• • Balancing Order and Recovery: Blueprints for a High Performing, Trauma-Resilient Jail
  • Recipes for Controlling the Emotional Hijack
  • Trauma-Informed Training: Incorporating Wellness for Deputies
  • Corrections and COVID-19, Part I: Maintaining Mental Wellness of Staff and Inmates During Custodial Pandemonium
  • Corrections and COVID-19, Part II: Enhancing Resiliency of Staff and Inmate Populations

The post Videos appeared first on Falcon.

• Maintaining social responsibility
• Building resilience
• Supporting staff mental well-being
• Building individual and organizational psychological capital
• Supporting staff working in both secure facilities and community supervision
• Phases of support

The post Staff Well-Being and Resilience in Correctional Environments – During and After a Pandemic appeared first on Falcon.

Audience Question: What is the guideline for screening staff as they come in and out of our facility? Is there a guideline for screening at all or do agencies in facilities need to create their own? 

Robin Timme: So the first thing I’m going to say just to your comment before about next week’s presentation is that what we’ve noticed over the last two years at Falcon is that we want to prioritize the wellness of our staff working at facilities. We believe that the staff needs to be well in order to take care and custody of other humans. So that’s the reason that we let off with this one focusing more on staff. Next week, we will talk more about special populations inside jails and prisons. Thanks so much for that question, Susan.  I think I might kick this over to Elias. If you want to speak to that one, Elias was very familiar with the CDC guidelines, which I would also refer you to I believe that this is addressed in those guidelines but Elias do you want to speak to that?

Elias Diggins: I certainly do. Thank you, Robin. They are addressed in the CDC guidelines and what they recommend is performing verbal screening and temperature checks for staff daily upon entry. You know, the first one the verbal screening is probably a little more easy to do for them the temperature checks. We’ve been discussing this inside of our agency because we have talked to staff about when they come to work whether or not they’re feeling sick, if they are exhibiting any of the three symptoms by either having a fever, a cough, or shortness of breath. We’ll take them to our medical staff for further evaluation. The temperature checks are a little more complicated because you might have as in our jurisdiction unions and they may feel that this could be an invasion of privacy. You will have to walk through with your HR department as well as with your Command Staff to follow through the policies and procedures and on how you can execute those. I would point you to the CDC guidelines to address that question.

Audience Question: The ACLU is pressuring correctional institutions across the nation to release inmates at risk. Given that, in many jurisdictions, the inmate population is now infected with COVID-19 and release could increase the infection rate in the community. Can you discuss your thoughts on this? 

Robin Timme: Yeah, I’m sure we all have thoughts on this. I’ve been on several conference calls about this specific topic. The first thing I’ll say is that we need to be very considerate and deliberate in who is being released. I think that people see this as an opportunity to release people that they feel probably shouldn’t be in custody to begin with and that may be true. But the issue that has come upon a lot of our calls lately is that the folks that are most likely to be released are your misdemeanants,  they are your low-level offenses which also happened to be your homeless population, those with substance use disorders, those with serious mental illness, right? So they come with a host of risk factors and if you add on top of that a potentially positive case of COVID, releasing them into a situation that they may be less safe. I don’t think we really know which is safe or whether you’re safe in the facility or in the street in that situation. In terms of the second part of the question is one that I don’t necessarily have the best answer to which is this idea that let’s take it a step further. What if you have someone who’s waiting for the results of the test and then they make bail and I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t have a good answer. I have some experience. I have heard a couple of jurisdictions that instruct that person to self-isolate and provide them with the results of the tests after that but I have not seen specific guidance on that. If anybody else on the panel here has any thoughts on that I welcome them now.

Scott Semple:  I’ve actually dealt with this. We released three people who have actually been positive for COVID back into the community of one woman and two men and prior to their release, what we’ve done is contacted our local Department of Public Health and Environment to alert them of the release and what they have done is issue a public health isolation order, which is essentially a document that compels someone to stay at home. Those states across the country now have stay-at-home orders but this goes a little bit further. This one comes with some teeth, a violation of that order could subject that person to penalties up to and including re-incarceration. I just read another story where some states or municipalities are actually enforcing this by placing people in electronic monitoring. So, I would say contact your local Public Health Department to find out how they believe they should best be handed. We’ve done that and it’s worked out very well. The folks that have been released understand the risk that they pose by getting back to the general community and have agreed to go home and stay in isolation under that order.

Audience Question: Do you suggest that Correctional staff should be using PPE in regard to contact with inmates?

Robin Timme: That’s a good question as well isn’t anybody on the panel want to take that one?

Elias Diggins: According to the CDC guidelines, which I spoke up earlier generally the staff that needs to wear PPE are those that have direct contact with either a confirmed or suspected COVID-19 case. And as PPE specifically N-95 is in short supply, I would recommend creating a tiered system for deployment for your PPE so that those folks that are in intake, that are working in the medical units, that are working in those isolation pods are the first to receive those PPE because they will be working with folks that are perhaps confirmed or suspected COVID case. At this time PPE for all staff is not recommended, and if you go those CDC guidelines they have a matrix which shows you which staff they recommend you get PPE for. They actually list out which PPE they should be wearing to include the N-95 face mask, eye protection, gloves, and gowns or overalls. So I will use those guidelines.

Audience Question: Should incoming mail be processed with the UV light or some other mechanism before given to the inmate? 

Elias Diggins: Yes, the answer is yes, incoming mail should be considered something that possibly could be at risk in coming to your facility. I would say a UV light or if you are able to have something such an autoclave or another mechanism to the clear the mailroom with the mail in there that can reduce the risk.  I would ask Dr. Horney about the additional risks that mail presents to coming into a facility, but I can tell you in our agency that we are utilizing those precautions before we introduce it into the facility.

Jennifer Horney: Yes, I mean, I think from the laboratory data we can expect that the virus could still be transmissible for 24 hours from paper and cardboard products. So if there is an ability to leave things aside for a period of time, I’m not familiar with the typical processes that was handle mail but certainly, while it might be a small risk it certainly is a risk that should be dealt with as possible.

Audience Question: Can you confirm are the models predicting a peak is still three weeks away from today? 

Jennifer Horney: I think the important thing to remember is that there are a number of models and they are all using highly imperfect information. So you can find different models online from the University of Washington, the University of Pennsylvania, from Harvard as well as from London and then some more independent effort. We are seeing a wide range of different dates for the height of the surge in terms of the healthcare capacity. That’s what most of the models are trying to predict is the date at which healthcare capacity would be highest. And so really I think that there’s it’s difficult to think about using a model as a decision tool because we’re going to have a very wide range of potential futures. And so what I would say is that almost all of the models are showing us now that we are making progress with the social distancing measures that have been put in place. So for example, we are seeing an increase in the number of days that it takes for the case count to double given that we are increasing our testing. So we are definitely seeing models moving in the right direction. Nationally, we’re seeing that doubling time increase. And so, I think we just need to think that models identify potential concerns that we want to be prepared for but that if our social distancing works, our models will be proven to be too pessimistic.

Audience Question: I agree with the term worried-working and what I’m seeing here is a low level of panic with all the staff and inmates. How do we deal with that? 

Robin Timme: So, I think that the suggestions that were offered today are designed specifically for those folks. What I’m trying to focus most of my attention on these days are not the people that are typical pathological population those with anxiety disorders already, for example, but rather you and me and the people who are just trying to go to work, trying to do our jobs and how do we deal with that? That’s why I’m not talking much about the cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety but rather systemic interventions that can help people to reduce those levels of anxiety that are normal reactions to the abnormal situation. So doing things like coming together as a team and writing out your plan that applies to the things that you can control and updating that plan regularly creating checklists for people helping them to feel less ambiguity will help people to feel less uncertainty and will help them to feel less anxious as a result. I think also just communicating with your peers about this is really critical right now, and I guess I would also just say go check out the interventions that we talked about right here that I have on the screen. I probably should have left these up to begin with so that people can have this.

Click Here to Watch a Recording of Corrections & COVID-19: Maintaining Mental Wellness of Staff and Inmates during Custodial Pandemonium.

The post After the Webinar: Corrections & COVID-19: Maintaining Mental Wellness of Staff & Inmates during Custodial Pandemonium. Q&A with the Presenters appeared first on Falcon.

Audience Question: Given the fact that there are some people that have the virus but don’t have any symptoms, is it even safe to be in close contact with the inmates? As a social service specialist, part of my job does require face-to-face, even with a mask in place. I would love your thoughts on that. 

Dr. Robin Timme: Great question, and I think it’s one that we’re all struggling with everywhere. Maybe more so in confined spaces. I’m going to turn that over to Dr. Horney who’s an epidemiologist and let her grapple with that one.

Dr. Jennifer Horney: Yes, I think that epidemiologists have as a whole been a little cautious about the guidance for the broader public to use masks when out and about doing their essential business. I think the most important thing is that you’re trained to use that personal protective equipment properly. So if you need to use it, then you need the training to be sure that you’re using it properly and actually getting the protection that it can provide and not just the feeling of the protection that might you know not be there if it’s not used properly. The second thing I think you can you can look at a number of sources to see the recommendations certainly, a surgical mask or even worn by the person that you’re interacting with, if that person is sick but it’s asymptomatic and that could certainly help with them transmitting any sorts of respiratory droplets to you. So that’s an extra precaution that could be taken if you have the PPE supplies available. So hopefully people who are working in these settings have PPE that has been fitted and they’ve been trained to use and they have a supply available as well.

Dr. Robin Timme: Thank you, Jen. I would also add that these are really tough times in general and it’s so hard to give yes or no answers, isn’t it? It’s so hard to find like no, it’s too dangerous don’t go there or yes, it’s fine. You’re perfectly safe, go there. I think that’s a conundrum we face a lot in corrections, right? I mean, is it safer to enter a correctional housing unit, or is it not. It’s all relative kind of right now and so I think the guidance Jen just provided in the resources is really important for you to mitigate or minimize the risk of those things. The last point I wanted to make about this question that’s really interesting is that the question implies that the inmates are far riskier in terms of transmission, but I’m not so sure that the staff are any less risky. We have asymptomatic staff and symptomatic staff across the country and so, I think it’s really important that we remember that the disease doesn’t really care if you’re an inmate or a staff member and that we apply the same mitigation and risk management strategies to anybody that we come into contact with. Thank you, a great question.

Audience Question: Should mental health groups continue? If so, how did he manage them? Should there be more individual counseling? 

Dr. Robin Timme: Great question. So different jurisdictions have approached this differently and I’ve seen it done a few different ways. If you are going to continue having in-person mental health groups, there are ways to do it that can reduce the risk, for example, as Dr. O mentioned if you can facilitate the classroom being a larger size with smaller numbers of people you can then practice some of those social distancing guidelines within that group of people so you could you can have people sit several desks apart, for example, which can again it’s not going to eliminate the risk, just like the mask, but it can be mitigate it or help to minimize that risk to the person. Another strategy is the introduction of Telehealth. I’ve seen some more advanced jurisdictions that have access to tablets that they can actually run group therapy through their tablet systems and so they can all communicate in a group setting from their cells or from a common area where they can be very far apart as well. Should we increase the use of individual therapies? I think we should just in general given the stress of the time if you’re able to. The thing about individual therapy is that is the case in a lot of facilities, is that you often will have a room for individual therapy that is partitioned so you might have glass between yourself and the patient in which case that can also help to mitigate the transmission of those respiratory droplets and so you may feel safer and be able to mitigate the risk as a result there. Some other jurisdictions are increasing the use of individual therapies via Telehealth and they’re determining that some of their mental health staff can stay at home and operate remotely and do Telehealth through VPN or other remote platforms to reach the patient. And then that service can be facilitated on the inside by custody or nursing staff who are considered essential for example, and that’s another reason why as Dr. O was saying it’s really important that we’re integrated as a united team right now and that we’re all cross-trained in these different tasks so that you could have an officer who doesn’t normally facilitate teletherapy being able to go and help to make that happen.

Audience Question: Absolutely agree that treating Mental Illness with help with medication adherence. What about the person that will not agree to treatment because they lack awareness that they even have a serious mental illness? Could the jail force treatment in these situations? 

Dr. Robin Timme: The old anosognosia, a symptom of a serious mental illness. I’m going to kick that one over to Dr. O, he has an MD I have a Psy-D. He probably has a nicer car than I do. Go ahead, Dr. O.

Dr. Babatunde Okuleye: How did I get that question was coming my way. So I think that with the treatment of the seriously mentally ill who are refusing medication or because of their lack of insight are once again are refusing medication. I think the different jurisdictions handle that in different ways. I think overall the two main criteria that typically determine whether you can force a patient to take medication through the legal system or through systems that are set up within the jail facility or structure or system, basically boils down to two things. Is the individual a danger to himself? Is the individual a danger to others? Is the individual gravely disabled and by the definition of greatly disabled, we imply that the individual is unable to care of the basic life necessities in terms of food, clothing, and shelter. So typically unless a patient or inmate meets one of those three criteria, I would say it’s uncommon that they would be forced to take medication. So basically the inmate has to be so severely mentally ill that we have to intervene to keep them safe out of it themselves to keep others safe or to basically allow them to be able to maintain the basic necessities of life.

Dr. Robin Timme: Thank you, Dr. O. Yeah, I would also add that that question is incredibly jurisdiction-specific and most states will have either a law governing the administration of involuntary medication and so you should check with your state code and otherwise often This falls under a case called Washington v. Harper that you can find on Wikipedia. But definitely consult with your medical directors and your state laws. They’re often governed by that. In some states, for example, only a judge can order it. In other states, you can never involuntarily medicate somebody outside of an emergency situation unless they’re in a state hospital and in others, there are these Harper panels that can happen inside of a correctional facility where they have a quasi-judicial process for determining the so check with your jurisdiction and important question though.

Dr. Jennifer Horney: Can I just add one comment there? Sorry, this is Jennifer Horney so you mentioned in your comment about if it were an emergency so as long as your state is operating under emergency declaration, we are operating under a Stafford Act Emergency Declaration at the federal level. There are actually public health emergency powers that can be drawn upon to compel treatment, vaccination, isolation, quarantine, and other things and so that’s an element to consider here that we are under an emergency declaration.

Dr. Robin Timme: Thank you so much for that. I wasn’t aware of that. That would be a reference of the Stafford Act?

Dr. Jennifer Horney: Yeah so the Stafford Act of 2002 is the jurists give the president the authorization to make those disaster declarations but Jacobson v. Massachusetts back in 1903 was actually the case that set this all in motion in terms of the public health law. Another thing folks can Wikipedia if they’re interested.

Dr. Robin Timme: Wow, that’s really fascinating and I think that comes back to those unique ethical and legal dilemmas that come up that would be a really fun and interesting seminar to do one day. Thanks, Jen.  Aaron?

Audience Question: Do you have suggestions on dealing with compassion fatigue when working from home so you’re not on 24/7? 

Dr. Robin Timme: Great question. I was joking with Aaron and Cris and Dr. Falcon and the panel before we started about how my neighbor told me I look like Ted Kaczynski yesterday. I have felt like I am on 24 hours a day because it’s not even just work right? We’re expected to be working. Those of us with children are expected to now be teaching our children as well, which if it were possible I would have been doing this for years. So it’s a really important question and what I’ve found that’s really critical for me is that I have sort of abandoned a typical workday so to speak. I don’t necessarily work nine to five. I’ll work for a few hours and then I will schedule breaks into my day and force myself to go outside, go for a walk every single day. Do these things that actually bring me joy in life, wrestle with my children, you know, just try to actually formally schedule that stuff into my life. I’m curious though. Dr. O and Jen, you guys are staring at monitors all day also. What kinds of things are you guys doing?

Dr. Babatunde Okuleye: I think you hit the nail right on the head. I think it’s very important to realize to schedule those breaks. Take care of ourselves, do the things that we love to do personally. I like to listen to music so I’m whenever I’m not working I’m trying to listen to music. My son Shane shares the same I would say passion for music in his own way which typically involves singing on his phone and his social media. I think it’s very important that we connect with our families that helps to decrease stress in multiple ways and also to find time to practice just relaxation things. Deep breathing, mindfulness and going outside for physio, weather permitting and social distancing permitting. All of the things that we would normally take for granted that are now I would say more precious to us some of the things that we’ll need to try to make sure that whenever possible we can implement those things or practice those things.

Dr. Robin Timme: Dr. Horney, are you finding anything to be particularly helpful for you?

Dr. Jennifer Horney: I don’t think I’m doing a very good job at it. But I think I’m some kind of time that you things you get off of the screens and maybe I’ve been trying to read a book about the history of Chez Pannise, it’s a  restaurant in California that was founded the farm-to-table movement. And so that gets me out of my COVID mindset a little bit before going to sleep. So yeah. Need I think we need to be better about building these things and sticking to them.

Dr. Robin Timme: Totally. Yeah, and I really just want to say thank you both for sharing those and thank you for the question for forcing us all to pause and reflect on our own wellness.

Click Here to Watch a Recording of Corrections & COVID-19: Enhancing Resiliency of Staff and Inmate Populations. 

The post After the Webinar: COVID-19 & Corrections – Enhancing Resiliency of Staff and Inmate Populations. Q&A with the Presenters appeared first on Falcon.

The post Corrections and COVID-19: Enhancing Resiliency of Staff and Inmate Populations appeared first on Falcon.

The post Corrections and COVID-19: Maintaining Mental Wellness of Staff and Inmates During Custodial Pandemonium appeared first on Falcon.

Click Here to Watch a Recording of Successful Re-Entry through Contemporary, Moral, Holistic and Life Skills Programming.

The post Infographic: Successful Re-Entry through Contemporary, Moral, Holistic and Life Skills Programming appeared first on Falcon.

For most people, it takes some training, a bit of rethinking one’s life, and a healthy dash of hope.

Check out this recorded webinar as Cheryl Parks, Ron Budzinski, and Charles Keeton share:

• The pioneering program’s educational, social, behavioral and spiritual components
• Its progressive family restoration strategies
• The impacts, post-incarceration outcome measures and future considerations.

Justice Clearinghouse Editors (JCH): Cheryl, you and your counterparts are new presenters here at Justice Clearinghouse. Tell us a bit about this program.

Cheryl Parks: The Jobs Partnership Re-Entry Program, a faith-based program focuses on the employment of the unemployed and underemployed, was brought to Peoria, Illinois in 2000 by Heaven’s View Christian Fellowship church. The program has since then been active in Illinois’ Prisons, County Jails and one Federal Correctional Center.

Four years ago the program started for men at the Peoria County Jail, and two years ago it was expanded into the Jobs Partnership Re-Entry Program. The program’s expansion required additional volunteer Subject Matter Experts (SME). This enhanced the program content with cognitive, treatment, life skills and healthy living expertise. In our Webinar, we will go into the specific SME team of participants, and the important participation of each. Two of the twenty team members are my co-presenters in this Webinar – Ron Budzinski and Charles Keeton.

~~~~~

The recidivism rate at the Peoria County Jail

was reduced by 28%

when offenders participated

in the Jobs Partnership Re-Entry Program.

~~~~~

JCH: Tell us a bit about the situation: what were the challenges the Peoria County Jail was facing. What were those impacts, not only to the Sheriff’s department, but also to the inmates and the community?

Cheryl:  The Peoria County Jail has an offender population that is typically around 300. Thus, it is considered a mid-size jail, with the common problems of all jails: tight budgets, high recidivism rates, troubled relationships with law enforcement, custodial and offender assaults, and deteriorating conditions of confinement. In one way or another these problems plague everyone – the Sheriff’s Department, offenders and their families, the Peoria County Board, and the taxpayers of Peoria County.

To cite one of the many facts to be illustrated in the Webinar; the recidivism rate at the Peoria County Jail was reduced by 28% when offenders participated in the Jobs Partnership Re-Entry Program. If there is a single word that explains this and other positive results, it is “Hope.”

JCH: Your program is so innovative because it’s a holistic approach. What does that mean? Why was this so unique?

Cheryl: We believe, as Fr. David Link, Head Chaplin for the Indiana Department of Corrections has said, “Without moral inspiration during incarceration, increased recidivism, continuation of the crime cycle, and an increase in criminal violence are inevitable.” In other words, moral inspiration is key to success during and after incarceration. However, it is also important that the knowledge of “how to re-enter” be provided.

Thus, the Jobs Partnership Re-Entry Program has a holistic approach to re-entry that incorporates five components: Jobs Partnership faith-based classes on character development; Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) on cognitive development; Subject Matter Experts (SME) presentations on life skills, mental health, addiction recovery, fatherhood; Family Restoration on bringing families together during and after incarceration; and, Breaking Boundaries on building positive relations between offenders and law enforcement. What this then means is that those who wish to change are given a comprehensive pathway to that change.

Therefore, what has made the Jobs Partnership Re-Entry Program unique is the realization that positive change comes in many ways and from many different sources, and the desire to make change permanent it must involve moral inspiration.

~~~~~

To inspire change,

there needs to be a trust developed

between those providing the program

and the offenders taking the program.

~~~~~

JCH: What have you learned as you’ve developed and implemented this program?

Cheryl: First, we have found that it takes the support of the Sheriff.  In Peoria County, we have had the total support from Sheriff Brian Asbell. He provides staff support, teaching space, community outreach, offender screening/selection, and participates in the graduation program.

Secondly, because the program is holistic and thus requires a variety of expertise, many volunteers are required with knowledge in the areas of financial, addiction, mental health, employment, educational and vocational opportunities, and more. Conducting a Jobs Partnership Re-Entry program involves one part-time employee and 20 volunteers.

Third, we have learned that to inspire change, there needs to be a trust developed between those providing the program and the offenders taking the program. When offenders hear the volunteers offering instructions and support is without pay and with sincere desires to help, trust becomes felt and believed.

And fourth, supporting an offender’s desire to change cannot happen by taking a couple of classes. Support has to find a way to assist in many ways, such as in their court appearances, their family needs, their addiction recovery, and their employment and housing after incarceration.

~~~~~

 What keeps us motivated

is seeing “Hope” come alive

in those that have been hopeless.

~~~~~

JCH: What drew you to this line of work? And what keeps you motivated, given all that you both see in the course of creating a program like this?

Cheryl: All of the volunteers are drawn to the opportunity to provide hope to those that have been without hope for so long.  What keeps us motivated is when offenders express that hope openly and honestly. Often at their graduation ceremony, offenders express their newly found hope. As one of our 2019 graduates said, “Thank you for having me be a part of the program. I know I needed a change. To all the presenters you gave me the knowledge, and I did install it in my brain.”

Click Here to Watch “Successful Re-Entry through Contemporary, Moral, Holistic & Life Skills Programming.”

The post Successful Re-Entry through Contemporary, Moral, Holistic and Life Skill Programming: An Interview with Cheryl Parks appeared first on Falcon.