Brown carpets and dorm-style living await Lisl Auman at Tooley Hall. She’ll share a room with three women, use a mall-style bathroom with eight stalls and save quarters to pay 75 cents for laundry.
Community corrections housing is intended to provide some of the comforts of home with some of the discipline of jail to help residents reintegrate into society, said Esther Smith, program director at Tooley Hall.
Auman, 29, was convicted in 1998 of felony murder in the slaying of of police officer Bruce VanderJagt and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
That conviction was thrown out in March, and last month she pleaded guilty to burglary and accessory to first-degree murder in exchange for a maximum sentence of 20 years.
A judge on Monday will decide her sentence, which prosecutors have agreed can be served in community corrections.
“This program is extremely structured,” said Rick Berry, Colorado director of operations for Community Education Centers, which operates Tooley Hall. “We want to afford them opportunities in employment (and) development and to reintegrate successfully.”
Tooley, where Auman has been accepted, is in an unassuming building in one of Denver’s industrial areas. Surrounded by factories, pipe yards and a railroad track, the house is home to 60 women.
The women live like college students with shared bedrooms, bathrooms and a dining hall but do not have the same freedoms.
They must turn lights out at midnight. They cannot enter any bedroom but their own. Visitors can be seen only in the cafeteria, and smoking must take place in the enclosed backyard.
Every resident is required to get a job, plan a budget, see a case manager weekly and attend classes on parenting and other life skills. Any outings must be planned and approved.
The longer a woman is in the program, the more leisure time she can earn. New residents, like Auman, cannot sign out unless it is for work, court or medical appointments.
Once a resident earns trust, she may be given up to 10 hours of leisure time as long as the outing is pre-approved by staff.
At any time, residents are apt to be asked for random urine samples or to take a Breathalyzer test. Those who violate the rules are sent back to jail.
Residents can receive visitors only for four hours on Saturdays and Sundays. All visitors must be pre-approved by staff.
The residents’ children may visit more often via social services and special arrangements.
“We do allow the children to visit with them, because that is a critical part of their recovery,” Smith said.
The average stay is six months. The remainder of longer sentences is served via a nonresidential program, which Smith said Auman will probably be diverted to after six months.
Nonresidential clients move out of the facility for the duration of their sentence but continue to be monitored by case managers and are required to continue with programs, classes and work. At the end of their sentences, they are discharged from the program completely, Berry said.
Staff writer Elizabeth Aguilera can be reached at 303-820-1372 or eaguilera@denverpost.com.
