MAY/JUNE 2016 VOL. 25 NO.3
CO STRESS COMMISSARY TRAFFIC BOOSTERS
NONTRADITIONAL JUSTICE EDUCATION
CF M-J 16 p01-2 Cover_*Cover J/F 05 5/31/16 12:23 PM Page 2
CORRECTIONS
FORUM
Publisher & Executive Editor
Thomas S. Kapinos Assistant Publisher
Jennifer A. Kapinos
MAY/JUNE 2016
Associate Publishers Art Sylvie Peggy Virgadamo (480) 816-3448 asylvie@cox.net
(718) 456-7329 pegpaulv@aol.com
West
4 14 22 28 36 42 46 50
The Pulse
Northeast Central U.S. Sales Managers Bonnie Dodson (828) 479-7472
Editor-in-Chief
Donna Rogers
Going Green: Sustainable Solutions
Contributing Editors Michael Grohs, Kelly Mason, Bill Schiffner, G.F. Guercio Art Director
Jamie Stroud
Suffering in Silence: Corrections Officer Stress Commissary Traffic Boosters
CORRECTIONS FORUM (ISSN10729275) is published bi-monthly by: Criminal Justice Media, Inc 565 Pier Avenue PO Box 213 Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 (310) 374-2700 Send address changes to:
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MEDAL OF VALOR NOMINATION PERIOD OPENS MAY 31 The nomination period for the 2015-2016 Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor opens May 31, 2016. This medal is the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer, and is awarded by either the President or Vice President along with the Attorney General of the United States to public safety officers who have exhibited exceptional courage, regardless of personal safety, in the attempt to save or protect human life. To receive the medal, public safety officers must be nominated by the chief
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executive officer of their employing agencies. For information, go to https://www.bja.gov/. Nominations must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 31, 2016.
IDOC REGISTERS OVER 12K NEWLY RELEASED OFFENDERS FOR HIP 2.0 On May 12 the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC), reached an agency milestone by registering 12,071 releasing offenders for the HIP 2.0/Medicaid program. Last July, state law required that the Indiana Department of Correction begin applying for Medicaid/HIP 2.0 healthcare
coverage for all offenders released from their custody. Since individuals are not eligible for Medicaid while incarcerated unless they are admitted to a hospital, the Department moved quickly to use Presumptive Eligibility (HPE) to sign up its offenders. HPE permits offenders to be covered under Medicaid while hospitalized, allowing the hospital to bill Medicaid for approved services rather than the IDOC. By utilizing this method significant cost savings were achieved for IDOC’s healthcare provider, who then reimbursed the IDOC. In order to facilitate the onboarding process, the Department created the Medicaid Processing Unit, which completes health care coverage applications on behalf of all offenders 60 days prior to their release. As part of the re-entry program, staff encourages soon-to-be released offenders to utilize their coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatments, in addition to their medical needs. “While it was quite a challenge to construct a Medicaid on-boarding system from the ground up, we are satisfied with our processes and ecstatic about the results. We process a minimum of approximately 80 applicants per day,” stated Alexis Dean, executive director of Re-Entry and Medicaid. According to a report dated April 19, 2016, total Medicaid claims paid out since July 1, 2015, for IDOC offenders with Presumptive Eligibility is $3,859,519.09. “It [HIP 2.0] has helped me a lot. I have glasses, my teeth fixed, and my medicine,” said Latwan Scott a recently released offender currently on parole. IDOC currently utilizes its intake facilities to screen every offender
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who comes to the Department, using a daily report and master tracking database. These tools are used by the Medicaid Processing Unit to fulfill another requirement of Hip 2.0, which involves reporting offenders with active coverage to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), for suspension. Once notified, FSSA completes a status change which suspends the offender’s coverage due to incarceration, and the offender is able to easily reactivate coverage upon release. “The work we are doing is an important part of the Department’s re-entry efforts and helps our offenders to receive the medical, mental health and addiction recovery treatments they need upon release,” noted John Mather, Re-Entry Medicaid Monitor. “This is yet another way the Department is trying to make a positive impact on recidivism in Indiana.”
FORTY-SIX STATES ENACTED WIDE-RANGING CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS On May 26, the Vera Institute of Justice released a review of statelevel changes in sentencing and corrections laws enacted in 2014 and 2015, which revealed that as the federal government debates sentencing reform, nearly every state has taken action to reduce their reliance on over-incarceration, lower taxpayer costs, and improve public safety. Forty-six states made at least 201 changes to their sentencing and corrections laws, an increase in pace since Vera’s last comprehensive analysis in 2013. While several bills are currently pending, major reform at the federal level has not passed since the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced the disparity in sentencing 6 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
between crack and powder cocaine. In that time, states have increasingly served as laboratories of innovation in criminal justice reform. With more than 86 percent of people incarcerated in the United States held in state prisons, these reforms are a significant sign of progress. The report Justice in Review: New Trends in State Sentencing and Corrections 2014-2015 found that most of the 201 changes enacted focused on three stages of the criminal justice system: creating or expanding opportunities to divert people away from entering the system; reducing prison populations by making certain offenses eligible for community-based sentences, reducing the length and severity of custodial sentences, adding early release options, and reducing the number of people re-admitted for violating probation or parole; and supporting reentry into the community for those leaving prison. A few of the legislative trends the report found that states are responding to are: bail reform, reduction of fines and fees for criminal sentencing that may send the offender back to jail for failure to pay, and the reduction of solitary confinement. See more at www.vera.org
RE-ENTRY TRAINING SIMULATION GIVES JUDICIAL OFFICERS 'EXOFFENDER' EXPERIENCE According to a May 12 story in the Herald-Mail Media, West Virginia state and local probation officers, court personnel, law enforcement and other community members recently took on the roles of various ex-offenders in a training event that aimed to simulate the challenges faced by individuals attempting to transition from incarceration into
society. The re-entry simulation exercise was hosted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in collaboration with the probation office for the Northern District of West Virginia, and showed how difficult it can be for ex-offenders to find housing, employment and other key resources upon release from prison.
N.H. PRISONS STRUGGLE WITH STAFF SHORTAGES The New Hampshire Department of Corrections has shifted money in its budget to cover a $1.8 million shortfall in its overtime budget this year, which officials attributed to staffing shortages, the website Seacoastonline reported on May 22. The department is shifting $2.1 million from various parts of its budget to cover the overtime shortage through the end of the fiscal year. Corrections officials said the state corrections department averages about 60 vacancies a month.
FEDERAL PRISONS HELD 152 INMATES TOO LONG, REPORT STATES The Washington Post says that a federal watchdog report published on May 24 exposes the “untimely release” of inmates from federal prisons. The report, released by Michael E. Horowitz, the Justice Department’s inspector general (IG) says there were “157 untimely releases attributable to staff error” between 2009 and 2014. Of those, only five inmates were released too soon. The other 152 served too much time. Given the 462,000 people released during those years, BOP made few mistakes. Sixty percent of the inmates released late were set free within a month of the correct date and 38 percent were freed from 31 days to one year late. But
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MacArthur Foundation announced nearly $25 million in support for ambitious plans to create fairer, more effective local justice systems
• 11 jurisdictions will receive between $1.5M and $3.5M over two years to reduce their jail populations and address racial and ethnic disparities in their justice systems
• 9 jurisdictions will be given $150,000 grants to continue justice reform work
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each case represents a serious lapse for people incarcerated longer than they should have been. “Although these cases were rare and the overall error rate was low, several of these errors led to egregious results,” Horowitz said. In response to the report, a Justice Department spokesman, Patrick Rodenbush, said “the overall accuracy rate for timely release over a six-year period was 99.97 percent. “That being said, the Department of Justice is already taking affirmative steps to implement the recommendations of the Office of the Inspector General to further reduce instances of inappropriate untimely releases occurring,” according to Rodenbush. Horowitz’s office found the vast majority of mistakes, 127 of the 157, “were the result of errors made by the BOP office responsible for computing inmate release dates. The most common errors resulted from incorrect application of jail credit, incorrect determinations of primary jurisdiction between federal and state custody, and errors relating to concurrent versus consecutive sentences.” One person was incarcerated 541 days longer than ordered because jail time credit was not applied to the prison sentence. Late releases also are costly to taxpayers. The 152 late releases cost BOP $670,000 in extra incarceration cost, the IG estimates. That doesn’t include litigation and settlement expenses. Between 2009 and 2015, four lawsuits by inmates held too long were settled for between $90,000 and $295,000. Hickman settled for $175,000, but that doesn’t begin to pay him back, the article notes.
“That’s lost time I’ll never get back,” he told the StarTribune, “lost time with my kids and family, lost time that they never get back, as well.”
ADDRESSING MASS INCARCERATION WITH EVIDENCEBASED REFORM Across partisan, ideological, and racial lines, Americans are rethinking the country’s criminal justice system, according to an April article by The Brookings Institution. The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 2123) and the Sentencing Reform Act of 2015 (H.R. 3713) have passed out of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees respectively and earned support from a bipartisan group of elected officials, the White House, and advocacy organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union and Koch Industries. Criminal justice reform must strike a balance between reducing the federal prison population and safeguarding the public from crime. The Senate bill, as well as its House companion, would reduce mandatory minimum sentence length for certain offenders and expand recidivism reduction programming. According to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act addresses “legitimate over-incarceration concerns while targeting violent criminals and masterminds in the drug trade.” Recently, however, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has led a cadre of conservatives in objecting to criminal justice reform. Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Cotton declared the legislation a “massive social experiment in criminal leniency… [that] threatens to undo the his-
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toric drops in crime we have seen over the past 25 years.” The article examines the prison buildup—it states the combined local, state, and federal prison pop-
ulations in the United States totaled 2,306,117 in 2014, the most recent year for which data is available. Between 1980 and 2013, the most recent year for which com-
prehensive time-series data is available, the combined federal, state, and local prison populations ballooned, increasing 340% from 503,600 to 2,200,300 individuals. In this time period, the federal population expanded most rapidly, with an increase of 786% from 24,363 to 215,866 individuals. The authors note the steep increase in the rate of admission is attributed to a number of factors including prosecution, investigation, and sentencing rates, while the length of time served also considerably increased. The authors believe that targeting low-level drug reform and certain weapons offenses would have the greatest impact on reform. They conclude by saying: “As lawmakers assess criminal justice reform in the Senate and in the House, they must recognize the gravity of the over-incarceration epidemic and look to the facts as they consider the offenders who would be affected by reform.” See the full report at http://www.brookings.edu/
WIS. PRISON SECRETARY GIVES $10M PAY RAISE TO GUARDS The Wisconsin DOC is raising correctional officers' pay in a move to boost recruitment and retention, reported The Associated Press via WBAY. Beginning June 26, correctional officers, sergeants and youth counselors will receive 80 cents more an hour. COs and sergeants at maximum security prisons in Waupun, Green Bay and Portage, as well as counselors at the state's youth prison in Irma, will get an additional 50 cents an hour from May 29 through Jan. 7. Employees who won't receive a raise will be eligible for bonuses. Corrections officials 10 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
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say the raises are expected to cost about $10 million annually, which will be covered with existing funds.
NJ AIMS FOR JANUARY REOPENING OF FORT DIX PRISON FOR DRUG TREATMENT New Jersey’s prison population is dropping, as is the recidivism rate, and the state’s use of Drug Courts for many nonviolent offenders is seen as among the key reasons why, according to a report on radio station NJ101.5.com. Fifty-three percent of inmates entering New Jersey’s correctional system have a history of moderate to severe use of drugs, alcohol or both. Some get diverted to halfway houses, but those who pose more than a minimum security risk are going to get a new treatment option starting in early 2017. New Jersey plans to reopen the Mid-State Correctional Facility at Fort Dix as a licensed drug treatment center. The center would accommodate 696 male inmates and provide moderate to high intensity treatment services, with less intense outpatient services continuing to be provided at other prisons. The state closed Mid-State Correctional Facility in 2014, transferred its inmates to other facilities and began $24 million in renovations. Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan said the state will look to close and renovate another of the state’s 12 prisons once Mid-State comes online in roughly a year.
In his 2017 proposed budget, President Obama has asked Congress for $1.1 billion in new funding to address the nation's opioid epidemic
• Much of it is focused on treatment assisted by medication
MOVING FROM A PRISON CELL TO A VOTING BOOTH Former inmates in Maryland are able to cast votes this primary season, noted a BBC News Magazine April report. The Maryland legislature restored the voting rights of 40,000 former inmates in February. Maryland is the 14th state to allow former prisoners to vote as soon as they are released, regardless of additional probation or parole time. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has announced that he is restoring the voting rights of 200,000 men and women with felony records by executive order. 12 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
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BY BILL SCHIFFNER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES CONTINUE TO EXPLORE MORE SUSTAINABLE OPERATING SOLUTIONS.
A group of female inmates take part in KBI’s Flexi-Pave training session at the Shelby County Detention Center, Shelbyville, Ky.
The
added benefits of having an environmentally-friendly facility are giving corrections administrators nationwide the impetus to find even more sustainable ways to save on energy and other operating costs. This growing green trend is also leading to improved rehabilitative environments with training options and future job opportunities for their populations. Tommy Norris, chairman of ACA’s Clean and Green Committee, AJA’s Eco Aisle and CEO/founder of GreenPrisons.org, reports “sustainable management continues to grow in corrections as more and more administrators understand the savings that can be generated and the new jobs and training opportunities for offenders that can be fulfilled.” 14 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
He adds that inmates are finding a new purpose when given the opportunity to participate in green projects like gardening programs, and installation of new technology such as solar thermal heating and porous pavement installation.
Cutting Energy Costs Correctional facilities use relatively huge amounts of water and electricity because of their 24-7 occupancy levels and usage needs. More and more facilities around the country are assessing their current energy savings opportunities. With rising natural gas, electric and oil prices, correctional facilities are starting to utilize alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power. For example, the Federal Correctional
Center in Victorville, Calif., utilizes a wind turbine and a covered parking structure equipped with solar panels to generate electricity. In addition, the Indiana Department of Corrections uses biomass corn boilers in some locations as a less expensive, cleaner-burning source for many of their energy needs.
Solar Solutions In 2014, Solar America Solutions completed one of the biggest non-utility solar thermal installations in North America, providing solar thermal hot water and space heating systems in offender housing facilities at the Ross Correctional Institution in Chillicothe, Ohio. Ross Correctional Institution is a 1,700-acre facility that houses 2,027 offenders.
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Solar America has also developed a multi-week training program that provides inmates who successfully complete the training with certificates from the company as solar installers. In at least one instance, it has produced tangible job offers for two offenders post release.
Lighting Upgrades Facilities are also finding energy savings by switching their lighting from fluorescents to LEDs. The Charlie Byrd Youth Corrections Center Yreka, Calif., was able to increase security and lower their energy costs by adding LED lighting solutions from the Bob Barker Company. “Our new LED lighting solutions…have cut recycling fees and maintenance time and also reduced energy costs,” reports Jon Hall, maintenance and grounds at the facility. “The support in the transition was very helpful and Bob Barker’s staff spent time researching the right LEDs for existing fixtures.”
Dealing with Water Issues A new product that is helping bring savings and longer useful life to equipment is the EasyWater NoSalt Water Conditioning System. “This salt-free water treatment system eliminates hard water buildup without maintenance, salt or chemicals,” explains Bill F. Freije, president/CEO. “The use of the EasyWater system can extend the life of equipment such as ice makers, boilers and hot w a t e r heaters,” he adds. T h e SunQuest 250 collectors installed on a M i a m i cell block at the Ross Correctional Correctional Facility in Chillicothe, Ohio. It is curFacility, an rently the largest non-utility solar therIndiana State mal system in North America. Prison in Bunker Hill, Ind., has long suffered from the problems associated with lime scale. Maintenance and replacement of water heater coils, hot water mixing valves, hot water recirculation pumps and piping has been an almost continuous problem. Recently, they decided to install the EasyWater No-Salt Conditioning Systems on both the cold and hot water of two dormitory buildings that had a long history of scaling issues. The two coils were viewed again after 30 days of treatment and were much cleaner. After 90 days the coils were viewed again and according to David Waggoner, maintenance supervisor at the facility “the exchanger 16 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
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such places as Arlington National Cemetery and cityscapes all over the world. KBI president, Kevin Bagnal has made a significant commitment to the corrections industry including the creation of a corrections division that has developed training curriculum/ certification in the installation of Flexi-Pave for inmates with special pricing and support available for prison industry programs.
Eco Products CLEANING SYSTEM PortionPac Chemical Corporation is proving safer chemistry results in even better cleaning performance. Surpassing Green Seal and ASTM performance standards, the new CorrectPac Cleaning System is a state of the
Cutting Down on Waste
EasyWater’s No-Salt Conditioning Systems are being installed in a number of correctional facilities across the country.
was clean as was the tank. I could not even feel any calcium buildup with my hands. It was as clean as the day it was installed. As a result of the successful test, we decided to have the system installed at the rest of the facility.”
Paving Systems Training K.B. Industries (KBI) brings true sustainability to water management in corrections. Their patented porus pavement called Flexi-Pave can be poured like concrete yet inmates can be trained to mix and apply it in hours. It is said to be particularly useful in instances of standing water on walkways or parking lots. This product, while new to corrections, has been used in 18 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
With every inmate producing pounds of waste of all types on a daily basis, it is important for management to not just get the lowest price for hauling waste but reducing the number and size of each dumpster/compactor. Deep Green offers a solution that not only provides those services but also conducts a waste audit for the facility at no charge to develop the most cost-effective approach to waste management. Deep Green does not haul the waste itself but through its national network of waste haulers can frequently get rates well below those in response to an RFP. The savings it generates can cover all of the Deep Green expenses and still save an institution money over their current contracts.
Composting Capabilities Norris says that the growth of sustainability in corrections is further reflected by the addition of dedicated space in the exhibit halls at the conferences of the industry’s two largest professional associations. “The American Correctional Association’s (ACA) Green Aisle and the American jail Association’s (AJA) Eco Aisle continue to reflect the interest of their members in sustainable products, services and technology.” Here’s a sampling of some the latest sustainable products for the corrections marketplace.
art innovation to help people work safer and clean better. Its improved CorrectPac System offers: no hazards as defined by the OSHA HazCom Standard, more Green Seal certifications than ever before and is biodegradable and alcohol free. www.portionpaccorp.com, 1.800.289.7725
LED LIGHTING UPGRADES Upgrading a facility’s lighting system to more energy efficient LED lights can provide huge electricity savings. Lower energy usage lower equals lower maintenance costs. Offers 50,000+ hour life span, 5-year warranty. Replace the fluorescent ballast
with LED drivers and exchange the bulbs. Higher lighting output means better visibility, longer life span, fewer lockdowns and
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increased safety. Call for a free lighting evaluation. www.bobbarker.com, 1.800.334.9880
SOLAR SOLUTIONS
ment of hard water. The CS500 prevents new scale build-up and eliminates existing build-up for many applications. It eliminates scale in water heaters, which
Solar America Solutions brings affordable Solar Thermal Energy to correctional facilities and operations. The company manufactures their patented SunQuest 250 evacuated tube solar thermal collector panel, said to be the
most efficient product of its kind. This 25-bulb collector has an 88square foot absorption area within only a 3x7-square-foot rooftop area. It has proven to develop over 35,000 BTU’s per hour at US and International independent laboratories. www.solaramericasolutions.com, 317.688.8581
POROUS PAVING SYSTEM Facilities continue to face budget challenges for not only new capital projects, but ongoing maintenance expenses continue to balloon out of control. KBI’s Flexi-Pave and suite of sustainable infrastructure products provide agencies a unique solution
screen water management console for maximum control of your facility’s plumbing system. Set runtimes, control lockouts and control the savings. www.i-con.com, 1.800.240.3578
WASTE MANAGEMENT
saves about 30% in heating water. Prisons use about 50 gallons of hot water per day per inmate. When facilities can save 30% or more of that by keeping the insulating scale from the water heaters, it also saves on maintenance. www.EasyWater.com, 1.888.766.7258
WATER MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL The Award-Winning NEXUS Controller is at the heart of ICON’s water management system, designed to increase security and maximize water efficiency by up to 70% in a correctional facili-
Deep Green sustainable waste and recycling specializes in the energy efficient processing of waste management and recycling with a more cost-effective and less time-consuming approach for clients. They offer green services nationwide that are customized to meet every client’s specialized need. They provide multiple services and equipment in the management and regulation of waste, compacting services, the hauling of waste at reduced cost, reduction of waste through recycling, and more, to a variety of companies and government agencies. www.deepgreenwaste.com, 855.846.3337
GREEN CLEANERS Spartan’s Correct Clean is a program designed to help local jails and state prisons effectively and safely clean while minimizing costs. It utilizes state-of-the-art product formulations and industry-leading procedures to maintain facilities that are safe, secure and sanitary. Customizable training and monitoring tools ensure a facility is complaint with ACA and state/local standards. www.spartanchemical.com, 1.800.537.8990
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
in the form of long-life, virtually zero-maintenance products for every application. http://kbius.com, 727.723.3300
NO-SALT CONDITIONER EasyWater’s Model CS500 NoSalt Conditioner provides an economical, maintenance free treat20 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
ty setting. The NEXUS 8 I/O Controller operates as a standalone or communicating eight input/eight output controller used to control up to eight lavatory, shower or flush sensors and valves. Multiple controllers can be networked and linked to an ICON ENVISAGE powered touch-
As a top supplier of maintenance, repair and operations materials, Grainger has thousands of products that can help departments run more sustainable facilities. Efficient energy management, water conservation, waste reduction and air quality improvement can all lead to tremendous cost savings. www.grainger.com/gogreen, 1.800.472.4643
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BY MICHAEL GROHS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Corrections officers suffer more stress than many other occupations, and it is exhibited by early disability retirement, high turnover and suicide.
jobs stay in the workplace when the shift is over. Other jobs, such as teaching, get taken home so the teacher can grade and prepare for the next day. Some jobs get taken home when
Some
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the person worries about things like the economy or if a patient might fail and need help. Correctional officers (COs), though, have a job that should be able to stay in the workplace and doesn’t. A shadow follows them home. There is a saying that COs
are serving time, too. They just get paid for it. In 2000, the author Ted Conover completed the course at the Albany Training Academy for New York State corrections officers and wrote the book “Newjack” about the year he spent as a CO at Sing-Sing.
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The term “eight and the gate” is not an apt one for COs. The thought of not bringing the job home is a good one in theory, but as Conover wrote, “I was like my friend who had worked the pumps at a service station: Even after she got home and took a shower, you could still smell the gasoline on her hands.” According to insurance data, veteran correctional officers experience a life expectancy of about 59 years, nearly eighteen fewer than the average population. It is a job filled with stress, burnout, and with less reverence from the population than those in other Uniformed Services. Correctional officers deal with actual violence, the constant threat of violence, manipulation by demanding inmates, overcrowding, competition for better assignments among other COs and are often left with feelings of isolation, burnout, and being misunderstood by friends, family and the general public. There is also the matter, as Conover wrote, of “the most stressful scenario a CO could ever possibly face: being held hostage.” There are more than 2.3 million prisoners in the U.S and about a half million COs, a growing disparity in itself responsible for officer stress. Stress is known to be a catalyst for other health related issues. According to a study conducted by the Archive of Suicide Research, the suicide rate for COs is 39% higher than other occupations. Between 2011 and 2015, 12 COs at the Massachusetts Department of Corrections committed suicide. That figure does not include suicides of recent retirees and those who worked at county jails. Between 2009 and 2013, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which tracks violent deaths, reported 20 suicides in the state whose occupation was listed as “correctional officer.” Correctional facilities have had a strong economic impact in southern Colorado. They have had a tragic personal impact as well. The suicide rate in Fremont County is nearly twice as high as the statewide average. Dr. Susan Balaban is a psychologist who runs the Uniformed Service Program at the Brattleboro Retreat in Vermont, which offers treatment services specifically geared for, among other branches, correctional officers. She points out that COs are a uniformed group who traditionally do not get a lot of attention yet they are a branch of service who often suffers from high substance abuse rates, PTSD, depression, and suicide. Caterina Spinaris, founder of Desert Waters Correctional Outreach and an expert on correctional research and who coined the term “correction fatigue,” found that more than one third of COs suffers from PTSD. (The rate for military veterans is about 14%.) Correctional officers work in an environment with an intense, looming threat in which they can only be reactive rather than proactive. The stress levels are high. They start seeing gruesome things and are not accustomed to talking about it with VISIT US AT WWW.CORRECTIONSFORUM.NET
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friends and family. Witnessing inmates being attacked, COs being attacked, and suicides has a strong impact on stress levels. One issue that exacerbates the matter is the professional environment—the correctional corporate culture. There is a tremendous focus on efficiency, says Balaban. The romanticism the public often associates with the police and the military does not translate to COs, and some of the camaraderie people attach to the uniformed services is not experienced by COs. A Department of Justice Report called Addressing Correctional Officer Stress: Programs and Strategies found that 22% of staff viewed “other staff” as creating more stress than any other single factor except for dealing with hostile and demanding inmates. Among the reasons were burned out coworkers constantly venting their frustrations, the competition for a limited amount of choice assignments, and apprehension that a coworker will refuse to back them in a confrontation with inmates because they are too inexperienced as a result of high turnover, or they do not have the physical or emotional strength to be effective. On top of it, the profession tends to have a negative social image. It is a profession not often portrayed in a positive light by the media. The environment also tends to have less peer support than other uniformed services. It is not a culture where one can easily admit to having prob-
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lems, and says Balaban, there seems to be more acrimony among coworkers and less peer support than is often found in other uniformed services. Officers are often reluctant to admit they are struggling, which leads to isolation. This is also a stoic population, says Balaban, who are very good at hiding signs. They might not seek help for fear of being sanctioned, and they are also not likely to seek help until it exacerbates, such as missing work, substance abuse, money management, etc. An officer under duress might use all of his or her sick days not coming to work, which can add to the acrimony among her or her coworkers. (One captain who responded to the Justice report judged that 90% of officers abuse sick time in this manner.) Turnover is high, and according to the Justice report, stress has been implicated as a reason for officer disability retirements. The report furthers that incorporating a stress program can reduce turnover. In an instance in which inmates killed a civilian, 17 officers went on disability leave; seven never returned. Five of the 17 went for individual counseling, and of those five, four returned. (The one who did not was the officer who discovered the body.) When it comes to COs obtaining help, there is often an uncooperative or even an obstructionist atmosphere. One CO Balaban spoke to sought financial help after he was attacked on the job. He was told by supervisors that he did not have PTSD because he did not immediately report it, which is not how it works. (It takes about a month to present.) Another CO at a facility in Colorado, as reported by the Denver Post, was attacked by an inmate wielding a six-inch shank. The officer was stabbed in the face and neck numerous times while other inmates shouted, “Kill him! Kill him!” It was more than three minutes before backup arrived and intervened. Following the attack, the CO’s supervisors offered no counseling. The warden simply asked the officer when he would be back to work. The officer is now a railroad employee in Texas. Says Balaban, it is up to those running the facility to support Employee Assistance Programs and ensure that there is more of an incentive to seek help, and if an officer does seek help, they must be assured that they will not be in trouble such as if they are seeking help for substance abuse, they will not be punished. The onus, Balaban says, is not for supervisors to find solutions to problems; it is to not shame an officer if they need help. Furthermore, there is also not a clear system for COs to get help. Officers are often not given information on how to seek help, and there is usually no across-the-board policy and little, if any, centralization. Most advocacy programs arise from COs and families of COs. (Massachusetts has introduced a Bill [Resolve S. 1254] to create “a special commission to study the prevention of suicide amongst prisoners and correctional officers in Massachusetts VISIT US AT WWW.CORRECTIONSFORUM.NET
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correctional facilities.” It has since been referred to the committee on Senate Ways and Means.)
Comorbidity of PTSD and Depression Studies have found that individually depression and PTSD contribute to higher rates of suicide, but a real concern with correctional officer well-being, says Balaban, is comorbidity. “I’ve never seen anyone with chronic PTSD who did not suffer from depression.” She furthers, “The stress is going to get dealt with. It’s a high pressure environment, and it’s going to come out somehow.” Particular problems, she points out, are combinations of trauma, chronic stress, and chronic pain from injuries. (A chronic phenomenon across the country from which COs are by no means immune is addiction to pain killers. In an occupation wrought with physical injury, the slope to opioid abuse is not a long one. Opioids numb pain, and they numb feelings.)
Signs of Stress
Duty-related stress can affect anyone. According to the Brattleboro Retreat, signs that something might be wrong include having a specific critical incident playing over and over in an officer’s mind. A CO might feel exhausted yet edgy and unable to relax. A nagging injury may lead to depression. The job might start affecting an officer’s marriage and home life, he or she might spend less and less time with friends and loved ones, and of course drinking too much and/or abusing prescription or other drugs. As Balaban points out, oftentimes in schools children with ADHD don’t get treatment until they start causing problems for others. It can be the same with PTSD. Once the matter becomes disciplinary, an officer might be pressured to seek assistance. One potential solution, suggested the Justice report, might be prevention. The report noted that developing a stress program has benefits. There is a financial benefit in regards to sick time and the
subsequent officer replacement overtime. Many administrators also reported that officers involved in a personal crises who were offered stress services returned to work more quickly than those who were not. Stress programs can reduce turnover. (When Conover wrote “Newjack,” the Department was in a period of unprecedented need for new officers due to high turnover and higher-than-usual retirement rates.) Other respondents reported higher morale, improved performance, increased security, and improved relations with the union. There is, though, says Balaban, not much being done to develop ways of processing stress, yet the concept for such measures is not new. “Even the Romans and feudal Japanese had methods for this.”
For more information or to contact the Brattleboro retreat, see their website at www.brattlebororetreat.org or call 1.800.738.7328.
Stress has been implicated as a reason for officer disability retirements. It has been found that incorporating a stress program can reduce turnover. 26 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
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BY G.F. GUERCIO, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
WIN-WIN IN THE COMMISSARY:
Commissary Traffic Boosters Measure Up Traffic boosters run the gamut from food specialties to hygiene items to entertainment paraphernalia.
oosting traffic in the commissary with a plethora of products— whether electronics like radios and e-readers, foods from spicy to sweet, or comfort and entertainment items like health-and-beauty aids, stationery, games or cigarettes—all produce a win-win situation for the commissary in sales and in inmate satisfaction. One of the most desired items for inmates is music. “Radio becomes a ‘must have’ popular item for inmates,” says Jessica Gonzalez, administrative assistant, Sangean America, Inc., since “inmates tend to listen to radios all day long if they are allowed. Sangean radios are very highquality, last long, are not easy to break—security measures prevent easily opening the radio cabinet— and they have better reception.” Nationwide, Sangean DT120CL is the best seller since it’s a powerful small pocket radio, Gonzalez says. The Models MMR77CLX and PR-D9CPWX are also good sellers as these two were
B
28 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
chosen by the Califorinia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for a state radio loaner program. “Each state has their own radio requirements and restrictions, and with our wide range of radio selections, a commissary should be able to find radios in our extensive product lines to meet their correction facility radio guidelines,” she notes. Sangean offers many clear-case radios, headphones and earplugs for correction distribution, Gonzalez adds. “We make large or small radios, with or without battery-operation, self-powered radios, digital or analog-tuned radios. We also custom make radios per customers’ requirements.” Other clear electronics continue to be big sellers with companies offering clear MP3 players with CD players, and even an Xbox system for gaming. In hygiene, Oraline’s focus is security-conscious oral care and
A Sangean radio chosen by California for its state radio loaner program. In addition to radios, Sangean provides headphones and earphones for corrections.
health-and-beauty aids for commissary sales, says Kyle Roberts, sales manager, OraLine Secure Care Products. “Traditionally inmates have had to use inferiorperforming products as safety design changes drove what products were allowed in facilities. Today, Oraline offers a line of products that provide comprehensive, safety-first engineering and customer satisfaction,” he states. Similarly, the biggest selling category at Bob Barker is personal
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Oraline’s toothbrush and UFlosser are part of a new generation product line that provide safety as well as comfort for the inmate.
care says Product Manager Erin Howell. Name brand products sell well: “Oil of Olay Body Wash, Dial Body Wash, and Colgate Single Packet Toothpaste.” As for new products she notes the Female Triple-Blade Razor designed with rubber grip and a lubricating strip. Other big sellers include greeting cards available in English and Spanish, bedphone earbuds designed for sleeping to block out noise and for everyday use, an ereader with 140-plus books, and card games, board games and dictionaries in English and Spanish. In the entertainment category, Beth Kennedy, Oasis Inmate Commissary Services, adds inmate tablets as their newest technology offering with features similar to dorm kiosks “but with a few more options such as e-books, radio, secure messaging, and video visitation.” In addition, she adds, “Oasis Commissary offers a whole technology package: inmate accounting software, deposit kiosks, booking managers, dorm 30 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
kiosks, telephone ordering and debit card release,” she says. “The technology offered by commissary companies has changed dramatically over the years.” The corrections environment is constantly evolving, agrees Jamie Mosley, Kentucky Laurel County Jailer and the founder of CrossBar Safer Nicotine Products, a bendable electronic cigarette for exclusive distribution within the corrections industry. “The electronic cigarette industry will soon be regulated by the FDA and we at CrossBar are in support of the FDA regulations. Many of the areas of compliance reflect the proactive measures that are already standard practices of our company and products. Things such as product liability insurance, laboratory testing, pharmaceutical grade ingredients, and quality control measures are just some of the issues that are already in place at CrossBar.” Those that sell electronic cigarettes tout their benefits saying they reduce contraband, improve morale and generate revenue. They offer a high Comal BBQ Pulled Pork is one of Union Supply Group’s new response to the commissary’s demand for Hispanic food offerings and is gluten free and contains no preservatives.
profit margin, vendors say. Other than revenue, safety is another big factor in the facility equation. “There is a high demand for safer products inside because of overcrowding,” notes Julie Dellies, general manager for No-Shank, Inc., a retired correctional officer at the county and state levels. She adds, “The current trends show an increase in mentally unstable inmates.” Due to this, No-Shank’s biggest selling product is the fingertip toothbrush. “It is designed for high-security inmates. There is no handle, it fits snuggly on your finger; therefore, it is much safer,”
The biggest seller for Trinity Services Group is ramen noodles, particularly spicy flavors, which makes up about four percent of all sales in the warehouse.
Dellies says. And the general population toothbrush has a handle that collapses under pressure. In addition to the two types of toothbrushes, No-Shank carries a high-security mini razor and super flex pen and super flex pencils made to flex under pressure. As for variety, there is red, blue, and black ink. She notes, “Offering a variety of products can be used as an incentive program, which, in turn, creates a safer environment.” Sweet snacks continue to do well. “In the confections environment, the biggest seller is the Snickers Single bar, says Ashley Jarrett, business development manager, Advantage Military, Mars Chocolate North America. “In the commissary, Single bars
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M-J 16 P28-35 commissary_master template 5/26/16 8:01 PM Page 31
The biggest sellers in the confections category for Mars Chocolate North America are Snickers, Twix and Peanut M&M, and they’ve added the Snickers Crisper.
sell better than the King Size bars because of the price point. With limited funds available, inmates want to get to the most out of their dollar.” “The Snickers Single, M&M Peanut Single and Twix Caramel Single are our core items that tend to be our best performers year after year. Consumers know and are familiar with their favorite brands,” she says, adding, “We remain loyal to the core items, but also introduce innovation into the assortment. An example would be the Snickers Crisper, an extension to the Snickers brand.” Other than confections, Hispanic food items have always been very popular sellers in prison commissaries, according to Debbi Drewry, director of Marketing, Union Supply Group, “Our Food Express White Rice, Sayulita Nacho Tortilla Chips and Back Country Chorizo continue to top the sales charts.” Most recently, Union Supply Group introduced eight new Comal Hispanic seasoned meat products to its product line. The Comal meat products are all gluten free and contain no preservatives for those health conscious inmates, she says. “The shredded chicken and carnitas are also made 32 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
with 100 percent natural ingredients. The Comal Hispanic offerings contain three chicken products, four pork products and one beef product, and are all sure to please the prison population.” “We find that our inmate consumers have two top choices— the first being ramen noodles, the second being anything spicy,” relates Stacy Langin, associate VP,Marketing for Aramark Correctional Services. “It’s all about spicy: From spicy wasabi potato chips to sriracha peanuts, our consumers crave products that are packed with flavor.” “We use retail data to keep our menus refreshed
and relevant, and run quarterly promotions to ensure we are keeping things fresh.” She says Aramark’s history of expertise in the retail business is critical to running the commissary effectively. “Providing offenders with name-brand products, and a regular calendar of promotions, keeps them satisfied.” These on-ear headphones, designed to block out noise while sleeping and for everyday use, are big sellers in the commissary for Bob Barker.
Agreeing satisfaction is key, Jacob Koch, district manager, Trinity Services Group, says their nationwide presence allows the flexibility to carry popular name brand items and the ability to offer regional favorites like Coke in the
Between the card games, board games and dictionaries, Bob Barker offers many to choose from in English and Spanish with some games accommodating up to six players. VISIT US AT WWW.CORRECTIONSFORUM.NET
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helps to keep commissary sales high, but it is also an excellent behavior modification tool for correctional facilities.” Again that win-win situation.
Aramark researches food trends and other data to ensure they see to the inmates’ needs.
South and Mountain Dew in the Midwest/Midsouth. “When these popular items are offered, it keeps money coming into the
No-Shank’s flexible products include pens, pencil, toothbrushes and razors for optimal security and inmate comfort conditions.
jail, which typically means greater cost recovery on inmate debt. Name brands create a win-win for everyone.” “Trinity’s biggest seller across the country is ramen noodles, particularly the chili flavored variety,” making up about 3 percent to 4 percent of sales. “The ramen noodles are always closely followed in popularity by both coffee and pastries.” In the past several years, he notes, they’ve seen the food items like the ramen and pastries replace the stamped envelope as their most popular item. “This is due primarily to the new technology 34 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
that companies like Trinity bring to the industry that allow inmates different and faster means of communicating with their loved ones, be it video visitation, new phone systems, or inmate email on cell kiosks or tablets. “While all of the innovations are exciting for all of us,” he continues, “including the inmates, we can’t lose sight of how important the commissary is to the inmates. It’s usually one of the only things they look forward to, and having the name brand and popular items available to them not only
The stamped envelope from Trinity Services Group is no longer the most popular item due to technology accessed by Trinity that allows inmates to communicate through video visitation, phone systems, or inmate email on cell kiosks or tablets.
Many of the new FDA regulations for electronic cigarettes are already standard practices at CrossBar.
For more information: Sangean America, Inc., 562.941.9900, 1.888.SANGEAN, www.SANGEAN.com, sales@sangean.com OraLine Secure Care Products, 888.296.6730, www.oraline.net, kroberts@oraline.net Trinity Services Group, 855.705.5538, www.trinityservicesgroup.com, marketing@trinityservicesgroup.com Union Supply Group, 310.604.4626, 888.308.6466, www.unionsupplygroup.com, DDrewry@unionsupplygroup.com Oasis Inmate Commissary Services, 800.856.2747, www.oasiscommissary.com, bkennedy@oasiscommissary.com Aramark Corporation, 800.777.7070, aramarkcorrections.com Bob Barker Company, Inc., 800.334.9880, www.bobbarker.com No-Shank, Inc., 800.705.4545, 906.273.2500, www.no-shank.com, 1721summit@gmail.com Advantage Military for Mars Chocolate, 757.204.2356, ashley.jarrett@advantagemilitary.net CrossBar, www.smokecrossbar.com, 606.260.3668
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M-J 16 P28-35 commissary_master template 5/26/16 8:02 PM Page 35
BY DONNA ROGERS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
On
average, the level of education an individual has attained correlates directly with their earning power, and their ability to stay employed. In fact according to Bureau of Labor Statistics report on employment in 2015 those with a doctoral or professional degree only have an unemploy36 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
ment rate of about 1.6% and earn on average more than $1,600 per week, while someone with an associates degree earned about $800 a week and was about twice as likely to be unemployed. An individual without a high school diploma earned an average of $493 per week, and their unemployment rate stood at 8%. Besides earning power, achieving a more advanced degree produces other perks. Higher educa-
tion can lead to less turnover, more personal fulfillment, a better understanding of what it takes to excel at one’s position, and enrichment of those the employee may interrelate with. In the case of a corrections officer position, which is known to have high turnover and low pay, gaining an education can attribute to improved stress management, better understanding the rehabilitation needs of
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offenders and a higher level of overall safety in the institution. A crop of specialty universities around the country provide curriculum that is targeted directly toward corrections staff. These provide both certification and degree programs for correctional staff in various fields—from Criminal Justice Administration to Corrections, and Law to Social and Behavioral Sciences. For busy corrections professionals, often working shifts and juggling families, these higher ed programs are offered at various offsite locations, at a correctional facility, or for the ultimate self-paced option—online. The following are several higher education options that provide coursework specifically for corrections staff.
California Coast University in Santa Ana was founded in 1973 to serve students whose geographic, professional, or personal time commitments keep them from completing their education in traditional on-campus programs. Their accredited, selfpaced courses are all offered online and are customized to fit student’s needs. Both degree and certificate programs are available, with areas of study in Criminal Justice, Management, Business, General Studies, Psychology and Health Care. Their reach is global, says Mahsa Karimi, director of Business Development, but most of their students are in the U.S. “We serve a large network of law enforcement officials including police and correctional officers. We also work with inmates.” It is so difficult for working professionals to take time out to attend college, she notes. “We offer working professionals the opportunity to continue their education without disrupting their already busy lives. “Self-paced programs with 38 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
affordable rates,” she furthers, “allow them to reach their educational goals. Our programs have helped many officers achieve promotions and increases in pay as well as [eventually] open doors for possible future employment outside of law enforcement.”
The vision of the University of Phoenix is to be recognized as the most-trusted provider for careerrelevant higher education for working adults,” says Dr. Franzi Walsh, program dean, University of Phoenix College of Security and Criminal Justice. The College of Security and Criminal Justice focuses on individuals who currently are working in the public sector and who may need a degree to grow within their current careers, or who would like to transition into a career in public service, she continues. Program offerings align well to the many public and a few private sector jobs within most cities, counties and states, as well as the federal levels of government, Dr. Walsh details. These programs include a BS in criminal justice administration or in public administration, or master of science degree programs in administration of justice and security, and public administration. The University works with correctional agencies when there is an academic need, Dr. Walsh explains. For example, the University runs an onsite cohort for the BSCJA degree at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California State Prison, Corcoran. The degree programs are composed of students who work in various roles in the correctional facility and who are from various correctional facilities. University of Phoenix offers programs both in an online format and at physical campus locations. Its programs span globally via online offerings, and courses
are approved for the online modality in all 50 states. The University also has multiple physical campus locations in states with large concentrations of criminal justice or University of Phoenix students. Additionally, many faculty members were former wardens, deputy wardens, captains, sergeants, administrators, nursing staff, etc., from correctional facilities or jails. Many university practitioner faculty hold supervisory positions within correctional facilities across the U.S.
Kaplan University provides innovative undergraduate, graduate, and continuing professional education for adult learners, according to Bryon Mills, director, Government Education Solutions. Kaplan is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and, he adds, many of their offerings are also accredited by program-specific accrediting agencies and approval grantors. The University comprises online schools and has 16 ground locations across the country including Concord Law School in Los Angeles as well as locations in the Midwest and on the East Coast. The University offers associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and professional degrees covering public safety, business, information technology and cybersecurity, health sciences and nursing, social and behavioral sciences, general education, and law. For the 2014-2015 academic year, there were 38,332 enrolled students. Of the enrolled students, 59% were over 30, and 18% were active military or veterans. Kaplan University provides “high quality education for adult learners who need flexibility to pursue their goals while still fulfilling responsibilities to work and family,” says Mills. Nearly two dozen online open courses are free of charge; their Career Services team provides resume,
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s
E-learning is a convenient and self-paced way to earn a certificate or a degree.
interviewing, and career search guidance and assistance; they maintain three online learning centers for additional breadth and depth of academic assistance. “Kaplan University’s Bachelor of Science in Corrections program is one of only a few offered in the nation and is available both online and on campus,” Mills says. “This comprehensive degree includes general education plus corrections courses covering topics such as legal aspects, corrections leadership, and offender treatment and rehabilitation. Students learn operational and technological aspects of corrections and have an opportunity to study the day-to-day operations and functions of the criminal justice system.” In addition to the Corrections degree, Kaplan offers various other degrees of interest to the corrections community, including both Bachelors and Masters of Science in Criminal Justice, Legal Studies, Psychology, and Nursing. He furthers that at Kaplan University, “we are committed to easing the cost of higher education for our students, partners, and society. Through strategic relationships initiatives, we partner with military, public sector, and business organizations to significantly lower cost and time of 40 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
degrees for their employees or members.” Most recently, he notes, they partnered with the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections and Juvenile Justice to reduce cost and, through an in-depth review of their training programs, award about three courses of credit to corrections officers for the college-level skills learned in their basic corrections training.
University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute has trained more than 10,000 corrections officers around the globe as of November 2015. UCCI is committed to the dissemination of best practices to communities, facilities, and agencies seeking to change offender behavior, they report. They work with federal, state, and local governments, along with the private sector and professional organizations, to promote effective interventions and assessments for adult and juvenile offenders. Institute offerings include Technical Assistance, Staff Training, E-Learning, and Research and Development. “Our mission is to disseminate the best evidence-based practices available in the field,” says UCCI deputy director Mindy Schweitzer. “We are a unique
agency in that we conduct research and bring it to the field. We equip [students] to be effective agents of change.” UCCI’s training cuts across the whole corrections spectrum, Schweitzer adds. Overall they work alongside staff, supervisors and sometimes administrators, implementing evidence-based practices across the entire system, she reports. “We like to get out in the trenches and also to look at the bigger, broader system.” A unique part of their work is that the institute also conducts evaluations of their work. We offer “training in fidelity,” a way for the agency to measure their progress and look at continuous quality improvement. Typically UCCI training is presented at a corrections facility to keep down expenses. Twice a year, UCCI also offers a five-day Training Institute on their campus, which this past May delivered training to more than 100 participants from 23 states. The next Institute will take place in August. Clients include public and private corrections agencies, nonprofits, halfway houses, federal, state and county probation agencies as well as behavioral health organizations, Schweitzer outlines. Courses encompass evidence-based programs such as
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Thinking for Change, Ohio Youth Assessment System Training of Trainers, and various cognitive behavioral interventions. Schweitzer believes that risk assessment tools have become much more recognized and accepted by corrections officials. “A lot of folks are aware that recidivism is a problem, and …agencies are comfortable about using evidence-based practices. However, the challenge is the appropriate use of those tools. After the risk assessment is complete, they don’t know the next step,” she says. UCCI works with numerous agencies on a regular basis. Their researchers recently completed a comprehensive report evaluating Ohio’s prison programs as well as an initiative to design jail reentry programs in L.A. Among its success stories is the Kansas Department of Corrections. Working with various partners, including the UCCI, Kansas has managed to reduce recidivism
from 55% for offenders released in 1999 to 35% for offenders released in 2012. In addition to strengthening capacity for case management and core correctional practices among caseload carriers, they attribute this success to two major factors: use of vigorous evidence-based curricula; and hiring and developing a cadre of in-house program providers, supported by “fidelity coaches,” those that provide ongoing evaluation and continuous quality improvement. Rather than predominantly depend upon contract providers as they had in the past, the KDOC made a decision to gradually establish and sustain nearly 30 inhouse program providers, and provide them ongoing training and coaching in the use of strong curricula. UCCI is a key partner in this effort to develop curricula that target behaviors which research shows directly correlate to reoffending. One such curriculum is the UCCI Cognitive-
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Behavioral Interventions for Substance Abuse Curriculum (referred to in Kansas as the Substance Abuse Program or SAP). The KDOC worked closely with UCCI to implement SAP in all seven of its male facilities over a three-year period. Extensive data were tracked regarding SAP participants, and an independent evaluation was completed in January 2016. The evaluation found that across all risk levels, SAP completers had a 7.5% lower recidivism rate than the comparison group (28.7% for the treatment group, 36.3% for the comparison group). More importantly, they report, high-risk offenders performed 15.8% better, with completers having a recidivism rate of 32.3%, compared to 48.1% for the comparison group. At the KDOC education proved once again that it could improve outcomes. Training strengthened correctional staff’s ability to change even the highest-risk offenders for the better.
CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016 41
BY DONNA ROGERS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
&
Recovery
he number of prisoners climbed steeply in federal, state and county detention in the 1980s and 1990s, partly the result of stricter drug penalties and three strike laws. While research indicates that the expanded use of incarceration during those two decades did contribute to the declining crime rate, the effect was likely small. (Research published in February 2015 by the Brennan Center for Justice and the New York University School of Law estimates that 0%-7% of
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There has been a trend toward providing offenders therapeutic treatment services whether at the pretrial, probationary, incarceration or post-incarceration community corrections level.
the decline in crime in the 1990s can be attributed to increased incarceration). Further research in an article called “Prisons” written by Anne Morrison Piehl and Bert Useem and published in the 2011 book “Crime and Public Policy,” claims that “incarceration has probably reached the point of diminishing [crime] rates.” Over the past several years, public policymakers have been questioning two ways to reduce the prison and jail populations, as we are well aware. One is to divert low-level offenders to pro-
bation or an alternative treatment program and the other is to grant non-violent offenders early release and place them on parole. Furthering the discussion, in October 2015 a report titled Risk and Need Assessment in the Criminal Justice System was published by the Congressional Research Service to inform Congress of the issues. The author, Nathan James, a crime analyst, posed several issues policymakers might contemplate should Congress choose to consider legislation to implement a risk and needs assessment system
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in federal prisons (the thoughtprovoking report to Congress is well worth a read). The overarching question it poses is whether risk and needs assessments should be used in federal prisons, but other questions it considers are if certain inmates should be excluded from earning additional time credits for early release, and ultimately if there should be a decreased focus on punishing offenders. Over the past several years there has been a rising recognition by criminal justice entities that conducting formal risk and needs assessments can benefit the offender as well as lower recidivism, and to that goal, legislation has been enacted that guides the process. In general, research indicates that most commonly-used
risk and needs assessment instruments can, with a moderate level of accuracy, predict who is at risk for recidivism, the report continues. (Two meta-analytic comparisons also indicate that no one instrument is superior to any other when it comes to predictive validity.) The use of risk and needs assessment in the criminal justice system is not without controversy, however. Proponents of assessment assert that the tools used to assess the risk and needs of inmates are better than the independent judgment of clinicians and that the tools have demonstrated the ability to make distinctions between high- and low-risk offenders. Nonetheless, they should be viewed with a dose of skepticism. As those working in corrections know, risk and needs assessment is not 100% accurate. Two experts in the field, Edward J. Latessa and Brian Lovins, say that “[a]lthough statistical risk assessment reduces uncertainty about an offender’s probable future conduct, it is subject to errors and should be regarded as advisory rather than peremptory.” In their 2010 article in Victims and Offenders, they write: “Even with large data sets and advanced analytical techniques, the best models are usually able to predict recidivism with about 70% accuracy—provided it is completed by trained staff.” There are factors to consider. One of the key critiques of risk and needs assessment, furthers the report to Congress, is that while there is evidence of some predictability in group behavior, it is difficult, if not impossible, to make a determination about how individual members of a group will behave. Two scholars, David J. Cook and Christine Michie, note that it is a logical fallacy to make a causal inference about a member of a group based on the group’s characteristics. In addition there is a concern that assessment instruments may not have been accurately vetted for
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use on racial minorities. It is possible, says Kelly Hannah-Moffat in a paper presented at the University at Albany Symposium on Sentencing in September 2010, that minorities might score higher on risk and needs assessments because “of their elevated exposure to risk, racial discrimination, and social inequality— not necessarily because of their criminal propensities or the crimes perpetrated.” Ultimately, risk and needs assessments can be used at nearly all points of the criminal justice system as highlighted by a Vera Institute of Justice memo, states the CRS report. This includes pretrial detention by courts, judicial sentencing, probation and post release supervision, prison and parole board and releasing authorities. Experts Latessa and Lovins note that while there is evidence that risk and needs assessment is widely used in corrections, there is a great deal of variation in how it is implemented and employed, with some using it more systematically across a wide variety of settings than others. Some industry experts report that states have been increasingly legislating scientifically-validated tools, and one survey (Viljoen et al., 2010) reported that over 75% of forensic clinicians always or almost always use a risk assessment tool when conducting adult risk assessments.
Wisconsin DOC The Wisconsin Department of Corrections, for example, uses the Northpointe Suite at various decision points in an offender’s path through the criminal justice continuum. The suite is a decision-support tool containing a full complement of industry-leading scales designed to predict three types of risk (general recidivism, violent recidivism, and failure to appear) and measure 24 dimensions of criminogenic need. The department uses COMPAS and the various alternative CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016 43
Proponents of assessment assert that the tools used to assess the risk and needs of inmates are better than the independent judgment of clinicians.
screenings, or trailer tools, that are built into the suite, explains Jared Hoy, policy initiatives advisor, with the WIDOC. Some of the ways WIDOC uses COMPAS are: • COMPAS Primary Needs at initial screen at intake to probation • COMPAS Youth at intake to juvenile supervision • COMPAS Reentry at transition from institution to field • COMPAS for Women (Gender Responsive Version), a pilot in female institutions • URICA, a change assessment to gauge readiness prior to treatment • TCUCTS, a criminal thinking screener to assist in cognitive behavioral treatment delivery • TCUDS, a drug screener to provide more AODA information • ACE, an Adverse Childhood Experiences scale used in the juvenile institutions WIDOC has been using a risk assessment tool since the late 1970s ((Wisconsin Risk/Needs). However, Hoy points out, “the tool had not been revalidated and we primarily wanted to move into a 4th generation tool that provided case management functionality. Our previous risk assessment tool also did not provide a violent risk score, which COMPAS does.” Most assessments are completed at intake, Hoy notes. However, COMPAS access is offered to Wisconsin counties at the local level with the intent/vision that they assess prior to (potential) placement with the WIDOC. As such, 46 of the 72 counties in the state use COMPAS for pre-trial decision-making, diversion programming placement decisions, jail programming placement, or even sentencing. If sentenced
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to WIDOC, additional assessment points are at institution release and every six months with the Case Supervision Review tool while on community supervision, he adds. “Using a validated tool helps us align both with the risk and need principle,” Hoy furthers. “Prior to using COMPAS, we did not have formal policy to support the use of risk assessment to inform the treatment/service referral process. We now have a formalized process whereby medium/high risk offenders are prioritized for treatment. Furthermore, in terms of the needs principle, COMPAS and the various alternative screenings assist us in honing in on the specific criminogenic need or driver for which services are needed.” Following a risk and needs assessment, offenders are matched to treatment services. Hoy describes that WIDOC provides a variety of treatment services including cognitive behavioral treatment (Thinking for a Change), Substance abuse treatment (CBISA), sex offender treatment, anger management treatment, domestic violence treatment, and a host of additional treatment opportunities in the community, including Day Report Centers.
Therapeutic Treatment Services There has been a trend toward providing offenders therapeutic treatment services whether at the pretrial, probationary, incarceration or postincarceration community corrections level. One such treatment that has been documented in over 200 published outcome studies to significantly lower recidivism for periods as long as 20 years after treatment is Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT), a SAMHSA NREPP program. A premier cognitivebehavioral program for at-risk
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and treatment-resistant clients in drug/DUI/mental health courts, therapeutic communities, veteran courts, probation, parole, residential programs, jails, and prisons, research indicates rearrest/reincarceration rates from 25% to 75% lower when compared to an untreated control group. Correctional Counseling, Inc. (CCI) is the sole source for MRT training and treatment materials. CCI also offers multiple MRTbased behavior-specific curriculums addressing anger management, relapse prevention, domestic violence, trauma, codependency, smoking-cessation and a shoplifting curriculum. Furthermore there are curriculums offered for DUI/DWI offenders and juveniles. “We are seeing more reliance on community-based treatment as an alternative to incarceration,” says Breathitt Robinson, director of customer relations with CCI. There has been an increase in EBP likely because funding sources are beginning to require their use, she notes. MRT targets behaviors such as antisocial personality pattern, procriminal attitude, and substance abuse. The program which typically lasts 24 to 30 group sessions, seeks to improve medication adherence, treatment adherence, improved psychiatric symptoms and functioning, improved housing stability and job retention, enhanced life purpose, reduced substance abuse and ultimately reduced criminal involvement. Asheville, North Carolinabased Insight Human Services work with individuals under community supervision, mostly probation and some post release. The agency has been using the MRT program for about two years now, with results they tout. “I have worked with the mental health, substance misuse and/or criminogenic needs of the offender population for more than 30 years, says Carlene Wood, a licensed clinical addiction spe-
cialist and vice president Region 4 Justice Services with Insight, “and MRT is, by far, the most effective and efficient program I have used. The transformation in offender thinking and behavior is remarkable,” she praises, adding that from a management point of view, it is easy to administer. It is a much needed addition to their treatment program, as she explains not only the numbers of those they treat have increased over the past three years, the risk/need level of their clients has increased as well.
Going Forward While it is important to carefully consider each offender’s needs and corresponding treatment without overgeneralizing, employing EBP at every phase of the criminal justice system can have positive effects on individuals. “The research literature on “what works” and evidence-based practice in corrections is clear,” asserts Dr. Angel Ilarraza, Northpointe. “The criminal justice system dramatically increases the likelihood of reducing offender recidivism when it focuses on addressing the salient criminogenic needs and/or circumstances that are present in the life of an offender. Without the use of a validated assessment strategy, there is a risk to overemphasize the importance of non-criminogenic factors that are commonly
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Industry experts report that states have been increasingly legislating scientifically-validated risk tools.
(and erroneously) understood as criminogenic in nature e.g., unemployment, ATOD [alcohol, tobacco and other drug] use,” he cautions. “I think that it is common for practitioners to be unaware of, underestimate, or in the worst case, ignore the importance of scientific validation,” continues Dr. Ilarraza. “As a result, practitioners often develop ‘assessment tools’ based on their professional judgment and without regard for the existing knowledge in the fields of predictive modeling, data analysis, empirical scale construction and criminology. All of these fields contribute significantly to the development of reliable and validated assessment instruments. “Overall, I think that the implementation of COMPAS Scales has fostered a better understanding and appreciation for what we call the risk and criminogenic need profile of the offender,” Ilarraza says. These profiles are mostly unique to each individual, in the sense that it is defined by the assessment result for each person. Additional analysis of profile data demonstrates that these profiles tend to cluster into groups and thereby define criminal prototypes or typologies (e.g., groups of offenders sharing similar but not identical criminogenic need profiles). These offender typologies can be very useful for helping agencies develop effective interventions that are based on types of offenders, he says. In the end, Dr. Ilarraza views the current use of evidence-based practices in corrections with mixed feelings. He has been seeing a welcomed increase in use of risk and needs assessment tools, but says “the fidelity of use is still lacking.” For the full report Risk and Needs Assessment in the Criminal Justice System, a Congressional Research Service report by Nathan James, see www. fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/ R44087.pdf CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016 45
BY DONNA ROGERS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
MESA COUNTY SOFTWARE SOLIDIFIES ASSESSMENTS & TREATMENT
Mesa County Criminal Justice Services Department, or CJSD, located in Grand Junction, Colorado, is a busy place. While its wide expanses of protected federal and state lands are crisscrossed by rugged trails and byways, the county has grown more than 25% in population since 2000. 46 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016
Mesa County caseworkers supervise 2,500 offenders on any given day—ranging from lowlevel to higher-intensity programs and from residential inpatient to community-based treatment services. Offenders they manage span probation, parole, residential and community-based programs.
Over the past few years, the county, which sits on the western border of the state, has made a huge commitment to provide onsite programming that is offender specific and encourages personal responsibility. All programs offered by CJSD are evidence-based, using cognitive
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behavior modalities of treatment and education that have been proven to be effective in changing behavior. Its Community Corrections arm provides residential services including custody and rehabilitation services to sentenced offenders. These community-based services encompass electronic monitoring, day reporting, deferred judgment and sentence, substance abuse testing and pretrial services. It also provides both independent living apartments and non-residential community corrections. Offenders in the residential setting live in a halfway house setting and are either being diverted from prison or are transitioning out of prison and back into the community, explains Matt Sullivan, CJSD’s deputy director. Wrap-around services are provided for each offender, he furthers, which include assessment, case management, treatment, and reentry services. (Housing is limited to special populations, which include substance abuse, mental health, sex offender, domestic violence and women.) Additional nonresidential services offered by CJSD include life skills, problem solving skills and cognitive restructuring, among others. More than six in 10 jail inmates are awaiting trial at any given time. Pretrial incarceration costs the U.S. over $9 billion dollars every year. Since the majority of jurisdictions rely on bond schedules, money is the primary factor that determines pretrial detention.
Multi-phase Technology Roll-out To back up their efforts, CJSD administrators have put into motion a multi-phase technology implementation, not only to accurately manage and maintain records but to track offender’s progress and to make certain they are implementing the best practices and the best treatments for each. In 2014 they implemented Phase I, which was a Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployment, which tracked efforts on a spreadsheet. Later that year, CJSD began phasing in Tribridge’s Offender360 software, also based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which will allow case managers to access information that was contained in disparate data bases. In the fall of 2015 they rolled out another piece of software, Tribridge’s Pretrial360, which focuses specifically on offenders prior to trial, an area of concern predicated on research that even short stints of pretrial incarceration lead to an increased likelihood of recidivism.
The Recidivism Challenge The problem in jurisdictions across the U.S. is the high average recidivism rates. Each year more than 700,000 offenders are released from federal and state prisons and are
returned to communities. Regrettably, within three years, 40 percent will be reincarcerated, according to a report done through the RAND Correctional Education Project. To address this issue, in 2007 CJSD launched an initiative to provide offender treatment programs, based on a risk and needs assessment program. But the challenge was, they describe, that the data was held in various places, and case managers were having difficulty quickly getting access to all the information they needed to make informed decisions, notes Jason Talley, clinical director with CJSD. They sought a way the data could flow between the three primary divisions within their department: Residential Community Corrections, Treatment Programs and Community Based Supervision. “We have evolved a lot since 2007 when we began the residential treatment programs and we needed to consolidate our data. We had a huge need for tracking,” comments Joel Bishop, pretrial program manager. “We had a number of data bases and spreadsheets. We needed something more integrated, in the same format and accessed from the same data base.” The department, too, had already been using a series of risk assessments to analyze offender’s needs, but “our old system was disconnected,” Bishop furthers. “We needed it to be modernized and integrated. Again, we needed something to bring it all into one data base for risk assessment and to track the outcomes. This is a primary reason we upgraded our data base,” he says.
Three Software Modules Offender360 software consists of three modules, all of which will be implemented by CJSD to addresses the various areas required by the county. The Offender Management module
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will be used for data collection of offender’s information. The Community Corrections module will be utilized for managing risk assessments and providing the oversight for evidence-based practices, ensuring that the right offenders get into the right programs. Finally, the Facilities Management module will maintain records on and streamline management of personnel and facilities’ operations. Included in the overall functionality the department will gain through the implementation are: sentence and time accounting; offender demographics; security threat group tracking; visitation scheduling; drug testing scheduling; recidivism reduction and management; and housing and bed assignment. Going forward, Offender360 will be used to support each of the four correctional residential halfway houses managed by the department. As a part of the ongoing implementation, last October CJSD Pretrial Services (PTS) rolled out Pretrial360, a set of solutions to help agencies deal with pretrial management more effectively and help them move from a resourcebased to risk-based bail decisionmaking process. Built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Pretrial360 has three distinct modules that focus on pretrial management: Defendant Management, Supervision Case Management, and Risk Assessments. Mesa County uses all three. Bishop notes that PTS provides two services to the local criminal justice system in an effort to keep jail costs down while maintaining public safety. First, PTS provides information about defendants housed in the Mesa County Detention Facility (MCDF), run by the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, who have been arrested and charged with crimes, and, secondly, PTS supervises approved defendants, released from the MCDF, as a condition of secured or personal recognizance bonds. For those defendants who have
been released on bond, PTS strives to ensure compliance with courtmandated conditions of bond and appearance in court as required. Conducting a risk assessment on all defendants in custody who are awaiting their initial appearance in court can help with pretrial incarceration rates, furthers Bishop. Risk assessments provide judges with empirical information about the defendant, which permits a more strategic approach to hold and release decisions. As new statutes place more of an emphasis on collection of pretrial justice performance and outcome measures, Pretrial360’s solution assists in making more informed decisions at each phase in the pretrial process, from first contact with law enforcement through adjudication. Often the required data for decision-making exist in various locations, making it difficult to pull it all together, say Mesa County managers. Pretrial360 allows data from various locations—such as state criminal history repositories, jails, police departments, sheriffs' offices, courts and local pretrial services or probation departments—to be integrated and accessed from one central point. With Pretrial360, regularly reviewing the pretrial detainee population in the jail allows jurisdictions to see if circumstances allowing for pretrial release may have changed. The Microsoft Dynamics CRM database tracks all necessary information to pull real-time data instantly. Furthermore, specialized built-in assessments such as domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health evaluations can assist in the release and supervision decision. The program is multi-faceted, Bishop adds. “With one program, we can do assessments at the jail, the supervision piece is done with the same. We also have risk assessments built-in, such as the pretrial assessment, the domestic violence instrument, and the proxy, as well as the treatment module.”
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Results & Outcomes What was once a laborious process can now be done very quickly, CJSD managers concur. “The software consolidated the risk assessment into one system,” Talley says. “We use it to enhance our capabilities, to drill deeper into our outcomes. It has the potential to easily track the assessments. “My clinical staff can document their notes in real time,” Talley furthers. “They input it into the system and it allows the case manager to provide supervisors the needed data to get reports from clinical staff. This enables far better coordination in sharing reports.” As a Microsoft product, the solution can be customized. “We are a large department doing so many things, it’s important to us,” he says. In addition, as new modules come up, the software can be upgraded and modules can continue to be built in. In the past, information was fragmented into numerous isolated silos. Now a centralized data base that’s built into a cloud- and web-based system further gives others access to review data. And the data can be accessed through a variety of sources, including desktops, tablets and laptops. Talley reports: “Our referral agencies and contract employees will also be able to access certain information from the web-based system, which is now done manually and takes a great deal of time.” Tally says the implementation was more fruitful because vendor Tribridge “works collaboratively with us. They have been finding solutions for our department all along….and that process has helped make it functional for us.” Mesa County CJSD has made a resolute commitment to getting clients back on their feet and reentered successfully into society. They continue to work with clients to give them the best treatment in a timely manner. Having information available at their fingertips only makes them more proficient. CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016 49
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