health and Wellness, Recovery Issues, Job Readiness, Dressing for Success, Finance Management and other topics make up this comprehensive curriculum for the Short Term Offender program and address the 8 Reentry Domains of education, employment, marital and family , associates and social interaction, substance abuse, community functioning, personal and emotional and attitude.

The Therapeutic Community (TC) 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 pro-social behavior, attitudes, and values as a method to attain abstinence from alcohol and other drugs and eliminate antisocial behaviors. The TC’s at ORW and Pickaway are collaborative efforts between the Ohio DR&C and the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services. (Learn more about how you can help give back to the community here.)

The Chillicothe Correctional Institution (CCI) and Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction provide reentry programming for offenders. CCI opened a Reintegration dorm that was specifically designed to meet the inmate's programming needs. This unit was designed as the last step for inmates to gain skills that will equip them to become productive members of society. The Reintegration Unit is based on a pro-social model of integrating institutional and community resources to facilitate re-entry and reduce recidivism.

The Ohio Reformatory for Women strives to promote family bonding in preparation for family reunification, with this in mind special family-oriented events are scheduled twice a year. A Mom and Me Day Camp is scheduled during the summer months and a Mom and Kids Day Holiday event is scheduled in December. These events allow families to come into the institution to spend a day with their loved ones with a variety of events, entertainment food and fun. Information is provided in the living units detailing the selection process for these events.

Child development experts have determined that infants must bond with their mother in the first few months of life or their emotional and intellectual functioning is impaired.

In June 2001, ORW opened Ohio's only nursery program within an institution. The Achieving Baby Care Success (ABC'S) Program allows incarcerated pregnant inmates to maintain custody of their infants after they are born. Each participant has an individualized treatment plan so that the problems that resulted in her incarceration are thoroughly addressed.

Hands-on parenting instruction is available for every mother in the program. Eligible mothers for the program are screened and must be serving a short-term sentence for a non-violent crime. The criteria for the program ensures that the mothers and infants leave the institution together. There are currently 8 babies in the nursery

Offender Programs

Community Services

• Greyhound Dog Program
• Art Guild Program
• Wildlife Program
• Pawsibility Dog Program
• Circle Tail Dog Program
• Community Stitching Post Program

Academic

• Literacy Unit
• Pre-GED
• GED

Industries

• Optical Shop
• Sewing Shop
• Embroidery Shop
• Mop Head Shop

Career-Technical (Vocational) Programs

• Building Table
• Landscaping and Horticulture
• General Office Systems
• Cosmetology

Apprenticeship Programs

• Boiler Operator
• Steam Engineer

Advanced Jobs Training Program

• Sinclair Community College