Atherton Community Treatment Center
Regional Chief
Aimee Griffiths
Deputy Regional Chief/Center Director
Craig Greenberg
Mailing Address
Atherton Community Treatment Center
2588 W. 2365 South
West Valley City, UT 84119
Telephone: 801-978-4500
Fax: 801-975-7720
The Atherton Community Treatment Center is housed in the former Fremont Community Correctional Center. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, it has housed males convicted of sex offenses for transitional and stabilization.
Before the pandemic, it was one of two facilities devoted to women. Featuring 60 beds, it was officially opened as a women’s facility on May 14, 2015.
Prior to that, it opened in the 1980s as the Fremont Community Correctional Center. It originally served men who were on probation or parole; it specialized in mental health and sex offender treatment.
The center is named after a true champion in the criminal justice community — Judge Judith Atherton. Judge Atherton, who retired from the bench in 2013 after a stellar legal career, has long been a vocal advocate for more community resources to meet the needs of offenders — particularly women — with substance abuse and mental health issues.
The Atherton center began accepting women clients on April 17, 2015, it was for women who have violated probation or parole conditions and were at risk of being returned to jail or prison.
The women were referred to the program by a probation or parole agent. Once in the program, they worked through a structured program that ranged in length from 7 days to 120 days, depending on individual needs.
The program was part of the Department’s Female Offender Success Initiative, which is based on the philosophy that programs and strategies used with female offenders should be gender responsive.
In part, that means addressing underlying trauma that may be at the root of poor choices; recognizing the importance of relationships in a woman’s life; and using rehabilitation strategies tailored to a woman’s needs. The tool used to determine those needs is the Women’s Risk Needs Assessment, developed by the University of Cincinnati.
The center’s programs at the time included education and employment help, an array of life skills classes (Moving On; Seeking Safety; Beyond Trauma; Parenting & Reunification, etc.), and health and relapse prevention courses.