Then we all lose. His thinking is echoed by the state's parole board, which has been responsible for the shift over the last couple of years. Pittsburgh has three halfway houses administered by the state, including one for women, and eight private houses under state contract. While it's uncertain how many parolees are currently released to Community Corrections Centers, Morse estimates it reaches 60 percent. There is room across the state halfway house system for more than 1,500 convicts.
Residents stay anywhere from three to nine months.
Most take a job unless, like Graves, they're in an intensive rehab program. They also begin paying court costs and restitution fees. They are permitted to have very little spending money. Morse acknowledges that much has changed in the 27 years since he helped open Pittsburgh's second halfway house, in East Liberty. We weren't really sure what we were doing.