May / June 2016

MAY/JUNE 2016 VOL. 25 NO.3

NONTRADITIONALJUSTICE EDUCATION

CO STRESS

COMMISSARYTRAFFIC BOOSTERS

CF M-J 16 p01-2 Cover_*Cover J/F 05 5/31/16 12:23 PM

The Pulse

Going Green: Sustainable Solutions

Suffering in Silence: Corrections Officer Stress

Commissary Traffic Boosters

Nontraditional JusticeEducation

Evaluating Risk &Recovery in the Justice Continuum

Mesa County SoftwareSolidifies Assessments & Treatment

Ad Index

MAY/JUNE 2016

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CORRECTIONSFORUM

Publisher & Executive EditorThomas S. Kapinos

Assistant PublisherJennifer A. Kapinos

West Northeast

Editor-in-ChiefDonna Rogers

Contributing EditorsMichael Grohs, Kelly Mason, Bill Schiffner, G.F. Guercio

Art DirectorJamie Stroud

CORRECTIONS FORUM (ISSN10729275)

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MEDAL OF VALOR NOMINATION PERIODOPENS MAY 31The nomination period for the2015-2016 Public Safety OfficerMedal of Valor opens May 31,2016. This medal is the highest na-tional award for valor by a publicsafety officer, and is awarded by ei-ther the President or Vice Presidentalong with the Attorney General ofthe United States to public safetyofficers who have exhibited excep-tional courage, regardless of per-sonal safety, in the attempt to saveor protect human life. To receivethe medal, public safety officersmust be nominated by the chief

executive officer of their employ-ing agencies.For information, go to

https://www.bja.gov/. Nominationsmust 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 Depart-ment of Correction (IDOC),reached an agency milestone byregistering 12,071 releasing of-fenders for the HIP 2.0/Medicaidprogram. Last July, state law re-quired that the Indiana Depart-ment of Correction begin applyingfor Medicaid/HIP 2.0 healthcare

coverage for all offenders releasedfrom their custody. Since individuals are not eligible

for Medicaid while incarceratedunless they are admitted to a hos-pital, the Department movedquickly to use Presumptive Eligibil-ity (HPE) to sign up its offenders.HPE permits offenders to be cov-ered under Medicaid while hospi-talized, allowing the hospital tobill Medicaid for approved servicesrather than the IDOC. By utilizingthis method significant cost sav-ings were achieved for IDOC’shealthcare provider, who then re-imbursed the IDOC. In order to facilitate the on-

boarding process, the Departmentcreated the Medicaid ProcessingUnit, which completes health carecoverage applications on behalf ofall offenders 60 days prior to theirrelease. As part of the re-entry pro-gram, staff encourages soon-to-bereleased offenders to utilize theircoverage for mental health andsubstance abuse treatments, in ad-dition to their medical needs.“While it was quite a challenge

to construct a Medicaid on-board-ing system from the ground up, weare satisfied with our processes andecstatic about the results. Weprocess a minimum of approxi-mately 80 applicants per day,”stated Alexis Dean, executive di-rector of Re-Entry and Medicaid. According to a report dated

April 19, 2016, total Medicaidclaims paid out since July 1, 2015,for IDOC offenders with Presump-tive 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 LatwanScott a recently released offendercurrently on parole.IDOC currently utilizes its intake

facilities to screen every offender

4 CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016 VISIT US AT WWW.CORRECTIONSFORUM.NET

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who comes to the Department,using a daily report and mastertracking database. These tools areused by the Medicaid ProcessingUnit to fulfill another requirementof Hip 2.0, which involves report-ing offenders with active coverageto the Indiana Family and SocialServices Administration (FSSA), forsuspension. Once notified, FSSAcompletes a status change whichsuspends the offender’s coveragedue to incarceration, and the of-fender is able to easily reactivatecoverage upon release.“The work we are doing is an

important part of the Depart-ment’s re-entry efforts and helpsour offenders to receive the med-ical, mental health and addictionrecovery treatments they needupon release,” noted John Mather,Re-Entry Medicaid Monitor. “Thisis yet another way the Departmentis trying to make a positive impacton recidivism in Indiana.”

FORTY-SIX STATES ENACTEDWIDE-RANGING CRIMINALJUSTICE REFORMSOn May 26, the Vera Institute ofJustice released a review of state-level changes in sentencing andcorrections laws enacted in 2014and 2015, which revealed that asthe federal government debates sen-tencing reform, nearly every statehas taken action to reduce their re-liance on over-incarceration, lowertaxpayer costs, and improve publicsafety. Forty-six states made at least201 changes to their sentencingand corrections laws, an increase inpace since Vera’s last comprehen-sive analysis in 2013.While several bills are currently

pending, major reform at the fed-eral level has not passed since the2010 Fair Sentencing Act, which re-duced the disparity in sentencing

between crack and powder cocaine.In that time, states have increas-ingly served as laboratories of inno-vation in criminal justice reform.With more than 86 percent of peo-ple incarcerated in the United Statesheld in state prisons, these reformsare a significant sign of progress.The report Justice in Review: New

Trends in State Sentencing and Cor-rections 2014-2015 found thatmost of the 201 changes enactedfocused on three stages of thecriminal justice system: creating orexpanding opportunities to divertpeople away from entering the sys-tem; reducing prison populationsby making certain offenses eligiblefor community-based sentences,reducing the length and severity ofcustodial sentences, adding earlyrelease options, and reducing thenumber of people re-admitted forviolating probation or parole; andsupporting reentry into the com-munity for those leaving prison.A few of the legislative trends

the report found that states are re-sponding to are: bail reform, re-duction of fines and fees forcriminal sentencing that may sendthe offender back to jail for failureto pay, and the reduction of soli-tary confinement. See more at www.vera.org

RE-ENTRY TRAINING SIMULATION GIVES JUDICIAL OFFICERS 'EX-OFFENDER' EXPERIENCEAccording to a May 12 story in theHerald-Mail Media, West Virginiastate and local probation officers,court personnel, law enforcementand other community members re-cently took on the roles of variousex-offenders in a training event thataimed to simulate the challengesfaced by individuals attempting totransition from incarceration into

society. The re-entry simulation ex-ercise was hosted by the U.S. Attor-ney's Office in collaboration withthe probation office for the North-ern District of West Virginia, andshowed how difficult it can be forex-offenders to find housing, em-ployment and other key resourcesupon release from prison.

N.H. PRISONS STRUGGLEWITH STAFF SHORTAGESThe New Hampshire Departmentof Corrections has shifted moneyin its budget to cover a $1.8 mil-lion shortfall in its overtime budgetthis year, which officials attributedto staffing shortages, the websiteSeacoastonline reported on May22. The department is shifting $2.1million from various parts of itsbudget to cover the overtime short-age through the end of the fiscalyear. Corrections officials said thestate corrections department aver-ages about 60 vacancies a month.

FEDERAL PRISONS HELD 152 INMATES TOO LONG,REPORT STATESThe Washington Post says that a fed-eral watchdog report published onMay 24 exposes the “untimely re-lease” of inmates from federal pris-ons. The report, released byMichael E. Horowitz, the JusticeDepartment’s inspector general(IG) says there were “157 untimelyreleases attributable to staff error”between 2009 and 2014. Of those,only five inmates were released toosoon. The other 152 served toomuch time.Given the 462,000 people re-

leased during those years, BOPmade few mistakes. Sixty percentof the inmates released late wereset free within a month of the cor-rect date and 38 percent were freedfrom 31 days to one year late. But


each case represents a serious lapsefor people incarcerated longerthan they should have been.“Although these cases were rare

and the overall error rate was low,several of these errors led to egre-gious results,” Horowitz said.In response to the report, a Jus-

tice Department spokesman,Patrick Rodenbush, said “the over-all accuracy rate for timely releaseover a six-year period was 99.97percent. “That being said, the Depart-

ment of Justice is already taking af-firmative steps to implement therecommendations of the Office ofthe Inspector General to further re-duce instances of inappropriateuntimely releases occurring,” ac-cording to Rodenbush.Horowitz’s office found the vast

majority of mistakes, 127 of the157, “were the result of errorsmade by the BOP office responsi-ble for computing inmate releasedates. The most common errorsresulted from incorrect applicationof jail credit, incorrect determina-tions of primary jurisdiction be-tween federal and state custody,and errors relating to concurrentversus consecutive sentences.”One person was incarcerated

541 days longer than ordered be-cause jail time credit was not ap-plied to the prison sentence.Late releases also are costly to

taxpayers. The 152 late releasescost BOP $670,000 in extra incar-ceration cost, the IG estimates.That doesn’t include litigation andsettlement expenses. Between2009 and 2015, four lawsuits byinmates held too long were settledfor between $90,000 and$295,000.Hickman settled for $175,000,

but that doesn’t begin to pay himback, the article notes.

“That’s lost time I’ll never getback,” he told the StarTribune, “losttime with my kids and family, losttime that they never get back, aswell.”

ADDRESSING MASS INCAR-CERATION WITH EVIDENCE-BASED REFORMAcross partisan, ideological, andracial lines, Americans are rethink-ing the country’s criminal justicesystem, according to an April arti-cle by The Brookings Institution.The Sentencing Reform and Cor-rections Act (S. 2123) and the Sen-tencing Reform Act of 2015 (H.R.3713) have passed out of the Sen-ate and House Judiciary Commit-tees respectively and earnedsupport from a bipartisan group ofelected officials, the White House,and advocacy organizations in-cluding the American Civil Liber-ties Union and Koch Industries.Criminal justice reform must

strike a balance between reducingthe federal prison population andsafeguarding the public from crime.The Senate bill, as well as its Housecompanion, would reduce manda-tory minimum sentence length forcertain offenders and expand re-cidivism reduction programming.According to Senator Chuck Grass-ley (R-IA), the Chairman of the Ju-diciary Committee, the SentencingReform and Corrections Act ad-dresses “legitimate over-incarcera-tion concerns while targetingviolent criminals and mastermindsin the drug trade.” Recently, however, Senator Tom

Cotton (R-AR) has led a cadre ofconservatives in objecting to crim-inal justice reform. Speaking on thefloor of the Senate, Cotton declaredthe legislation a “massive social ex-periment in criminal leniency…[that] threatens to undo the his-


MacArthur Foundation an-nounced nearly $25 million insupport for ambitious plans tocreate fairer, more effective local

justice systems

•

11 jurisdictions will receive be-tween $1.5M and $3.5M overtwo years to reduce their jailpopulations and address racialand ethnic disparities in their

justice systems

•

9 jurisdictions will be given$150,000 grants to continue

justice reform work

toric drops in crime we have seenover the past 25 years.” The article examines the prison

buildup—it states the combinedlocal, state, and federal prison pop-

ulations in the United States to-taled 2,306,117 in 2014, the mostrecent year for which data is avail-able. Between 1980 and 2013, themost recent year for which com-

prehensive time-series data is avail-able, the combined federal, state,and local prison populations bal-looned, increasing 340% from503,600 to 2,200,300 individuals.In this time period, the federalpopulation expanded most rapidly,with an increase of 786% from24,363 to 215,866 individuals. The authors note the steep in-

crease in the rate of admission isattributed to a number of factorsincluding prosecution, investiga-tion, and sentencing rates, whilethe length of time served also con-siderably increased.The authors believe that target-

ing low-level drug reform and cer-tain weapons offenses would havethe greatest impact on reform.They conclude by saying: “As law-makers assess criminal justice re-form in the Senate and in theHouse, they must recognize thegravity of the over-incarcerationepidemic and look to the facts asthey consider the offenders whowould be affected by reform.” See the full report at

http://www.brookings.edu/

WIS. PRISON SECRETARYGIVES $10M PAY RAISE TO GUARDSThe Wisconsin DOC is raising cor-rectional officers' pay in a move toboost recruitment and retention, re-ported The Associated Press viaWBAY. Beginning June 26, correc-tional officers, sergeants and youthcounselors will receive 80 centsmore an hour. COs and sergeants atmaximum security prisons inWaupun, Green Bay and Portage, aswell as counselors at the state'syouth prison in Irma, will get an ad-ditional 50 cents an hour from May29 through Jan. 7. Employees whowon't receive a raise will be eligiblefor bonuses. Corrections officials


say the raises are expected to cost about $10 million an-nually, which will be covered with existing funds.

NJ AIMS FOR JANUARY REOPENING OFFORT DIX PRISON FOR DRUG TREATMENTNew Jersey’s prison population is dropping, as is therecidivism rate, and the state’s use of Drug Courts formany nonviolent offenders is seen as among the keyreasons why, according to a report on radio stationNJ101.5.com.Fifty-three percent of inmates entering New Jer-

sey’s correctional system have a history of moderateto severe use of drugs, alcohol or both. Some get di-verted to halfway houses, but those who pose morethan a minimum security risk are going to get a newtreatment option starting in early 2017.New Jersey plans to reopen the Mid-State Correc-

tional Facility at Fort Dix as a licensed drug treatmentcenter. The center would accommodate 696 male in-mates and provide moderate to high intensity treat-ment services, with less intense outpatient servicescontinuing to be provided at other prisons. The stateclosed Mid-State Correctional Facility in 2014, trans-ferred its inmates to other facilities and began $24million in renovations. Corrections CommissionerGary Lanigan said the state will look to close and ren-ovate another of the state’s 12 prisons once Mid-Statecomes online in roughly a year.

MOVING FROM A PRISON CELL TO A VOTING BOOTHFormer inmates in Maryland are able to cast votes thisprimary season, noted a BBC News Magazine April re-port. The Maryland legislature restored the votingrights of 40,000 former inmates in February. Mary-land is the 14th state to allow former prisoners tovote as soon as they are released, regardless of addi-tional probation or parole time. Virginia Gov. TerryMcAuliffe has announced that he is restoring the vot-ing rights of 200,000 men and women with felonyrecords by executive order.


In his 2017 proposed budget, President Obama hasasked 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

added benefitsof having anenvironmental-ly-friendly facili-ty are giving cor-

rections administrators nation-wide the impetus to find evenmore sustainable ways to save onenergy and other operating costs.This growing green trend is alsoleading to improved rehabilita-tive environments with trainingoptions and future job opportuni-ties for their populations.Tommy Norris, chairman of

ACA’s Clean and GreenCommittee, AJA’s Eco Aisle andCEO/founder of GreenPrisons.org,reports “sustainable managementcontinues to grow in correctionsas more and more administratorsunderstand the savings that canbe generated and the new jobsand training opportunities foroffenders that can be fulfilled.”

He adds that inmates are find-ing a new purpose when giventhe opportunity to participate ingreen projects like gardening pro-grams, and installation of newtechnology such as solar thermalheating and porous pavementinstallation.

Cutting Energy CostsCorrectional facilities use rela-

tively huge amounts of water andelectricity because of their 24-7occupancy levels and usageneeds. More and more facilities

around the country are assessingtheir current energy savingsopportunities. With rising naturalgas, electric and oil prices, correc-tional facilities are starting to uti-lize alternative energy sourcessuch as wind and solar power. Forexample, the Federal Correctional

Center in Victorville, Calif., uti-lizes a wind turbine and a cov-ered parking structure equippedwith solar panels to generate elec-tricity. In addition, the IndianaDepartment of Corrections usesbiomass corn boilers in somelocations as a less expensive,cleaner-burning source for manyof their energy needs.

Solar SolutionsIn 2014, Solar America

Solutions completed one of thebiggest non-utility solar thermalinstallations in North America,providing solar thermal hot waterand space heating systems inoffender housing facilities at theRoss Correctional Institution inChillicothe, Ohio. RossCorrectional Institution is a1,700-acre facility that houses2,027 offenders.


BY BILL SCHIFFNER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES CONTINUETO EXPLORE MORE SUSTAINABLE

OPERATING SOLUTIONS.

TheA group of female inmates take part in KBI’s Flexi-Pave trainingsession at the Shelby County Detention Center, Shelbyville, Ky.

M-J 16 p14-21 Green_master template 5/26/16 7:45 PM

Solar America has also developed a multi-weektraining program that provides inmates who suc-cessfully complete the training with certificatesfrom the company as solar installers. In at least oneinstance, it has produced tangible job offers for twooffenders post release.

Lighting UpgradesFacilities 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 theirenergy costs by adding LED lighting solutions fromthe Bob Barker Company.“Our new LED lighting solutions…have cut recy-

cling fees and maintenance time and also reducedenergy costs,” reports Jon Hall, maintenance andgrounds at the facility. “The support in the transi-tion was very helpful and Bob Barker’s staff spenttime researching the right LEDs for existing fix-tures.”

Dealing with Water IssuesA new product that is helping bring savings and

longer useful life to equipment is the EasyWater No-Salt Water Conditioning System. “This salt-free watertreatment system eliminates hard water buildup with-out maintenance, salt or chemicals,” explains Bill F.Freije, president/CEO. “The use of the EasyWater sys-

tem canextend thelife of equip-ment suchas ice mak-ers, boilersand hotw a t e rheaters,” headds.T h e

M i a m iCorrectionalFacility, anIndiana StatePrison inBunker Hill,

Ind., has long suffered from the problems associatedwith lime scale. Maintenance and replacement ofwater heater coils, hot water mixing valves, hot waterrecirculation pumps and piping has been an almostcontinuous problem. Recently, they decided to installthe EasyWater No-Salt Conditioning Systems on boththe cold and hot water of two dormitory buildingsthat had a long history of scaling issues. The two coilswere viewed again after 30 days of treatment andwere much cleaner. After 90 days the coils wereviewed again and according to David Waggoner,maintenance supervisor at the facility “the exchanger


SunQuest 250 collectors installed on acell block at the Ross CorrectionalFacility in Chillicothe, Ohio. It is cur-rently the largest non-utility solar ther-mal system in North America.

was clean as was the tank. I couldnot even feel any calcium buildupwith my hands. It was as clean asthe day it was installed. As a resultof the successful test, we decidedto have the system installed at therest of the facility.”

Paving SystemsTrainingK.B. Industries (KBI) brings

true sustainability to water man-agement in corrections. Theirpatented porus pavement calledFlexi-Pave can be poured likeconcrete yet inmates can betrained to mix and apply it inhours. It is said to be particularlyuseful in instances of standingwater on walkways or parkinglots. This product, while new tocorrections, has been used in

such places as Arlington NationalCemetery and cityscapes all overthe world. KBI president, KevinBagnal has made a significantcommitment to the correctionsindustry including the creation ofa corrections division that hasdeveloped training curriculum/certification in the installation ofFlexi-Pave for inmates with spe-cial pricing and support availablefor prison industry programs.

Cutting Down on WasteWith every inmate producing

pounds of waste of all types on adaily basis, it is important formanagement to not just get thelowest price for hauling waste butreducing the number and size ofeach dumpster/compactor. DeepGreen offers a solution that notonly provides those services butalso conducts a waste audit for thefacility at no charge to developthe most cost-effective approachto waste management. DeepGreen does not haul the wasteitself but through its national net-work of waste haulers can fre-quently get rates well below thosein response to an RFP. The sav-ings it generates can cover all ofthe Deep Green expenses and stillsave an institution money overtheir current contracts.

CompostingCapabilitiesNorris says that the growth of

sustainability in corrections is fur-ther reflected by the addition ofdedicated space in the exhibithalls at the conferences of theindustry’s two largest professionalassociations. “The AmericanCorrectional Association’s (ACA)Green Aisle and the American jailAssociation’s (AJA) Eco Aisle con-tinue to reflect the interest of theirmembers in sustainable products,services and technology.”Here’s a sampling of some the

latest sustainable products for thecorrections marketplace.

Eco ProductsCLEANING SYSTEMPortionPac Chemical Corpora-

tion is proving safer chemistryresults in even better cleaningperformance. Surpassing GreenSeal and ASTM performance stan-dards, the new CorrectPacCleaning System is a state of the

art innovation to help peoplework safer and clean better. Itsimproved CorrectPac Systemoffers: no hazards as defined bythe OSHA HazCom Standard,more Green Seal certificationsthan ever before and is biodegrad-able and alcohol free.www.portionpaccorp.com, 1.800.289.7725

LED LIGHTING UPGRADESUpgrading a facility’s lighting

system to more energy efficientLED lights can provide huge elec-tricity savings. Lower energyusage lower equals lower mainte-nance costs. Offers 50,000+ hourlife span, 5-year warranty.Replace the fluorescent ballast

with LED drivers and exchangethe bulbs. Higher lighting outputmeans better visibility, longer lifespan, fewer lockdowns and


EasyWater’s No-Salt ConditioningSystems are being installed in anumber of correctional facilitiesacross the country.

increased safety. Call for a freelighting evaluation.

www.bobbarker.com, 1.800.334.9880

SOLAR SOLUTIONSSolar America Solutions brings

affordable Solar Thermal Energyto correctional facilities and oper-ations. The company manufac-tures their patented SunQuest250 evacuated tube solar thermalcollector panel, said to be the

most efficient product of its kind.This 25-bulb collector has an 88-square foot absorption area with-in only a 3x7-square-foot rooftoparea. It has proven to developover 35,000 BTU’s per hour at USand International independentlaboratories.

www.solaramericasolutions.com,317.688.8581

POROUS PAVING SYSTEM Facilities continue to face bud-

get challenges for not only newcapital projects, but ongoingmaintenance expenses continueto balloon out of control. KBI’sFlexi-Pave and suite of sustain-able infrastructure products pro-vide agencies a unique solution

in the form of long-life, virtuallyzero-maintenance products forevery application.

http://kbius.com, 727.723.3300

NO-SALT CONDITIONEREasyWater’s Model CS500 No-

Salt Conditioner provides an eco-nomical, maintenance free treat-

ment of hard water. The CS500prevents new scale build-up andeliminates existing build-up formany applications. It eliminatesscale in water heaters, which

saves about 30% in heatingwater. Prisons use about 50 gal-lons of hot water per day perinmate. When facilities can save30% or more of that by keepingthe insulating scale from thewater heaters, it also saves onmaintenance.

www.EasyWater.com, 1.888.766.7258

WATER MANAGEMENT AND CONTROLThe Award-Winning NEXUS

Controller is at the heart of I-CON’s water management sys-tem, designed to increase securityand maximize water efficiency byup to 70% in a correctional facili-

ty setting. The NEXUS 8 I/OController operates as a stand-alone or communicating eightinput/eight output controllerused to control up to eight lava-tory, shower or flush sensors andvalves. Multiple controllers canbe networked and linked to an I-CON ENVISAGE powered touch-

screen water management con-sole for maximum control ofyour facility’s plumbing system.Set runtimes, control lockoutsand control the savings.

www.i-con.com, 1.800.240.3578

WASTE MANAGEMENTDeep Green sustainable waste

and recycling specializes in theenergy efficient processing ofwaste management and recyclingwith a more cost-effective andless time-consuming approachfor clients. They offer green ser-vices nationwide that are cus-tomized to meet every client’sspecialized need. They providemultiple services and equipmentin the management and regula-tion of waste, compacting ser-vices, the hauling of waste atreduced cost, reduction of wastethrough recycling, and more, toa variety of companies and gov-ernment agencies. www.deepgreenwaste.com, 855.846.3337

GREEN CLEANERSSpartan’s Correct Clean is a pro-

gram designed to help local jailsand state prisons effectively andsafely clean while minimizingcosts. It utilizes state-of-the-artproduct formulations and indus-try-leading procedures to maintainfacilities that are safe, secure andsanitary. Customizable trainingand monitoring tools ensure afacility is complaint with ACA andstate/local standards.

www.spartanchemical.com,1.800.537.8990

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTSAND SERVICESAs a top supplier of mainte-

nance, repair and operationsmaterials, Grainger has thou-sands of products that can helpdepartments run more sustain-able facilities. Efficient energymanagement, water conserva-tion, waste reduction and airquality improvement can all leadto tremendous cost savings.

www.grainger.com/gogreen,1.800.472.4643


Some jobs stayin theworkplace

when the shift is over. Otherjobs, such as teaching, get takenhome so the teacher can gradeand prepare for the next day.Some jobs get taken home when

the person worries about thingslike the economy or if a patientmight fail and need help.Correctional officers (COs),though, have a job that should beable to stay in the workplace anddoesn’t. A shadow follows themhome. There is a saying that COs

are serving time, too. They justget paid for it. In 2000, theauthor Ted Conover completedthe course at the Albany TrainingAcademy for New York State cor-rections officers and wrote thebook “Newjack” about the yearhe spent as a CO at Sing-Sing.


BY MICHAEL GROHS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Corrections officerssuffer more stress

than many otheroccupations, and

it is exhibited by early disabilityretirement, high

turnover and suicide.

The term “eight and the gate” is not an apt one forCOs. The thought of not bringing the job home is agood one in theory, but as Conover wrote, “I waslike my friend who had worked the pumps at a ser-vice station: Even after she got home and took ashower, you could still smell the gasoline on herhands.” According to insurance data, veteran correctional

officers experience a life expectancy of about 59years, nearly eighteen fewer than the average popu-lation. It is a job filled with stress, burnout, and withless reverence from the population than those inother Uniformed Services. Correctional officers dealwith actual violence, the constant threat of violence,manipulation by demanding inmates, overcrowd-ing, competition for better assignments amongother COs and are often left with feelings of isola-tion, burnout, and being misunderstood by friends,family and the general public. There is also the mat-ter, as Conover wrote, of “the most stressful scenarioa 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 dispari-ty in itself responsible for officer stress. Stress isknown to be a catalyst for other health related issues.According to a study conducted by the Archive ofSuicide Research, the suicide rate for COs is 39%higher than other occupations. Between 2011 and2015, 12 COs at the Massachusetts Department ofCorrections committed suicide. That figure does notinclude suicides of recent retirees and those whoworked at county jails. Between 2009 and 2013, theMassachusetts Department of Public Health, whichtracks violent deaths, reported 20 suicides in the statewhose occupation was listed as “correctional officer.” Correctional facilities have had a strong econom-

ic impact in southern Colorado. They have had atragic personal impact as well. The suicide rate inFremont County is nearly twice as high as thestatewide average.Dr. Susan Balaban is a psychologist who runs the

Uniformed Service Program at the BrattleboroRetreat in Vermont, which offers treatment servicesspecifically geared for, among other branches, cor-rectional officers. She points out that COs are a uni-formed group who traditionally do not get a lot ofattention yet they are a branch of service who oftensuffers from high substance abuse rates, PTSD,depression, and suicide. Caterina Spinaris, founderof Desert Waters Correctional Outreach and anexpert on correctional research and who coined theterm “correction fatigue,” found that more thanone third of COs suffers from PTSD. (The rate formilitary veterans is about 14%.) Correctional officers work in an environment

with an intense, looming threat in which they canonly be reactive rather than proactive. The stresslevels are high. They start seeing gruesome thingsand are not accustomed to talking about it with

VISIT US AT WWW.CORRECTIONSFORUM.NET CORRECTIONS FORUM • MAY/JUNE 2016 23

friends and family. Witnessing inmates beingattacked, COs being attacked, and suicides has astrong impact on stress levels. One issue that exac-erbates the matter is the professional environ-ment—the correctional corporate culture. There is atremendous focus on efficiency, says Balaban. Theromanticism the public often associates with thepolice and the military does not translate to COs,and some of the camaraderie people attach to theuniformed services is not experienced by COs. A Department of Justice Report called Addressing

Correctional Officer Stress: Programs and Strategiesfound that 22% of staff viewed “other staff” as cre-ating more stress than any other single factorexcept for dealing with hostile and demandinginmates. Among the reasons were burned outcoworkers constantly venting their frustrations, thecompetition for a limited amount of choice assign-ments, and apprehension that a coworker willrefuse to back them in a confrontation withinmates because they are too inexperienced as aresult of high turnover, or they do not have thephysical or emotional strength to be effective. Ontop of it, the profession tends to have a negativesocial image. It is a profession not often portrayedin a positive light by the media.The environment also tends to have less peer

support than other uniformed services. It is not aculture where one can easily admit to having prob-

lems, and says Balaban, there seems to be more acri-mony among coworkers and less peer support thanis often found in other uniformed services. Officersare often reluctant to admit they are struggling,which leads to isolation. This is also a stoic popula-tion, says Balaban, who are very good at hidingsigns. They might not seek help for fear of beingsanctioned, and they are also not likely to seek helpuntil it exacerbates, such as missing work, substanceabuse, money management, etc. An officer underduress might use all of his or her sick days not com-ing to work, which can add to the acrimony amongher or her coworkers. (One captain who respondedto the Justice report judged that 90% of officersabuse sick time in this manner.) Turnover is high,and according to the Justice report, stress has beenimplicated as a reason for officer disability retire-ments. The report furthers that incorporating astress program can reduce turnover. In an instancein which inmates killed a civilian, 17 officers wenton disability leave; seven never returned. Five of the17 went for individual counseling, and of thosefive, four returned. (The one who did not was theofficer who discovered the body.)When it comes to COs obtaining help, there is

often an uncooperative or even an obstructionistatmosphere. One CO Balaban spoke to soughtfinancial help after he was attacked on the job. Hewas told by supervisors that he did not have PTSDbecause he did not immediately report it, which isnot how it works. (It takes about a month to pre-sent.) Another CO at a facility in Colorado, asreported by the Denver Post, was attacked by aninmate wielding a six-inch shank. The officer wasstabbed in the face and neck numerous times whileother inmates shouted, “Kill him! Kill him!” It wasmore than three minutes before backup arrived andintervened. Following the attack, the CO’s supervi-sors offered no counseling. The warden simplyasked 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 facili-

ty to support Employee Assistance Programs andensure that there is more of an incentive to seekhelp, and if an officer does seek help, they must beassured that they will not be in trouble such as ifthey are seeking help for substance abuse, they willnot be punished. The onus, Balaban says, is not forsupervisors to find solutions to problems; it is tonot shame an officer if they need help.Furthermore, there is also not a clear system forCOs to get help. Officers are often not given infor-mation on how to seek help, and there is usually noacross-the-board policy and little, if any, centraliza-tion. Most advocacy programs arise from COs andfamilies of COs. (Massachusetts has introduced aBill [Resolve S. 1254] to create “a special commis-sion to study the prevention of suicide amongstprisoners and correctional officers in Massachusetts


F

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correctional facilities.” It has sincebeen referred to the committee onSenate Ways and Means.)

Comorbidity of PTSD and DepressionStudies have found that indi-

vidually depression and PTSDcontribute to higher rates of sui-cide, but a real concern with cor-rectional officer well-being, saysBalaban, is comorbidity. “I’venever seen anyone with chronicPTSD who did not suffer fromdepression.” She furthers, “Thestress is going to get dealt with.It’s a high pressure environment,and it’s going to come out some-how.” Particular problems, shepoints out, are combinations oftrauma, chronic stress, andchronic pain from injuries. (Achronic phenomenon across thecountry from which COs are byno means immune is addiction topain killers. In an occupationwrought with physical injury, theslope to opioid abuse is not along one. Opioids numb pain,and they numb feelings.)Signs of Stress

Duty-related stress can affectanyone. According to theBrattleboro Retreat, signs thatsomething might be wronginclude having a specific criticalincident playing over and over inan officer’s mind. A CO mightfeel exhausted yet edgy andunable to relax. A nagging injurymay lead to depression. The jobmight start affecting an officer’smarriage and home life, he orshe might spend less and lesstime with friends and lovedones, and of course drinking toomuch and/or abusing prescrip-tion or other drugs. As Balabanpoints out, oftentimes in schoolschildren with ADHD don’t gettreatment until they start causingproblems for others. It can be thesame with PTSD. Once the mat-ter becomes disciplinary, an offi-cer might be pressured to seekassistance.One potential solution, sug-

gested the Justice report, might beprevention. The report noted thatdeveloping a stress program hasbenefits. There is a financial bene-fit in regards to sick time and the

subsequent officer replacementovertime. Many administratorsalso reported that officersinvolved in a personal crises whowere offered stress servicesreturned to work more quicklythan those who were not. Stressprograms can reduce turnover.(When Conover wrote “Newjack,”the Department was in a period ofunprecedented need for new offi-cers due to high turnover andhigher-than-usual retirementrates.) Other respondents reportedhigher morale, improved perfor-mance, increased security, andimproved relations with theunion. There is, though, saysBalaban, not much being done todevelop ways of processing stress,yet the concept for such measuresis not new. “Even the Romansand feudal Japanese had methodsfor this.”

For more information or to contactthe Brattleboro retreat, see their web-site at www.brattlebororetreat.org orcall 1.800.738.7328.


Stress has beenimplicated as areason for officerdisability retire-ments. It hasbeen found thatincorporating astress programcan reduceturnover.

M-J 16 p22-27 mental health_master template 6/1/16 1:05 PM

Boosting traffic in thecommissary with aplethora of products—

whether electronics like radiosand e-readers, foods from spicy tosweet, or comfort and entertain-ment items like health-and-beau-ty aids, stationery, games or ciga-rettes—all produce a win-win sit-uation for the commissary insales and in inmate satisfaction.One of the most desired items

for inmates is music. “Radiobecomes a ‘must have’ popularitem for inmates,” says JessicaGonzalez, administrative assis-tant, Sangean America, Inc., since“inmates tend to listen to radiosall day long if they are allowed.Sangean radios are very high-quality, last long, are not easy tobreak—security measures preventeasily opening the radio cabinet—and they have better reception.”Nationwide, Sangean DT-

120CL is the best seller since it’s apowerful small pocket radio,Gonzalez says. The Models MMR-77CLX and PR-D9CPWX are alsogood sellers as these two were

chosen by the CaliforiniaDepartment of Correc-tions and Rehabilitation(CDCR) for a state radioloaner program. “Eachstate has their own radiorequirements andrestrictions, and with ourwide range of radio selections, acommissary should be able to findradios in our extensive productlines to meet their correction facil-ity radio guidelines,” she notes.Sangean offers many clear-case

radios, headphones and earplugsfor correction distribution,Gonzalez adds. “We make largeor small radios, with or withoutbattery-operation, self-poweredradios, digital or analog-tunedradios. We also custom makeradios per customers’ require-ments.”Other clear electronics contin-

ue to be big sellers with compa-nies offering clear MP3 playerswith CD players, and even anXbox system for gaming.In hygiene, Oraline’s focus is

security-conscious oral care and

health-and-beauty aids for com-missary sales, says Kyle Roberts,sales manager, OraLine SecureCare Products. “Traditionallyinmates have had to use inferior-performing products as safetydesign changes drove what prod-ucts were allowed in facilities.Today, Oraline offers a line ofproducts that provide comprehen-sive, safety-first engineering andcustomer satisfaction,” he states. Similarly, the biggest selling

category at Bob Barker is personal


BY G.F. GUERCIO, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

WIN-WIN IN THE COMMISSARY:

CommissaryTraffic BoostersMeasure UpTraffic boosters run the gamut from food specialties to hygiene items to entertainment paraphernalia.

A Sangeanradio chosen by California forits state radio loaner program. Inaddition to radios, Sangean pro-vides headphones and earphonesfor corrections.

M-J 16 P28-35 commissary_master template 5/26/16 8:01 PM

care says Product Manager ErinHowell. Name brand products sellwell: “Oil of Olay Body Wash, DialBody Wash, and Colgate SinglePacket Toothpaste.” As for newproducts she notes the FemaleTriple-Blade Razor designed withrubber grip and a lubricating strip.Other big sellers include greet-

ing cards available in English andSpanish, bedphone earbudsdesigned for sleeping to block outnoise and for everyday use, an e-reader with 140-plus books, andcard games, board games and dic-tionaries in English and Spanish.In the entertainment category,

Beth Kennedy, Oasis InmateCommissary Services, addsinmate tablets as theirnewest technologyo f f e r i n gwith featuressimilar todorm kiosks“but with a fewmore optionssuch as e-books,radio, secure mes-saging, and videovisitation.” In addi-tion, she adds, “OasisCommissary offers awhole technology pack-age: inmate accountingsoftware, deposit kiosks,booking managers, dorm

kiosks, telephoneordering anddebit card re-lease,” she says.“The technologyoffered by com-missary compa-nies has changeddramatically overthe years.”The corrections

environment isconstantly evolv-

ing, agrees Jamie Mosley,Kentucky Laurel County Jailerand the founder of CrossBar SaferNicotine Products, a bendableelectronic cigarette for exclusivedistribution within thecorrections industry.“The electronic cigaretteindustry will soon be reg-ulated by the FDA andwe at CrossBar are in sup-port of the FDA regula-tions. Many of the areasof compliance reflect theproactive measures thatare already standard prac-tices of our company andproducts. Things such asproduct liability insurance, labo-ratory testing, pharmaceuticalgrade ingredients, and qualitycontrol measures are just some ofthe issues that are already in placeat CrossBar.”

Those that sell electron-ic cigarettes tout theirbenefits saying theyreduce contraband,improve morale andgenerate revenue.They offer a high

profit margin, vendors say.Other than revenue, safety is

another big factor in the facilityequation. “There is a highdemand for safer products insidebecause of overcrowding,” notesJulie Dellies, general manager forNo-Shank, Inc., a retired correc-tional officer at the county andstate levels. She adds, “The cur-rent trends show an increase inmentally unstable inmates.” Due to this, No-Shank’s biggest

selling product is the fingertiptoothbrush. “It is designed forhigh-security inmates. There is nohandle, it fits snuggly on your fin-ger; therefore, it is much safer,”

Dellies says. And the general pop-ulation toothbrush has a handlethat collapses under pressure. In addition to the two types of

toothbrushes, No-Shank carries ahigh-security mini razor andsuper flex pen and super flex pen-cils made to flex under pressure.As for variety, there is red, blue,and black ink. She notes,“Offering a variety of productscan be used as an incentive pro-gram, which, in turn, creates asafer environment.”Sweet snacks continue to do

well. “In the confections environ-ment, the biggest seller is theSnickers Single bar, says AshleyJarrett, business developmentmanager, Advantage Military,Mars Chocolate North America.“In the commissary, Single bars

Oraline’s tooth-brush and U-Flosser are part ofa new generationproduct line thatprovide safety aswell as comfortfor the inmate.

The biggest seller for TrinityServices Group is ramen noodles,particularly spicy flavors, whichmakes up about four percent of allsales in the warehouse.

Comal BBQ PulledPork is one ofUnion SupplyGroup’s newresponse tothe commis-

sary’sdemand

forHispanic food

offerings and isgluten free and contains

no preservatives.


sellbetter than

the King Size bars becauseof the price point. With limitedfunds available, inmates want toget to the most out of their dol-lar.”“The Snickers Single, M&M

Peanut Single and Twix CaramelSingle are our core items that tendto be our best performers yearafter year. Consumers know andare familiar with their favoritebrands,” she says, adding, “Weremain loyal to the core items,but also introduce innovationinto the assortment. An examplewould be the Snickers Crisper, anextension to the Snickers brand.” Other than confections,

Hispanic food items have alwaysbeen very popular sellers inprison commissaries, accordingto Debbi Drewry, direc-tor of Marketing, UnionSupply Group, “OurFood Express WhiteRice, Sayulita NachoTortilla Chips and BackCountry Chorizo con-tinue to top the salescharts.” Most recently,Union Supply Groupintroduced eight newComal Hispanicseasoned meatproducts to its productline. The Comal meat

products are allgluten free andcontain no preserv-atives for thosehealth consciousinmates, she says.“The shreddedchicken and carni-tas are also made

with 100 percentnatural ingredients. The ComalHispanic offerings contain threechicken products, four pork prod-ucts and one beef product, andare all sure to please the prisonpopulation.” “We find that our inmate con-

sumers have two top choices—the first being ramen noodles, thesecond being anything spicy,”relates Stacy Langin, associateVP,Marketing for AramarkCorrectional Services. “It’sall about spicy: Fromspicy wasabi potatochips to srirachapeanuts, our con-sumers crave productsthat are packed withflavor.” “We use retail data to

keep our menus refreshed

andrelevant, and runquarterly promotions to ensure weare keeping things fresh.” She saysAramark’s history of expertise inthe retail business is critical torunning the commissary effective-ly. “Providing offenders withname-brand products, and a regu-lar calendar of promotions,

keeps them satisfied.”

Agreeingsatisfaction is key, Jacob Koch,district manager, TrinityServices Group, says theirnationwide presence allows theflexibility to carry popularname brand items and the abil-

ity to offer regionalfavorites like Coke in the


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.

Between the card games,board games and dictionar-ies, Bob Barker offers manyto choose from in Englishand Spanish with somegames accommodating upto six players.

These on-ear head-phones, designed toblock out noise while

sleeping and foreveryday use, are big sellers in the commissary for

Bob Barker.

South and Mountain Dew in theMidwest/Midsouth. “When thesepopular items are offered, itkeeps money cominginto the

jail, which typically means greatercost recovery on inmate debt.Name brands create a win-win foreveryone.”“Trinity’s biggest seller across

the country is ramen noodles,particularly the chili flavoredvariety,” making up about 3 per-cent to 4 percent of sales. “Theramen noodles are always closelyfollowed in popularity by bothcoffee and pastries.”In the past several years, he

notes, they’ve seen the food itemslike the ramen and pastries replacethe stamped envelope as theirmost popular item. “This is dueprimarily to the new technology

that companies like Trinity bringto the industry that allowinmates different andfaster means of commu-nicating with theirloved ones, be it videovisitation, new phonesystems, or inmateemail on cell kiosksor tablets. “While all of the

innovations areexciting for all ofus,” he contin-ues, “including

the inmates, we can’t losesight of how important the com-missary is to the inmates. It’susually one of the only thingsthey look forward to, and havingthe name brand and popularitems available to them not only

helps to keep commissary saleshigh, but it is also an excellentbehavior modification tool forcorrectional facilities.” Again thatwin-win situation.

For more information: Sangean America, Inc.,

562.941.9900, 1.888.SANGEAN,www.SANGEAN.com,[email protected]

OraLine Secure Care Products,888.296.6730, www.oraline.net,[email protected]

Trinity Services Group,855.705.5538, www.trinityservices-group.com, [email protected]

Union Supply Group,310.604.4626, 888.308.6466,www.unionsupplygroup.com,[email protected]

Oasis Inmate CommissaryServices, 800.856.2747, www.oasis-commissary.com, [email protected]

Aramark Corporation,800.777.7070, aramarkcorrec-tions.com

Bob Barker Company, Inc.,800.334.9880, www.bobbarker.com

No-Shank, Inc., 800.705.4545,906.273.2500, www.no-shank.com,[email protected]

Advantage Military for MarsChocolate, 757.204.2356,[email protected]

CrossBar,www.smokecrossbar.com,606.260.3668


Many of the new FDA regulations forelectronic cigarettes are already stan-dard practices at CrossBar.

No-Shank’s flexi-ble products include pens,

pencil, toothbrushes and razors foroptimal security and inmate comfort

conditions.

The stamped envelope from TrinityServices Group is no longer the mostpopular item due to technologyaccessed by Trinity that allowsinmates to communicate throughvideo visitation, phone systems, orinmate email on cell kiosks ortablets.

Aramark researches food trends and otherdata to ensure they see to the inmates’ needs.

Onaverage, thelevel of edu-cation ani n d i v i d u a lhas attainedc o r r e l a t e s

directly with their earning power,and their ability to stayemployed. In fact according toBureau of Labor Statistics reporton employment in 2015 thosewith a doctoral or professionaldegree only have an unemploy-

ment rate of about 1.6% and earnon average more than $1,600 perweek, while someone with anassociates degree earned about$800 a week and was about twiceas likely to be unemployed. Anindividual without a high schooldiploma earned an average of$493 per week, and their unem-ployment rate stood at 8%.

Besides earning power, achiev-ing a more advanced degree pro-duces other perks. Higher educa-

tion can lead to less turnover,more personal fulfillment, a bet-ter understanding of what it takesto excel at one’s position, andenrichment of those the employ-ee may interrelate with.

In the case of a correctionsofficer position, which is knownto have high turnover and lowpay, gaining an education canattribute to improved stress man-agement, better understandingthe rehabilitation needs of


BY DONNA ROGERS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

M-J 16 p36-42 edu_master template 5/26/16 12:21 PM

offenders and a higher level ofoverall safety in the institution.

A crop of specialty universitiesaround the country provide cur-riculum that is targeted directlytoward corrections staff. Theseprovide both certification anddegree programs for correctionalstaff in various fields—fromCriminal Justice Administrationto Corrections, and Law to Socialand Behavioral Sciences. For busycorrections professionals, oftenworking shifts and juggling fami-lies, these higher ed programs areoffered at various offsite loca-tions, at a correctional facility, orfor the ultimate self-pacedoption—online.

The following are several high-er education options that providecoursework specifically for correc-tions staff.

California Coast University inSanta Ana was founded in 1973to serve students whose geo-graphic, professional, or personaltime commitments keep themfrom completing their educationin traditional on-campus pro-grams. Their accredited, self-paced courses are all offeredonline and are customized to fitstudent’s needs. Both degree andcertificate programs are available,with areas of study in CriminalJustice, Management, Business,General Studies, Psychology andHealth Care.

Their reach is global, saysMahsa Karimi, director ofBusiness Development, but mostof their students are in the U.S.“We serve a large network of lawenforcement officials includingpolice and correctional officers.We also work with inmates.”

It is so difficult for workingprofessionals to take time out toattend college, she notes. “Weoffer working professionals theopportunity to continue theireducation without disruptingtheir already busy lives.

“Self-paced programs with

affordable rates,” she furthers,“allow them to reach their educa-tional goals. Our programs havehelped many officers achieve pro-motions and increases in pay aswell as [eventually] open doorsfor possible future employmentoutside of law enforcement.”

The vision of the University of

Phoenix is to be recognized as themost-trusted provider for career-relevant higher education forworking adults,” says Dr. FranziWalsh, program dean, Universityof Phoenix College of Securityand Criminal Justice.

The College of Security andCriminal Justice focuses on indi-viduals who currently are work-ing in the public sector and whomay need a degree to grow with-in their current careers, or whowould like to transition into acareer in public service, she con-tinues. Program offerings alignwell to the many public and afew private sector jobs withinmost cities, counties and states,as well as the federal levels ofgovernment, Dr. Walsh details.These programs include a BS incriminal justice administration orin public administration, or mas-ter of science degree programs inadministration of justice andsecurity, and public administra-tion.

The University works with cor-rectional agencies when there isan academic need, Dr. Walshexplains. For example, theUniversity runs an onsite cohortfor the BSCJA degree at theCalifornia Department ofCorrections and Rehabilitation,California State Prison, Corcoran.The degree programs are com-posed of students who work invarious roles in the correctionalfacility and who are from variouscorrectional facilities.

University of Phoenix offersprograms both in an online for-mat and at physical campus loca-tions. Its programs span globallyvia online offerings, and courses

are approved for the onlinemodality in all 50 states. TheUniversity also has multiplephysical campus locations instates with large concentrationsof criminal justice or Universityof Phoenix students.

Additionally, many facultymembers were former wardens,deputy wardens, captains,sergeants, administrators, nursingstaff, etc., from correctional facili-ties or jails. Many university prac-titioner faculty hold supervisorypositions within correctionalfacilities across the U.S.

Kaplan University provides

innovative undergraduate, gradu-ate, and continuing professionaleducation for adult learners,according to Bryon Mills, director,Government Education Solutions.Kaplan is accredited by TheHigher Learning Commission(HLC) and, he adds, many of theirofferings are also accredited byprogram-specific accrediting agen-cies and approval grantors. TheUniversity comprises onlineschools and has 16 ground loca-tions across the country includingConcord Law School in LosAngeles as well as locations in theMidwest and on the East Coast.

The University offers associ-ate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, andprofessional degrees coveringpublic safety, business, informa-tion technology and cybersecuri-ty, health sciences and nursing,social and behavioral sciences,general education, and law. Forthe 2014-2015 academic year,there were 38,332 enrolled stu-dents. Of the enrolled students,59% were over 30, and 18% wereactive military or veterans.

Kaplan University provides“high quality education for adultlearners who need flexibility topursue their goals while still ful-filling responsibilities to workand family,” says Mills. Nearlytwo dozen online open coursesare free of charge; their CareerServices team provides resume,


M-J 16 p36-42 edu_master template 5/26/16 12:21 PM

interviewing, and career searchguidance and assistance; theymaintain three online learningcenters for additional breadthand depth of academic assistance.

“Kaplan University’s Bachelorof Science in Corrections pro-gram is one of only a few offeredin the nation and is availableboth online and on campus,”Mills says. “This comprehensivedegree includes general educationplus corrections courses coveringtopics such as legal aspects, cor-rections leadership, and offendertreatment and rehabilitation.Students learn operational andtechnological aspects of correc-tions and have an opportunity tostudy the day-to-day operationsand functions of the criminal jus-tice system.”

In addition to the Correctionsdegree, Kaplan offers variousother degrees of interest to thecorrections community, includ-ing both Bachelors and Mastersof Science in Criminal Justice,Legal Studies, Psychology, andNursing.

He furthers that at KaplanUniversity, “we are committed toeasing the cost of higher educa-tion for our students, partners,and society. Through strategicrelationships initiatives, we part-ner with military, public sector,and business organizations to sig-nificantly lower cost and time of

degrees for their employees ormembers.” Most recently, henotes, they partnered with theNorth Carolina Division of AdultCorrections and Juvenile Justiceto reduce cost and, through anin-depth review of their trainingprograms, award about threecourses of credit to correctionsofficers for the college-level skillslearned in their basic correctionstraining.

University of Cincinnati

Corrections Institute has trainedmore than 10,000 correctionsofficers around the globe as ofNovember 2015. UCCI is com-mitted to the dissemination ofbest practices to communities,facilities, and agencies seeking tochange offender behavior, theyreport. They work with federal,state, and local governments,along with the private sector andprofessional organizations, topromote effective interventionsand assessments for adult andjuvenile offenders. Institute offer-ings include Technical Assistance,Staff Training, E-Learning, andResearch and Development.

“Our mission is to disseminatethe best evidence-based practicesavailable in the field,” says UCCIdeputy director MindySchweitzer. “We are a unique

agency in that we conductresearch and bring it to the field.We equip [students] to be effec-tive agents of change.”

UCCI’s training cuts across thewhole corrections spectrum,Schweitzer adds. Overall theywork alongside staff, supervisorsand sometimes administrators,implementing evidence-basedpractices across the entire system,she reports. “We like to get out inthe trenches and also to look atthe bigger, broader system.” Aunique part of their work is thatthe institute also conducts evalu-ations of their work. We offer“training in fidelity,” a way forthe agency to measure theirprogress and look at continuousquality improvement.

Typically UCCI training is pre-sented at a corrections facility tokeep down expenses. Twice ayear, UCCI also offers a five-dayTraining Institute on their cam-pus, which this past May deliv-ered training to more than 100participants from 23 states. Thenext Institute will take place inAugust.

Clients include public and pri-vate corrections agencies, non-profits, halfway houses, federal,state and county probation agen-cies as well as behavioral healthorganizations, Schweitzer out-lines. Courses encompass evi-dence-based programs such as


s

E-learning is a convenient and self-paced way to earn a certificate or a degree.

Thinking for Change, Ohio YouthAssessment System Training ofTrainers, and various cognitivebehavioral interventions.

Schweitzer believes that riskassessment tools have becomemuch more recognized andaccepted by corrections officials.“A lot of folks are aware thatrecidivism is a problem, and…agencies are comfortable aboutusing evidence-based practices.However, the challenge is theappropriate use of those tools.After the risk assessment is com-plete, they don’t know the nextstep,” she says.

UCCI works with numerousagencies on a regular basis. Theirresearchers recently completed acomprehensive report evaluatingOhio’s prison programs as well asan initiative to design jail reentryprograms in L.A.

Among its success stories is theKansas Department of Correc-tions. Working with various part-ners, including the UCCI, Kansashas managed to reduce recidivism

from 55% for offenders releasedin 1999 to 35% for offendersreleased in 2012.

In addition to strengtheningcapacity for case management andcore correctional practices amongcaseload carriers, they attributethis success to two major factors:use of vigorous evidence-basedcurricula; and hiring and develop-ing a cadre of in-house programproviders, supported by “fidelitycoaches,” those that provide ongo-ing evaluation and continuousquality improvement.

Rather than predominantlydepend upon contract providersas they had in the past, the KDOCmade a decision to graduallyestablish and sustain nearly 30 in-house program providers, andprovide them ongoing trainingand coaching in the use of strongcurricula. UCCI is a key partner inthis effort to develop curriculathat target behaviors whichresearch shows directly correlateto reoffending. One such curricu-lum is the UCCI Cognitive-

Behavioral Interventions forSubstance Abuse Curriculum(referred to in Kansas as theSubstance Abuse Program or SAP).

The KDOC worked closely withUCCI to implement SAP in allseven of its male facilities over athree-year period. Extensive datawere tracked regarding SAP partic-ipants, and an independent evalu-ation was completed in January2016. The evaluation found thatacross all risk levels, SAP com-pleters had a 7.5% lower recidi-vism rate than the comparisongroup (28.7% for the treatmentgroup, 36.3% for the comparisongroup). More importantly, theyreport, high-risk offenders per-formed 15.8% better, with com-pleters having a recidivism rate of32.3%, compared to 48.1% for thecomparison group.

At the KDOC education provedonce again that it could improveoutcomes. Training strengthenedcorrectional staff’s ability tochange even the highest-riskoffenders for the better.


he number ofprisoners climbedsteeply in federal,state and county

detention in the 1980s and1990s, partly the result of stricterdrug penalties and three strikelaws. While research indicatesthat the expanded use of incar-ceration during those twodecades did contribute to thedeclining crime rate, the effectwas likely small. (Research pub-lished in February 2015 by theBrennan Center for Justice andthe New York University Schoolof Law estimates that 0%-7% of

the decline in crime in the 1990scan be attributed to increasedincarceration). Further researchin an article called “Prisons” writ-ten by Anne Morrison Piehl andBert Useem and published in the2011 book “Crime and PublicPolicy,” claims that “incarcera-tion has probably reached thepoint of diminishing [crime]rates.”

Over the past several years,public policymakers have beenquestioning two ways to reducethe prison and jail populations,as we are well aware. One is todivert low-level offenders to pro-

bation or an alternative treat-ment program and the other is togrant non-violent offenders earlyrelease and place them on parole.

Furthering the discussion, inOctober 2015 a report titled Riskand Need Assessment in theCriminal Justice System was pub-lished by the CongressionalResearch Service to informCongress of the issues. Theauthor, Nathan James, a crimeanalyst, posed several issues poli-cymakers might contemplateshould Congress choose to con-sider legislation to implement arisk and needs assessment system


Recovery

&BY DONNA ROGERS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

There has been a trend toward providing offenderstherapeutic treatment services whether at the

pretrial, probationary, incarceration or post-incar-ceration community corrections level.

in federal prisons (the thought-provoking report to Congress iswell worth a read). The overarch-ing question it poses is whetherrisk and needs assessmentsshould be used in federal prisons,but other questions it considersare if certain inmates should beexcluded from earning additionaltime credits for early release, andultimately if there should be adecreased focus on punishingoffenders.

Over the past several yearsthere has been a rising recogni-tion by criminal justice entitiesthat conducting formal risk andneeds assessments can benefit theoffender as well as lower recidi-vism, and to that goal, legislationhas been enacted that guides theprocess. In general, research indi-cates that most commonly-used

risk and needs assessment instru-ments can, with a moderate levelof accuracy, predict who is at riskfor recidivism, the report contin-ues. (Two meta-analytic compar-isons also indicate that no oneinstrument is superior to anyother when it comes to predictivevalidity.)

The use of risk and needsassessment in the criminal justicesystem is not without controver-sy, however. Proponents of assess-ment assert that the tools used toassess the risk and needs ofinmates are better than the inde-pendent judgment of cliniciansand that the tools have demon-strated the ability to make distinc-tions between high- and low-riskoffenders. Nonetheless, theyshould be viewed with a dose ofskepticism.

As those working in correctionsknow, risk and needs assessmentis not 100% accurate. Two expertsin the field, Edward J. Latessa andBrian Lovins, say that “[a]lthoughstatistical risk assessment reducesuncertainty about an offender’sprobable future conduct, it is sub-ject to errors and should beregarded as advisory rather thanperemptory.” In their 2010 articlein Victims and Offenders, theywrite: “Even with large data setsand advanced analytical tech-niques, the best models are usual-ly able to predict recidivism withabout 70% accuracy—provided itis completed by trained staff.”

There are factors to consider.One of the key critiques of riskand needs assessment, furthersthe report to Congress, is thatwhile there is evidence of somepredictability in group behavior,it is difficult, if not impossible, tomake a determination about howindividual members of a groupwill behave. Two scholars, DavidJ. Cook and Christine Michie,note that it is a logical fallacy tomake a causal inference about amember of a group based on thegroup’s characteristics. In addi-tion there is a concern thatassessment instruments may nothave been accurately vetted for

use on racial minorities. It is pos-sible, says Kelly Hannah-Moffatin a paper presented at theUniversity at Albany Symposiumon Sentencing in September2010, that minorities might scorehigher on risk and needs assess-ments because “of their elevatedexposure to risk, racial discrimi-nation, and social inequality—not necessarily because of theircriminal propensities or thecrimes perpetrated.”

Ultimately, risk and needsassessments can be used at nearlyall points of the criminal justicesystem as highlighted by a VeraInstitute of Justice memo, statesthe CRS report. This includes pre-trial detention by courts, judicialsentencing, probation and postrelease supervision, prison andparole board and releasingauthorities. Experts Latessa andLovins note that while there isevidence that risk and needsassessment is widely used in cor-rections, there is a great deal ofvariation in how it is implement-ed and employed, with someusing it more systematicallyacross a wide variety of settingsthan others.

Some industry experts reportthat states have been increasinglylegislating scientifically-validatedtools, and one survey (Viljoen etal., 2010) reported that over 75%of forensic clinicians always oralmost always use a risk assess-ment tool when conducting adultrisk assessments.

Wisconsin DOCThe Wisconsin Department of

Corrections, for example, usesthe Northpointe Suite at variousdecision points in an offender’spath through the criminal justicecontinuum. The suite is a deci-sion-support tool containing afull complement of industry-lead-ing scales designed to predictthree types of risk (general recidi-vism, violent recidivism, and fail-ure to appear) and measure 24dimensions of criminogenicneed. The department uses COM-PAS and the various alternative


screenings, or trailer tools, thatare built into the suite,explains Jared Hoy, policy ini-tiatives advisor, with theWIDOC.

Some of the ways WIDOCuses COMPAS are:• COMPAS Primary Needs at

initial screen at intake toprobation

• COMPAS Youth at intake tojuvenile supervision

• COMPAS Reentry at transi-tion from institution to field

• COMPAS for Women(Gender ResponsiveVersion), a pilot in femaleinstitutions

• URICA, a change assessmentto gauge readiness prior totreatment

• TCUCTS, a criminal think-ing screener to assist in cog-nitive behavioral treatmentdelivery

• TCUDS, a drug screener toprovide more AODA infor-mation

• ACE, an Adverse ChildhoodExperiences scale used in thejuvenile institutions

WIDOC has been using arisk assessment tool since thelate 1970s ((WisconsinRisk/Needs). However, Hoypoints out, “the tool had notbeen revalidated and we pri-marily wanted to move into a4th generation tool that pro-vided case management func-tionality. Our previous riskassessment tool also did notprovide a violent risk score,which COMPAS does.”

Most assessments are com-pleted at intake, Hoy notes.However, COMPAS access isoffered to Wisconsin countiesat the local level with theintent/vision that they assessprior to (potential) placementwith the WIDOC. As such, 46of the 72 counties in the stateuse COMPAS for pre-trial deci-sion-making, diversion pro-gramming placement decisions,jail programming placement, oreven sentencing. If sentenced

to WIDOC, additional assess-ment points are at institutionrelease and every six monthswith the Case SupervisionReview tool while on commu-nity supervision, he adds.

“Using a validated tool helpsus align both with the risk andneed principle,” Hoy furthers.“Prior to using COMPAS, we didnot have formal policy to sup-port the use of risk assessmentto inform the treatment/servicereferral process. We now have aformalized process wherebymedium/high risk offenders areprioritized for treatment.Furthermore, in terms of theneeds principle, COMPAS andthe various alternative screen-ings assist us in honing in onthe specific criminogenic needor driver for which services areneeded.”

Following a risk and needsassessment, offenders arematched to treatment services.Hoy describes that WIDOCprovides a variety of treatmentservices including cognitivebehavioral treatment (Thinkingfor a Change), Substance abusetreatment (CBISA), sex offendertreatment, anger managementtreatment, domestic violencetreatment, and a host of addi-tional treatment opportunitiesin the community, includingDay Report Centers.

TherapeuticTreatment Services

There has been a trendtoward providing offenderstherapeutic treatment serviceswhether at the pretrial, proba-tionary, incarceration or post-incarceration community cor-rections level. One such treat-ment that has been document-ed in over 200 published out-come studies to significantlylower recidivism for periods aslong as 20 years after treatmentis Moral Reconation Therapy(MRT), a SAMHSA NREPP pro-gram. A premier cognitive-behavioral program for at-risk


Proponents of assess-ment assert that the

tools used to assess therisk and needs of

inmates are better thanthe independent judg-

ment of clinicians.

and treatment-resistant clients indrug/DUI/mental health courts,therapeutic communities, veterancourts, probation, parole, residen-tial programs, jails, and prisons,research indicates rearrest/rein-carceration rates from 25% to75% lower when compared to anuntreated control group.Correctional Counseling, Inc.(CCI) is the sole source for MRTtraining and treatment materials.

CCI also offers multiple MRT-based behavior-specific curricu-lums addressing anger manage-ment, relapse prevention,domestic violence, trauma, co-dependency, smoking-cessationand a shoplifting curriculum.Furthermore there are curricu-lums offered for DUI/DWIoffenders and juveniles.

“We are seeing more relianceon community-based treatmentas an alternative to incarcera-tion,” says Breathitt Robinson,director of customer relationswith CCI. There has been anincrease in EBP likely becausefunding sources are beginning torequire their use, she notes. MRTtargets behaviors such as anti-social personality pattern, pro-criminal attitude, and substanceabuse. The program which typi-cally lasts 24 to 30 group ses-sions, seeks to improve medica-tion adherence, treatment adher-ence, improved psychiatricsymptoms and functioning,improved housing stability andjob retention, enhanced life pur-pose, reduced substance abuseand ultimately reduced criminalinvolvement.

Asheville, North Carolina-based Insight Human Serviceswork with individuals undercommunity supervision, mostlyprobation and some post release.The agency has been using theMRT program for about two yearsnow, with results they tout. “Ihave worked with the mentalhealth, substance misuse and/orcriminogenic needs of the offend-er population for more than 30years, says Carlene Wood, alicensed clinical addiction spe-

cialist and vice president Region4 Justice Services with Insight,“and MRT is, by far, the mosteffective and efficient program Ihave used. The transformation inoffender thinking and behavior isremarkable,” she praises, addingthat from a management point ofview, it is easy to administer. It isa much needed addition to theirtreatment program, as sheexplains not only the numbers ofthose they treat have increasedover the past three years, therisk/need level of their clients hasincreased as well.

Going ForwardWhile it is important to care-

fully consider each offender’sneeds and corresponding treat-ment without overgeneralizing,employing EBP at every phase ofthe criminal justice system canhave positive effects on individu-als. “The research literature on“what works” and evidence-basedpractice in corrections is clear,”asserts Dr. Angel Ilarraza,Northpointe. “The criminal jus-tice system dramatically increasesthe likelihood of reducing offend-er recidivism when it focuses onaddressing the salient crimino-genic needs and/or circumstancesthat are present in the life of anoffender. Without the use of avalidated assessment strategy,there is a risk to overemphasizethe importance of non-crimino-genic factors that are commonly

(and erroneously) understood ascriminogenic in nature e.g.,unemployment, ATOD [alcohol,tobacco and other drug] use,” hecautions.

“I think that it is common forpractitioners to be unaware of,underestimate, or in the worstcase, ignore the importance of sci-entific validation,” continues Dr.Ilarraza. “As a result, practitionersoften develop ‘assessment tools’based on their professional judg-ment and without regard for theexisting knowledge in the fieldsof predictive modeling, dataanalysis, empirical scale construc-tion and criminology. All of thesefields contribute significantly tothe development of reliable andvalidated assessment instruments.

“Overall, I think that theimplementation of COMPASScales has fostered a better under-standing and appreciation forwhat we call the risk and crim-inogenic need profile of theoffender,” Ilarraza says. Theseprofiles are mostly unique toeach individual, in the sense thatit is defined by the assessmentresult for each person. Additionalanalysis of profile data demon-strates that these profiles tend tocluster into groups and therebydefine criminal prototypes ortypologies (e.g., groups of offend-ers sharing similar but not identi-cal criminogenic need profiles).These offender typologies can bevery useful for helping agenciesdevelop effective interventionsthat are based on types of offend-ers, he says.

In the end, Dr. Ilarraza viewsthe current use of evidence-basedpractices in corrections withmixed feelings. He has been see-ing a welcomed increase in use ofrisk and needs assessment tools,but says “the fidelity of use is stilllacking.”

For the full report Risk andNeeds Assessment in theCriminal Justice System, aCongressional Research Servicereport by Nathan James, see www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/ R44087.pdf


Industry experts report that stateshave been increasingly legislatingscientifically-validated risk tools.

Mesa County Criminal JusticeServices Department, or CJSD,located in Grand Junction,Colorado, is a busy place. While itswide expanses of protected federaland state lands are crisscrossed byrugged trails and byways, thecounty has grown more than 25%in population since 2000.

Mesa County caseworkerssupervise 2,500 offenders on anygiven day—ranging from low-level to higher-intensity programsand from residential inpatient tocommunity-based treatment ser-vices. Offenders they managespan probation, parole, residentialand community-based programs.

Over the past few years, thecounty, which sits on the westernborder of the state, has made ahuge commitment to provideonsite programming that isoffender specific and encouragespersonal responsibility. All pro-grams offered by CJSD are evi-dence-based, using cognitive


BY DONNA ROGERS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MESA COUNTY SOFTWARESOLIDIFIES ASSESSMENTS

& TREATMENT

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behavior modalities of treatmentand education that have beenproven to be effective in chang-ing behavior.

Its Community Correctionsarm provides residential servicesincluding custody and rehabilita-tion services to sentenced offend-ers. These community-based ser-vices encompass electronic moni-toring, day reporting, deferredjudgment and sentence, substanceabuse testing and pretrial services.It also provides both independentliving apartments and non-resi-dential community corrections.

Offenders in the residentialsetting live in a halfway housesetting and are either beingdiverted from prison or are transi-tioning out of prison and backinto the community, explainsMatt Sullivan, CJSD’s deputydirector. Wrap-around servicesare provided for each offender, hefurthers, which include assess-ment, case management, treat-ment, and reentry services.(Housing is limited to specialpopulations, which include sub-stance abuse, mental health, sexoffender, domestic violence andwomen.) Additional nonresiden-tial services offered by CJSDinclude life skills, problem solv-ing skills and cognitive restruc-turing, among others.

Multi-phaseTechnology Roll-out

To back up their efforts, CJSDadministrators have put intomotion a multi-phase technologyimplementation, not only to accu-rately manage and maintainrecords but to track offender’sprogress and to make certain theyare implementing the best prac-tices and the best treatments foreach. In 2014 they implementedPhase I, which was a MicrosoftDynamics CRM deployment,which tracked efforts on a spread-sheet. Later that year, CJSD beganphasing in Tribridge’s Offender360software, also based on theMicrosoft Dynamics CRM, whichwill allow case managers to accessinformation that was contained indisparate data bases. In the fall of2015 they rolled out another pieceof software, Tribridge’s Pretrial360,which focuses specifically onoffenders prior to trial, an area ofconcern predicated on researchthat even short stints of pretrialincarceration lead to an increasedlikelihood of recidivism.

The RecidivismChallenge

The problem in jurisdictionsacross the U.S. is the high averagerecidivism rates. Each year

more than 700,000offenders are releasedfrom federal and stateprisons and are

returned to communities.Regrettably, within three years,40 percent will be reincarcerated,according to a report donethrough the RAND CorrectionalEducation Project.

To address this issue, in 2007CJSD launched an initiative toprovide offender treatment pro-grams, based on a risk and needsassessment program. But thechallenge was, they describe, thatthe data was held in variousplaces, and case managers werehaving difficulty quickly gettingaccess to all the information theyneeded to make informed deci-sions, notes Jason Talley, clinicaldirector with CJSD. They sought away the data could flow betweenthe three primary divisions with-in their department: ResidentialCommunity Corrections, Treat-ment Programs and CommunityBased Supervision.

“We have evolved a lot since2007 when we began the residen-tial treatment programs and weneeded to consolidate our data.We had a huge need for track-ing,” comments Joel Bishop, pre-trial program manager. “We hada number of data bases andspreadsheets. We needed some-thing more integrated, in thesame format and accessed fromthe same data base.”

The department, too, hadalready been using a series of riskassessments to analyze offender’sneeds, but “our old system wasdisconnected,” Bishop furthers.“We needed it to be modernizedand integrated. Again, we neededsomething to bring it all into onedata base for risk assessment andto track the outcomes. This is aprimary reason we upgraded ourdata base,” he says.

Three SoftwareModules

Offender360 software consistsof three modules, all of whichwill be implemented by CJSD toaddresses the various areasrequired by the county. TheOffender Management module


More than six in 10 jailinmates are awaiting trialat any given time. Pretrialincarceration costs theU.S. over $9 billiondollars every year.Since the majority of jurisdictions relyon bond schedules,money is the pri-mary factor thatdetermines pre-trial detention.

will be used for data collection ofoffender’s information. TheCommunity Corrections modulewill be utilized for managing riskassessments and providing theoversight for evidence-basedpractices, ensuring that the rightoffenders get into the right pro-grams. Finally, the FacilitiesManagement module will main-tain records on and streamlinemanagement of personnel andfacilities’ operations.

Included in the overall func-tionality the department will gainthrough the implementation are:sentence and time accounting;offender demographics; securitythreat group tracking; visitationscheduling; drug testing schedul-ing; recidivism reduction andmanagement; and housing andbed assignment. Going forward,Offender360 will be used to sup-port each of the four correctionalresidential halfway houses man-aged by the department.

As a part of the ongoing imple-mentation, last October CJSDPretrial Services (PTS) rolled outPretrial360, a set of solutions tohelp agencies deal with pretrialmanagement more effectively andhelp them move from a resource-based to risk-based bail decision-making process. Built onMicrosoft Dynamics CRM,Pretrial360 has three distinct mod-ules that focus on pretrial manage-ment: Defendant Management,Supervision Case Management,and Risk Assessments. MesaCounty uses all three.

Bishop notes that PTS providestwo services to the local criminaljustice system in an effort to keepjail costs down while maintainingpublic safety. First, PTS providesinformation about defendantshoused in the Mesa CountyDetention Facility (MCDF), runby the Mesa County Sheriff’sOffice, who have been arrestedand charged with crimes, and,secondly, PTS supervises approveddefendants, released from theMCDF, as a condition of securedor personal recognizance bonds.For those defendants who have

been released on bond, PTS strivesto ensure compliance with court-mandated conditions of bond andappearance in court as required.

Conducting a risk assessmenton all defendants in custody whoare awaiting their initial appear-ance in court can help with pre-trial incarceration rates, furthersBishop. Risk assessments providejudges with empirical informa-tion about the defendant, whichpermits a more strategic approachto hold and release decisions.

As new statutes place more ofan emphasis on collection of pre-trial justice performance and out-come measures, Pretrial360’ssolution assists in making moreinformed decisions at each phasein the pretrial process, from firstcontact with law enforcementthrough adjudication. Often therequired data for decision-makingexist in various locations, makingit difficult to pull it all together,say Mesa County managers.Pretrial360 allows data from vari-ous locations—such as state crim-inal history repositories, jails,police departments, sheriffs'offices, courts and local pretrialservices or probation depart-ments—to be integrated andaccessed from one central point.

With Pretrial360, regularlyreviewing the pretrial detaineepopulation in the jail allows juris-dictions to see if circumstancesallowing for pretrial release mayhave changed. The MicrosoftDynamics CRM database tracksall necessary information to pullreal-time data instantly.Furthermore, specialized built-inassessments such as domestic vio-lence, substance abuse, and men-tal health evaluations can assistin the release and supervisiondecision.

The program is multi-faceted,Bishop adds. “With one program,we can do assessments at the jail,the supervision piece is done withthe same. We also have risk assess-ments built-in, such as the pretrialassessment, the domestic violenceinstrument, and the proxy, as wellas the treatment module.”

Results & OutcomesWhat was once a laborious

process can now be done veryquickly, CJSD managers concur.“The software consolidated therisk assessment into one system,”Talley says. “We use it to enhanceour capabilities, to drill deeper intoour outcomes. It has the potentialto easily track the assessments.

“My clinical staff can documenttheir notes in real time,” Talleyfurthers. “They input it into thesystem and it allows the case man-ager to provide supervisors theneeded data to get reports fromclinical staff. This enables far bettercoordination in sharing reports.”

As a Microsoft product, thesolution can be customized. “Weare a large department doing somany things, it’s important to us,”he says. In addition, as new mod-ules come up, the software can beupgraded and modules can contin-ue to be built in.

In the past, information wasfragmented into numerous isolat-ed silos. Now a centralized database that’s built into a cloud- andweb-based system further givesothers access to review data. Andthe data can be accessed through avariety of sources, including desk-tops, tablets and laptops. Talleyreports: “Our referral agencies andcontract employees will also beable to access certain informationfrom the web-based system, whichis now done manually and takes agreat deal of time.”

Tally says the implementationwas more fruitful because vendorTribridge “works collaborativelywith us. They have been findingsolutions for our department allalong….and that process hashelped make it functional for us.”

Mesa County CJSD has made aresolute commitment to gettingclients back on their feet andreentered successfully into soci-ety. They continue to work withclients to give them the besttreatment in a timely manner.Having information available attheir fingertips only makes themmore proficient.


N E W P R O D U C T S


Page No.

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Black Creek Integrated

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Bob Barker..............................51

California Coast University.....41

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Imperial Fastener ...................16

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Millenium .................................4

NaphCare ...............................23

University of Phoenix .............39

Point Blank Industries ..............5

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Securus Technologies.............13

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Time Keeping Systems, Inc. ...19

Tribridge.................................47

TrinityServices Group, Inc......31

Union Supply Group ..............33

Wexford Health Sources ........21

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