THE DOC EAGLE September, 2002 “Soaring to Greater Heights of Excellence”

Volume 1, Issue 3 THE DOC EAGLE September, 2002 “Soaring to Greater Heights of Excellence”

PUPPIES TO PRISON

Six adorable Labrador Retriever puppies arrived at Metro State Prison in Atlanta on Tuesday, August 20th to begin their transition from nine week old puppies to guide dogs for the visually impaired. These carefully selected puppies will wear a jacket or scarf to identify the very special role in life for which they are training. The puppies will be paired with a specially trained, volunteer inmate to begin the 16-month program. Under the direction of an obedience instructor, the inmates will teach the dogs manners and basic obedience and will provide the daily care and love they need for healthy development. Upon completion of the program, the inmate trainers will receive certificates from the Middle Georgia Technical College and assistance upon release in finding employment in the Jim Wetherington field. Commissioner

Commissioner Wetherington presents several “Puppy Trainers” with their dogs Highlights during recent Guide Dog Arrival Cere- mony at Metro State Prison Inside this Issue:

The I.M.P.A.C.T. (Inmates Providing Animal Care and Training) program is an In Memory of 2 alliance between the Georgia Department of Corrections and the non-profit Officer James Southeastern Guide Dog Inc., of Palmetto, Florida. In addition to donating the Henderson puppies, SEGDI will provide an obedience instructor, food supplies, veterinary A Time to Sa- 3 services and the vocational program for volunteer inmates. In return, the Depart- lute Corrections Employees ment of Corrections will provide SEDGI well-trained guide dogs ready for advanced training, and ultimately, guide dogs for individuals who are visually im- Georgia: Now 4 6th Largest paired. (Continued on Page 3) Prison System

Probation’s New 5 Electronic Connectivity

Board of 7 Corrections

GDC Perform- 8 ance Manage- ment Above: “Chief’s Kennel” where the puppies are housed. Left: Gage, Rex, and Winston anxiously await the arrival of their puppy trainers. In Memory of Officer James Henderson Correctional Officer James Henderson of Georgia State Prison died on June 3, 2002 of injuries sustained in the line of duty. He had been a valued officer at GSP since 1994. He was also an Army veteran who had served in Korea, Germany and the US.

A very touching memorial service was held for Officer Henderson on June 6th in Vidalia. One of the speakers was a long time coworker, Correctional Officer Lucy Kingery. The following excerpt from her comments will give you an idea of the Officer James Henderson respect Officer Henderson had earned at GSP. Georgia State Prison

“James was the epitome of the type person and officer every Officer-in-Charge wants. He rarely ever missed work. He was conscientious. He knew policy and went by it. He took his duties very seriously. He was loyal and faithful to his job and fellow officers. Many officers worked with James over the years. They knew him to be polite, friendly and courteous, a kind and caring friend. James knew and believed in God. He talked with co-workers about religious issues. Like all of us, James had hard and difficult times, but it’s to his credit, he persevered and made it through them. His delight, as everyone knew, was his daughter, Jennifer. He loved her and their time together.

James’ courage and perseverance during the years with us will give us the strength to move on. The pride he had in his uniform and job will help many. Officer James Henderson is a credit to Georgia State Prison, the State of Georgia and the United States of America. We, his GSP family, will never forget him or the price he paid, to do so would be a disgrace.”

Please remember to keep James’ daughter, family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. Also remember Arnie Oliver, the officer who came to Henderson’s assistance and was attacked by the same inmate. Mr. Oliver is still at home recuperating from his injuries.

NEW RISK REDUCTION INITIATIVE With financial support from the National Institute of Corrections, the department is initiating a new program to reduce recidivism by providing programming throughout our various functions. Models of this new program will be established in Probation Offices, Day Reporting Centers, Diversion and Detention Centers, as well as Prisons and Transitional Centers.

The model will contain an Assessment component, the four (4) basic program tracks (Cognitive- Behavioral, Substance Abuse, Education, and Employment), a Family/Community (Aftercare) component, and an Evaluation component to demonstrate the model’s effectiveness in reducing recidivism. The model concept has been introduced to management in the Facilities Division and the Probation Di- vision and sites representative of every secure and non-secure option available to our system have been selected to serve as “model sites”. The first model program is scheduled for implementation in January, 2003.

Risk Reduction Services will continue to support the programming that is currently in place throughout the system, working with staff to ensure that these programs are operating as effectively and efficiently as possible. The model sites will be used to improve on what we already do and to test the effectiveness of our program components so that, eventually, all other sites will have access to a model that can suc- cessfully impact their respective populations. (Continued on Page 5)

Page 2 THE DOC EAGLE Puppies to Prison (cont.) Integral to the success of the program are “volunteer weekend puppy raiser families.” These families include staff from the Georgia Department of Corrections, as well as members of the community. These volunteers will take the puppies home every weekend to expose them to all types of social situations. The only expecta- tion of the weekend family is that they must provide additional love and bonding, a safe home environment, and frequent familiarization with the everyday world. If you live in the Atlanta area and are interested in being a regular volunteer or a back up volunteer, call Michelle W. Turpeau, IMPACT Coordinator for the department at 404-624-2736.

The puppies will reside in a kennel specially built by inmate labor, which includes a classroom for the required coursework. The inmates in the program will wear a badge to identify themselves to everyone at the facility as one of the trainers. It also will be a learning experience for the staff at Metro who will receive training on how to interact with the puppies so as not to interfere with their training and on how to handle new security issues such as control of medical equipment brought into the prison by the volunteer veterinarians.

“This is a win-win proposition,” said Commissioner Wetherington. “The inmates will be providing a valuable service to the public and at the same time receiving vocational training to enhance their employment prospects upon release.”

A TIME TO SALUTE CORRECTIONS EMPLOYEES

May 6-12, 2002 was a special time for all of us as we paused to acknowledge our contributions to our agency and the citizens of Georgia by celebrating National Correctional Officer Week, National Nurses Week and Georgia Employee Recognition Week. Commissioner Wetherington videotaped his personal message of appreciation so that it could be shared with employees at all our sites. The Board of Corrections and the Governor expressed their recognition through official resolutions.

Corrections employees at facilities and offices all across the state celebrated the week with banners, posters, certificates of appreciation, goody bags, softball games, volleyball games and lots of good eating. It is evi- dent that we love to eat and cookouts are our favorites. Facilities such as Columbus DC, Atlanta TC, GD&CP, Central SP, Augusta SMP, Pulaski SP and Truetlen Boot Camp got out the grills and fed the staff. We would also like to acknowledge the efforts by our facilities, such as GSP, to make sure everyone was fed well, including those who could not be relieved from their posts. Employees in the central offices in Twin Towers got together for some cake and punch and to look at old Corrections memorabilia.

Festivities during this week also included the presentation of the State Government Employee Recognition Awards at a ceremony in Atlanta on May 8th. Awards were given in the categories of innovations, safety, heroism, teamwork, leadership, customer service, community service and faithful service (40 years of service in state government). Nominations from Corrections were as follows:

Heroism – Terry Calhoun, Sergeant at Georgia State Prison, for single handedly stopping the escape of an inmate from a public hospital while taking special efforts to keep civilians from being harmed.

(Continued on Page 6)

Volume 1, Issue 3 Page 3 Georgia Surpasses Ohio and Illinois: Now Sixth Largest Prison System in Nation

R ecently released data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that during the last six months of 2001, Georgia moved ahead of Ohio and Illinois and now has the sixth largest prison population in the nation. Only Texas, California, Florida, New York and Michigan have more inmates. Highlights of the re- port include:

· During 2001, the nation’s prison population rose at the lowest rate since 1972, rising just 0.3%, Geor- gia’s prison population grew by 3.9%

· During the last six months of 2001, the states’ prison population fell by 3,705 inmates, a decrease of 0.3%, Georgia’s prison population grew by 1.3%.

· During 2001, the Federal system (up 11,577), experienced the largest growth, followed by Georgia (up 1,705), and Tennessee (up 1,505). In 2000, the pattern was the same with the federal system lead- ing the nation in prison growth followed by Georgia.

· At the end of 2001 Georgia had 45,937 inmates. Georgia currently has 46,591 inmates.

The amount of time served in prison, not the number of admissions to prison, drives Georgia’s prison growth. Once sentenced to prison, inmates serve increasingly longer prison terms. Georgia’s 1995 “Two Strikes” law and 1998’s “Parole 90% Policy” are the primary reasons for the growth.

There are over 6,000 inmates serving “One or Two Strike” sentences in Georgia prisons. An additional 8,000 inmates are serving under the “90% Policy.” Projections show the prison system has absorbed the full growth of the additional “90% Policy” inmates but estimate that approximately 800 “One and Two Strike” inmates per year will “stack” in the prison system for several more years.

STATE # OF INMATES WINNER OF THE ‘NAME THE NEWSLETTER’ Texas 167,070

California 159,444 Florida 72,406 New York 67,534 Michigan 48,849 Georgia 45,937 Ohio 45,281 Illinois 44,348 Pennsylvania 38,062 Louisiana 35,710

Commissioner Wetherington congratulates Kathy Seabolt, winner of the Name the News- letter Contest, with lunch and a visit to the North Georgia Regional Corrections Academy

Page 4 THE DOC EAGLE Probation’s New Electronic Connectivity Years of heavy field books bulging with handwritten case notes and scrawled sticky notes are coming to an end for probation officers. As of July 1, 2002, all probation offices are now connected to SCRIBE, the automated case management system.

The system was initially piloted at five sites, including Rome. Patti Foster, Chief Probation Office in Rome says, “There were some staff here who had never so much as turned a computer on and there was a "fear" of the unknown. Officers were so used to writing things in the field, they were a little resistant to relying on a computer. Now, we are all reliant on SCRIBE. The program is simple enough for even a novice computer operator to use and yet gets the job done.”

In the Albany Probation Office, one of the last sites to receive the system, Probation Officer III Rusty Russell agrees about the reliance on SCRIBE. “When a probationer or one of his advocates calls in, it is great to be able to access the information on the case without having to find the officer or the field book. It makes us more responsive to the public.”

Overall, SCRIBE has been received very favorably. Freddy Pulliam, Chief of the Northern Circuit, described get- ting the system as “We have advanced 200 years in the past 24 hours.” However, the system is under constant revi- sion and updating. The Columbus Probation Office was added only in June, but Chief Tony McCrary notes that the officers “are already finding areas where with programming changes SCRIBE would be even more helpful in the day- to-day supervision of their caseload.”

Rick Abbott, Systems Administrator for the division, continues his work with the OIT staff to ensure the system is the best it can be. At the same time, he is also working with a national committee to develop standards for totally integrated information systems to follow the offender from arrest to completion of criminal justice. The committee is funded by the Bureau of Justice, administered by the American Probation and Parole Association and partnered with the National Center for State Courts. Its guidelines will soon be critical in all grant awards from the Bureau of Jus- tice.

Every probation office across the state received training in both SCRIBE and the GROUPWISE email system. The training, offered in both group and individual settings was thorough: “We don’t leave until everyone has entered a case and has had an opportunity to ask questions,” said Sheron Padgett, Senior Operations Analyst. She and Rick Abbott were the primary trainers but they were assisted in the effort by staff from around the state, including Wanda Posey and Stan Cooper from Cartersville, Drew Chestnutt from Cordele, Terry Allegood from Moultrie, Patti Foster and Glenda Jones from Rome, Angie Elliott from Lawrenceville, Allen Kirby from Milledgeville, Teddy Burgess from Dublin, Walt Seymour from Athens, Joe Cafiero from Savannah, Frances Blacknall from Waycross, Donna Long from Conyers, Ken Carroll from the SE Regional Office, and Joy Goolsby from the Division Office.

NEW RISK REDUCTION INITIATIVE (continued from page 2) The model demonstration sites are: State Prisons: Pulaski, Lee Arrendale Transitional Centers: Metro, Augusta Probation Detention Centers: West Central, Terrell, Larmore, Whitworth Probation Offices: Albany, Savannah, Gainesville, DeKalb Diversion Centers: Gainesville, Griffin, Macon Community Alternatives: Specialized Supervision Unit (SSU) – Fulton Co. Griffin Recovery Intervention Probation Program (GRIPP) Atlanta Day Reporting Center Savannah Impact Project Bainbridge Substance Abuse Treatment Center

Volume 1, Issue 3 Page 5 A Time to Salute Corrections Employees (Cont.)

Teamwork – Brian Nabors, Phyllis Lawson, Kimberly Waller and Barbara Dixon, Employment Services Section of Central Personnel Administration, for their innovative and aggressive techniques to expand Correctional Officer recruitment sources and to simplify and expedite the Correctional Of- ficer application and testing process.

Leadership – Derrick Schofield, Warden of Augusta State Medical Prison, for his exceptional efforts and successes in the motivation of his staff.

Customer Service – The 37 Northwest Probation Region employees who made exceptional contributions to the other law enforcement agencies of Georgia and the citizens of the state through their work on the search and recovery operation at the Tri-State Crematory. The employees are: Linda Silva, William Faucett, Roddy Turner, William Hellerstedt, Kristi Payne, Eric Barber, Dan Fox, Holly Davis, Judy Hawley, Richard McAfee, Buddy Wilson, Mike Fowler, Billy Bearden, Todd Bur- gess, Stan Cooper, Rebecca Burse, Cindy McClure, Allen Coody, Laura Stanford, Eric Gay, Scott Roberts, Frank Wood, Scottie Hedden, Brent Martin, Bo Payton, Robert Gross, Bobby Viers, Sheila Logan, Patti Foster, Phil Smith, Tiffany Taylor, Joan Kirkpatrick, Jimmy Tipton, Scott Sean, Jamie Harris, Charlotte Harkins, Tony Mitchell.

Tony Turpin, Warden at Arrendale State Employees take time out to celebrate Employees Prison shares a moment with Deputy Warden Recognition Week. Pictured from left are Tom Poole during Employee Recognition Vanessa Roy from Programs, Cynthia Pearson Week from Human Resources, and Demecia Choud- hary from Probation.

Community Service – Carol Norman, Probation Officer at the Southwest Probation Detention Cen- ter, for her dedication to the safety of her community. Carol, voted Firefighter of the Year in 1992, was the first female volunteer firefighter in Colquitt County and helped organize the first fire department for her hometown of Hamilton. She is also a volunteer EMT and one of the few non-paid, certi- fied EMT’s in the state.

At the statewide awards ceremony, Robert Bird Kennedy of Farm Services, was recognized for his employee suggestion concerning the removal of husks from grits produced by Farm Services. Mr. Kennedy developed an air cleaner that removes the husk from the grits and increases production. Robert received a monetary award of $220.00 for his suggestion through the state’s employee suggestion program.

Page 6 THE DOC EAGLE RECENT RETIREMENTS: Thanks for Your Years of Service! The following list includes the employees who retired in April, 2002 through June, 2002. We wish these employees the very best in their new endeavors.

Effective April, 2002: Effective May, 2002 Donald S. Cooper, Georgia State Prison Billy Joe Anderson, Ware SP June A. Adams, Wayne SP Joanne Cope, Patten Detention Center Phyllis M. Bailey, Northern Circuit Gregory L. Blalock, Hays SP Elaine Bryant Gay, Central Detention Ctr. Billy Bennett, Phillips SP Robert E. Cass, Burruss Corr./Training Ctr. Louie E. Griffith, Putnam SP Shelby E. Collins, Augusta SMP Bessie M. Cullens, Washington SP Donald Harrell Hanks, Valdosta SP Kelvin D. Dent, Montgomery SP Robert A. Deloach, Valdosta SP Joyce A. Hartley, Phillips SP Eddie L. Folds, Georgia State Prison Julian J. Dixon, Jr., Dodge SP Robert Loy Ivester, Arrendale SP Steven E. Gilreath, Hays SP James H. Durden, Walker Willie L. Jones, Rogers SP Reba R. Hill, Ocmulgee Circuit Emma C. Funderburke, Mens SP Billy Gene Kennedy, Rogers SP Ila Holton, Rogers SP Mary A. Harris, Rivers SP Cynthia F. Matthews, FD Southwest Patricia L. Johnson, Smith SP Lavinia E. Harrison, Rivers SP Regional Office Robert A. Jordan, Rogers SP Charles W. Jordan, Northern Circuit Ellen Odessa McCoy, Rutledge SP Patrick L. Kennedy, Inmate Construction Benny C. Kirkland, Coastal SP James Hilbert Mullis, Central Detention Ctr. Thomas M. Kerr, Thomasville Diversion Ctr. Joseph A. Masters, Coastal SP Betty J. Patrick, Treutlen Detention Center Roy H. Knight, Ware SP William L. McMichael, GD&CP Sidney Eugene Rodgers, ASMP Wallace L. Lemons, Washington SP Bobby C. Ray, Georgia State Prison Curtis K. Scott, State Director’s Office Bryan D. Murray, Smith SP Vera Mae Rogers, Rogers SP Thomas F. Spillman, GD&CP Dennis V. Pace, Macon Circuit Linda M. Thomason, Columbus Diversion Ctr. Carol A. Stafford, Houston Circuit Paul D. Pittman, GD&CP John Israel Williams, Rivers SP Ronald L. Strickland, Ware SP Joan W. Swain, Wayne SP Louise S. Threatt, Rogers SP Robert A. Swiatko, Georgia State Prison Effective June, 2002: Janice Irene Webb, Arrendale SP Sondra J. Williams, Rome Circuit Troy T. Barnes, Arrendale SP Morgan L. Webb, Patten Detention Center Willie Joe Wilson Black, Valdosta SP Nelma C. Webb, Rivers SP James R. Boles, Walker SP Carolyn Ruth Whitlock, Arrendale SP Julius R. Brigman, Coastal SP Morris R. Williams, Jr., Cordele Circuit Joseph Francis Byrne, Ware SP DO YOU KNOW ABOUT OUR BOARD? The Board of Corrections is the policy-making board for our department. There are sixteen seats on the Board with eleven seats for the various congressional districts and five for the state at large. With the implementation of the redis- tricting, two seats will be added.

The Governor, with the consent of the state Senate, appoints members of the Board for 5-year staggered terms. Two new board members were sworn in April 4th. They are Lee F. New and James Cecil Nobles.

The Board develops rules governing the conduct and welfare of department employees and all aspects of the treatment of inmates under the department’s custody. The members serve on the following committees: Education, Operations, Probation, Facilities, and Nominating. Our Commissioner is responsible for the day-to-day management of the entire department. Third Row: Asa Boynton, Lee Front Row: Patricia Miller, Charles New, Kenneth Kennedy, and James Webster, Jim Wetherington, Carlton Nobles Powell Back Row: Bruce Hudson, Tyson 2nd Row: Robert L. Brown, Bennie Stephens, Charles Hudson, and Butler-Newroth, William Whaley, and Robert Vass Not Pictured: John Irby

Volume 1, Issue 3 Page 7

WINDOWS TIPS 1) To start a program, you just click the Start button, point to the folder your program is IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN! Supervisors are in, and then click the program. preparing performance evaluations on the GDCPlus PMF 2) To open a document quickly, you can dou- Short Form. Salary Increases will be awarded in October ble-click its icon. 2002 to all employees who “Met” or “Exceeded” in per- 3) Deleted files and folders are saved in the formance during the performance period ending June 30, 2002. Recycle Bin until you empty it. 4) The Shut Down command on the Start Salary increases will be awarded as follows: menu enables you to safely shut down your computer. · 2.25% performance-based increases will be awarded 5) To select more than one file or folder, hold to full-time employees receiving “Met” or down the CTRL key while you click each “Exceeded” and hourly employees receiving overall item. “Met”, even if the increases result in amounts over established paygrade maximums, where applicable. 6) The underlined letters in menus are short- cuts. Press ALT plus the underlined letter to · 2% will be awarded as a one-time lump sum increase choose the item. in addition to the 2.25% increases to full-time em- 7) You can use long filenames when you save ployees who received “Exceeds” performance rat- documents. You can even use spaces! ings. 8) If you don't know how to do something, you · A 3% adjustment will be made to the structure of the can look it up in Help. Just click the Start Salary Plans by increasing minimum and maximum button, and then click Help. salary amounts. (Note: Employees whose base sala- 9) To learn what any toolbar button is for, you ries are below the newly adjusted paygrade mini- can rest your mouse pointer on the button mums will be moved to their new paygrade minimum salaries after these particular employees receive for a few seconds. Windows displays the their 2.25% increases, if applicable). button name. 10) You can get Help on each item in a dialog Another event this year is that supervisors will be answer- box by clicking the question-mark button in ing a short GDCPlus survey. We want to know what su- the title bar and then clicking the item. pervisors think about using the GDCPlus PMF Short Form for both Performance Plans and Performance 11) When a folder is open, you can press Evaluations. BACKSPACE to open the folder one level higher. 12) To free disk space, try emptying the Recy- cle Bin.

Those with stories of interest should contact:

Peggy Ryan, Director Human Resources Division

Phone: 404-656-4603 Fax: 404-463-3324 E-Mail: This newsletter is available on the web at www.dcor.state.ga.us [email protected]