CINCINNATI — High employee turnover, security issues and hiring inmate supervisors with active criminal cases have undermined the integrity and effectiveness of drug treatment and reentry programs provided to inmates at the River City Correctional Center, according to former inmates and ex-inmate supervisors at the facility.
"I think that they need to shut it down, clear it out, reorganize, regroup," Ex-inmate Danielle Mitchell said.
River City records show Mitchell — a drug offender — was admitted to the facility in July.
Mitchell was successfully discharged from the program in November and received a letter of recommendation, according to records she shared with the WCPO 9 I-Team.
"That kind of a program is important, but it needs to be ran like it's important because it's not," Mitchell said.
The I-Team's investigation of River City began in July after two inmates removed a window and escaped. One of the escapees, Thomas Cromwell, took a woman hostage at knifepoint in a Mason motel. A police officer shot and killed him, ending a nearly 12-hour standoff.
After the incident with Cromwell, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said River City should be "closed."
River City was designed as a community-based alternative to jail and prison for nonviolent offenders who would benefit from drug or alcohol treatment, life skills lessons and job training and opportunities, according to state records.
But the I-Team's investigation found River City has accepted dozens of offenders in recent years who had recent histories of violence and, in some cases — including Cromwell — had histories of serious mental illnesses that would not be directly addressed by River City's programs.
Mitchell said she kept a journal in River City because she found so many issues that concerned her and other women inmates.
In several entries, she wrote that there wasn't a 'resident supervisor' stationed in the women's pod on overnight shifts in September.
She said that made her feel "unsafe."
Inmates are required to complete a certain number of treatment hours to be 'successfully discharged' from River City. But Mitchell, two other ex-inmates and a former inmate supervisor — who spoke on background — told us some group sessions started late and ended early.
"When you're going through these kinds of treatments you need some consistency," Mitchell said. "We used to joke that the only thing consistent about River City is the inconsistency."
Mitchell's claims about the facility were echoed by two former River City employees who left the facility in 2022 and two ex-inmates who successfully completed the program in 2022.
The facility is owned by Hamilton County and funded by a $12,888,304 annual grant from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
The River City Facilities Governing Board has nine members who oversee the facility. The Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas appoints six members. Hamilton County Commissioners appoints three members.
The court, county commissioners, the board and River City Executive Director Scott McVey have all declined the I-Team's requests for an interview.
McVey — who has answered many of the I-Team's questions in emails — did not respond to our requests for comment on Mitchell's claims.
At a River City quarterly board meeting in October, McVey said the facility has 50-60% employee turnover. But he insisted that a full-time employee dedicated to training employees "will solve that."
"We're in good shape" financially, McVey said.
McVey also told the board that River City staff was providing more one-on-one time with offenders.
A month later, the I-Team revealedRiver City had hired inmate supervisors who had active criminal cases.
Armani Vaughn was hired in June to supervise inmates even though he was on probation for robbery, according to Hamilton County personnel records and court documents.
In an email to the I-Team, McVey wrote that Vaughn's employment ended about seven weeks later after his probation officer called River City to confirm he really worked there supervising inmates.
The I-Team also reported that River City hired Jamila Abdur-Rahman to supervise inmates, even though she had four active criminal charges, including felony drug possession. She was employed for about three months after warrants were issued for her arrest.
McVey admitted he learned about those warrants and her active criminal charges because the I-Team had asked him if she worked for River City. He confirmed that after checking her status, River City fired her.
Last month, Cincinnati attorney Fanon Rucker — a retired judge — told the I-Team he found it "troubling" that River City had hired Vaughn and Abdur-Rahman to supervise inmates.
"It can really cause people to question the integrity of the program itself," Rucker said.
The I-Team quickly and easily confirmed the records of Vaughn and Abdur-Rahman by searching for cases in their names on local Clerk of Court websites.
"How do they expect us to change ourselves if the people they're putting in charge of us haven't made a change in their lives?" Mitchell said.
