Meet the Community Model developers and founders of
the Center for Therapeutic Justice
V. Morgan Moss, Jr., Ed. S., LPC,
LMFT, CCFC, NCC
Penny B. Patton, Ed. S.,
LPC, LMFT, CCFC
Licensed professional counselors, licensed marriage
and family therapists, clinically certified forensics counselors, and
educational specialists, Penny and Morgan as Co-Directors, founded the
Center for Therapeutic Justice (CFTJ) in 1999. They develop and
supervise Community Model programs in institutions, in drug courts, and
at probation agencies and are considered the national authorities on
social model programs in correctional settings.
CFTJ is the sole source for Community Model in
Correctionssm approach. With decades of experience in addictions and the
Criminal Justice System (CJS); treating the CJS with a systems approach,
they have developed addictions, anger management, and stop the violence
program materials and provided groups, briefings, workshops, and
conferences for correctional officers, law enforcement, drug courts,
probation/parole officers, substance abuse counselors, lawyers and
judges, incarcerated men and women, families of those serving time,
victims, and community agencies. Earlier, Morgan was the clinical
director at Williamsburg Place, a treatment center for both the general
public and impaired professionals.
Penny was the family therapist at Williamsburg Place
and developed an intensive 3 day program for families. Penny directed
the “Inner Reflections for Women” intensive addictions program in the
Newport News, Virginia city jail and then became the coordinator of
“Project Link”, a program for addicted mothers. As clinical supervisor
of mental health and substance abuse services at a regional jail in
Virginia, Morgan founded and directed the RISE (Recovery In a Secure
Environment) program with Penny as the Program Consultant. Per capita
RISE was among the largest jail substance abuse programs in the country
with 252 inmates in eight programs.
For several years, Morgan and Penny hosted “Recovery
Radio” out of Richmond, Virginia – a talk show with prominent national
guests discussing addictions and the criminal justice system and
continue to be regular guests on local and national talk shows while
advocating the Community Model in Correctionssm approach with national,
state, and local policymakers and citizens. They have authored two cover
stories in AMERICAN JAILS magazine and wrote an extensive book review
about the war on drugs for the same magazine in late 2006.
CFTJ work in corrections was featured in the Summer
2005 INSIGHTS from Open, Inc., a provider of addictions and reentry
program materials, in a 2003 CORRECTIONAL HEALTHCARE REPORT, and in a
2006 CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY report on the CJS. CFTJ has been featured
and referenced in numerous books. Additionally, CFTJ sponsors and
coordinates national retreats and summits that bring leaders, thinkers,
ex-offenders, and authors together to co-create community solutions in
the CJS. The goal of CFTJ is to change the culture of incarceration and
reentry in America.
Morgan and Penny promote correctional addictions
programming with an emphasis on self-help, mutual and social model
recovery. Excellent and supportive research on social model recovery
outside of the CJS exists and has been well documented. Research is
underway on CFTJ Community Model in Correctionssm, and data is being
analyzed along with much observational and anecdotal information that
has been gathered through various and numerous sources. Independently
the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services has begun the
process of a longitudinal study of recidivism for those completing a CM
program. In its third year, this study has shown excellent outcomes with
a substantial reduction in recidivism among those who have successfully
completed the program.
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