Non-English Speakers in Correctional Settings

Inmate populations in correctional institutions are becoming more diverse and are increasingly populated with persons with limited English proficiency (LEP). Jails and prisons in many instances have limited staff who are bilingual. If the challenges associated with inadequate communications with the LEP incarcerated population are not addressed, they can pose institutional security and safety issues.

Research conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice has shown that there is limited guidance or “best practices” being used on the subject of LEP in the corrections field in compliance with Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Executive Order 13166. Title VI states that no person shall, “on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Executive Order 13166, titled, “Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency,” was created to improve access to federally conducted and assisted programs and activities for persons, who as a result of national origin are limited in their English proficiency.

Presenters Linda Quash and Brooks Singer, attorneys in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice discussed the legal ramifications surrounding this issue, as well as the importance of creating and implementing a Language Assistance LEP Plan. A person with LEP is one who does not speak English as a primary language and has limited ability to read, write, speak or understand English.

There are several reasons why an institution should develop and implement an LEP Plan. The most critical reason is to comply with federal law. Others include: to avoid putting lives at risk and increase staff safety, to maintain safety and order in a correctional or detention facility, and to ensure LEP individuals an understanding of their rights, their compliance with institutional rules and regulations, and receiving meaningful access to corrections services.

Before a plan is developed, a self-assessment must be conducted to determine if one is necessary. There are four factors that should be considered. They are demography — the number or proportion of LEP persons eligible to be served or likely to be encountered; frequency of contact —the frequency with which LEP individuals come in contact with the program and/or activities; importance — the nature and importance of the program, activity, or service to people’s lives; and resources — the resources available and costs associated with them. The level of resources and the costs may have an impact on the nature of the language assistance provided. Smaller recipients with more limited budgets are not expected to provide the same level of language services as larger recipients with large budgets.

“You want to avoid putting lives at risk and create a stable environment for both inmates and correctional staff,” said Singer. As a result, there are quality control measures that should be considered prior to implementing the plan. Assessing and qualifying officers and staff as bilingual is critical. “Corrections officials must really know the true language proficiency of their staff,” Singer reiterated.

Interpreters also must be trained on the institution’s code of conduct, their role as an interpreter, the importance of confidentiality and understanding corrections terminology. Another component of the plan is to develop a Language Assistance Resource List that includes protocol information, a listing of bilingual staff (the language(s) they speak, their shift, rank, etc.), interpreters, telephonic interpretation and list of translated materials.

Officials must also consider how to implement the plan. This includes identifying officials responsible for the implementation, use of general orders/directives on how, when and where to access language assistance, and how language assistance will be handled for particular encounters. Training is essential for both new hires, just entering the academy, and for seasoned veterans who have been with the institution for a long period of time. Communication is also a vital part of implementing the LEP plan. Spreading the word through signage, memorandums and bulletins are effective methods to accomplish this.

Once the plan has been put in place and implemented, it should be monitored, re-evaluated and updated on an ongoing basis. A process for determining whether new documents, programs, services and activities needs to be implemented and should be made accessible for LEP individuals, and provide notice of any changes in services to the LEP public and to employees. Exemplary practices and additional information regarding LEP can be found at http://www.lep.gov.

By Dana McCoy

Consular Notification Access Is Necessary

In a Saturday afternoon session, titled “Consular Notification and Access for Jails and Prisons,” James A. Lawrence, public affairs specialist for the Consular Notification and Outreach Division of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, told attendees that their contact with non-U.S. citizens is only going to increase in the future. He noted that, according to the Department of Commerce, there are nearly 60 million foreign nationals currently in the country. “How you treat foreigners here will have a direct impact on how Americans are treated abroad.”

Lawrence said that each year thousands of foreign nationals are arrested and incarcerated in the United States and that many corrections officials are unaware of their obligation to inform these detainees of their consular rights, which can result in treaty violations and international complaints. “Consular notification pertains to all people,” he said.

All non-U.S. citizens who are arrested or detained have the right to communicate with a consular officer (consul). Two treaties regulate the consular notification process. The first is the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), which has existed since the early 1960s and now includes nearly 170 countries. “It establishes the standard for consular conduct,” Lawrence said. He noted that notification should be made within 24 to 72 hours after arrest or detainment. VCCR states that arresting authorities must inform foreign detainees that they have the right to have their consulate notified. The second type of treaty is a bilateral treaty. This makes notification mandatory for 58 countries. Several of these bilateral consular treaties require notification to be made within 72 hours, regardless of the detainees wishes. The special rule countries are listed on pocket cards that Lawrence distributed to attendees. He encouraged them to give them out to all staff. VCCR gives the option of having consuls notified because some foreign nationals do not want their situation disclosed. They may be seeking asylum. If the person is an asylum seeker from a mandatory notification country, notification must still be made, but the fact that the detainee has applied for asylum should not be revealed. Also, if a death occurs in a facility, notification is required and if a life-threatening illness or serious injury occurs, notification is recommended.

Both treaties state that notification is an obligation. “The purpose of the consular notification and access requirement is to ensure that foreign nationals are not placed in a situation in which they cannot receive assistance from their own government,” Lawrence said. The basic rule with VCCR is that detainees must be informed of their right to have the consulate notified of their arrests. Detainees can choose if they want the consulate notified. The special rule of the bilateral treaties states that notification must be made regardless of the detainees wishes. Both treaties also give consular officers the right to have access to their arrested and detained citizens.

Lawrence outlined the notification procedures. The first step is to determine citizenship of an arrestee or detainee. If he or she is from a special rule country, the notification should take place without delay. If not, the person should be asked if he or she wants their consulate notified. If requested, the consulate should be notified right away. Lawrence stressed the importance of keeping written records of all actions taken, including the offer of consular contact, the detainee’s decision and any notification made to the consulate. He suggested that notification be made by fax, as this can be done 24 hours a day and the fax confirmation sheet provides a written record that notification was made. “Keep good records,” Lawrence said, “I can’t stress it enough.” The Department of State’s Consular Notification and Access booklet includes a suggested fax sheet and includes samples in several different languages.

Consular access can consist of visits, phone calls, letters, etc. Lawrence pointed out that it depends on traditions, resources and location of the consulate. Consuls can arrange legal representation and monitor case progress; observe trials and make court appearances; inquire about detention conditions; provide reading material, food and medication; and contact family members. Consuls generally have to follow a facility’s regulations regarding security, and time, place and manner of visits. They cannot act as attorneys or interfere with criminal investigations or the judicial process.

Why is notification so important? According to Lawrence, there are legal reasons. Under the U.S. Constitution, treaties are “the law of the land.” Policy reasons also come into play. The international golden rule generally is that “if we comply, so will they,” Lawrence said. It is the principle of reciprocity. Fulfillment of our obligations under international law is the best way to ensure that Americans arrested or detained overseas will receive the same treatment. Finally, there are pragmatic reasons for notification. It helps prevent diplomatic complaints and State Department investigations. In closing, Lawrence stressed that consular notification helps protect arrested U.S. citizens overseas and prevents litigation and frivolous lawsuits against corrections officials. “Notification is the law, it’s an obligation and it’s the right thing to do.”

By Susan Clayton

Georgia’s School System For Juvenile Offenders

Georgia has a unique way of providing transition services for its juvenile offenders. It has set up an entire school system under the Department of Juvenile Justice, and representatives were on hand at the Saturday afternoon workshop, “Think Exit at Entry for Juveniles,” to discuss their comprehensive program. Thomas J. O’Rourke, associate superintendent for educational services of the Department of Juvenile Justice in Decatur, Ga., delivered a detailed description of his department’s school system and explained what it does to promote successful reentry for juvenile offenders. Paul Jones, the curriculum director, and Jack Catrett, the director of special education, assisted O’Rourke with the presentation.

The school system was created in 1992 and took its place right alongside Georgia’s other 180 school systems. Although the school system is specifically for juvenile offenders in more than 40 sites across the state, O’Rourke said, “It works like any school district in Georgia, with the same function, regulations and guidelines.”

The way the school system operates today has much to do with the fact that in 1997, the U.S. Department of Justice issued findings of non-compliance for the system in 108 areas, 23 of which specifically related to education. In 1999, plans for improvement were developed and implemented, and by 2003, the U.S. Department of Justice found the school system to be compliant in all areas of education and released the program from federal oversight. In 2004, the school system was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. “Federal oversight was a good thing,” O’Rourke said. “We never could have done all this from within, and a lot these changes needed to be made.”

The goal of the school system is to help every juvenile who enters the system obtain a high school diploma. Realistically, O’Rourke knows that everyone won’t get a diploma, so they will put some in a special education program and help others work toward a GED. “We want to give them something that will make them more employable when they leave,” he said.

Often, juveniles are transferred from one facility to another, and they find themselves with a new teacher in a new class. This is not a problem any more, O’Rourke said. “Across the whole state in all our facilities, we have the same curriculum, with the same lessons and the same textbook.”

The curriculum includes reading, language arts, math, science and social studies, but it also places a heavy emphasis on vocational training. “We looked into areas that have the most job growth throughout Georgia and came up with horticulture, auto mechanics and computer technology,” O’Rourke said, so they offer their students a lot of hands-on training in those and other specialties as well.

For juveniles who already have a high school diploma or GED, the school system has its Graduate Advisement Program (GAP). This program also offers vocational training, but it includes additional graduate classes in life skills, social skills and career education taught by a graduate teacher advisor. In addition, GAP participants stay in a separate dormitory and receive behavioral incentives such as later bed times, more television and extra phone calls. This special treatment confers status and serves as an incentive for juveniles without a diploma or GED.

The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice school system is apparently making a considerable impact on the juveniles in its care. In 2005, statewide testing looked at 1,440 juveniles in the school system and compared the academic performance of those who had arrived within a few days (short term) with those who had been in the system for four months or longer (long term). The long-term juveniles did better academically than the short-term juveniles in reading, language arts, science and social studies. In math, they were about the same.

The school system serves juveniles up to age 21, “but most of our kids are 12 to 15, middle school kids,” O’Rourke said, adding, “Sadly, we had one kid who was 8 or 9 years old.”

O’Rourke is confidant that the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice school system is achieving its mission of providing a comprehensive education to help juveniles successfully integrate back into their communities. But he puts it in simpler terms: “Educate the kids, get them employed, or they’re coming back. We love them, but we really don’t want to see them again.”

By Michael Kelly

Integrating Custody and Medical Concerns

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” This famous line from the movie Cool Hand Luke kicked off a Sunday conference workshop, “Working Together: Health and Security Side by Side,” that addressed the importance of communication among the many disciplines involved in the responsible and proper care of inmates. The workshop featured a panel of speakers including Norman Hurst, former deputy chief of the detention and corrections bureau of the San Bernardino County (Calif.) Sheriff’s Department; Royanne Schissel, nursing director for the medical services division of the San Diego County (Calif.) Sheriff’s Department; Kathleen Wild, health services administrator for detention facilities of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department; and Kenneth Culver from detention support division of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

Schissel pointed out that communication must occur among all staff involved in issues of custody, medical, mental health, food service, maintenance, support services, transportation, classification and many more. “These are just a few,” she said. Without effective communication, the whole institution will suffer and staff and inmates can be put at risk.

“When communication fails, it creates distrust between the various disciplines,” Wild explained. “This can lead to inappropriate health care decisions and poor patient outcomes, even inmate deaths,” she added, which can also lead to serious civil liability issues. Drawing on their experience, the panel discussed several successful measures that were taken by the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department to integrate custody and medical concerns, enhancing communication and teamwork.

Weekly inmate management meetings bring custody and health care staff together to share information so that they all understand what a particular inmate’s treatment plan is and so that custody expectations do not interfere with any medical needs. Each shift begins with a joint briefing that includes important information and training on a specific topic, such as suicide prevention. There is also annual joint training, where custody, health and mental health staff train each other in their respective disciplines. “This training provides a wealth of information that they would not receive with conventional training,” Wild said.

San Bernardino also established the Mental Health Court Task Force. Hurst explained that this was an example of effective communication with outside agencies of criminal justice. “It was hard to do, but we finally found a judge to cooperate. And then we got the D.A., the public defender and the Sheriff’s Department on board,” he said. The task force gives special attention to cases that involve offenders with mental health problems.

A large number of offenders need services that are provided off-site, so information regarding them is shared at transportation meetings. These meetings involve the medical staff, the off-site provider and its staff as well as the transportation staff. Transporting the offenders can be efficiently organized so that those who need to go to the eye clinic can all go on one day, for example, and those who need to see the oral surgeon can all be scheduled for another day.

Kenneth Culver closed the presentation by describing what the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department did to assemble its medical/mental health teams. It modeled the criteria used to staff its Central Command Center, an enormous underground nerve center that operates the entire facility. “The Central Command Center is like something out of Star Wars,” he said, “with phones, screens and lights everywhere.” It’s a high-pressure place to work, and staff needs to have extensive experience at the facility, know emergency procedures and have received specialized training. They must be able to remain calm under pressure and be able to multitask. In addition, Culver said, “They must have a desire to be there.”

The Sheriff’s Department simply applied all those requirements when putting together its medical/mental health teams. Since then, Culver said, the use of force has been reduced by 80 percent, and there has only been one restraint incident in the past year. Also, job satisfaction has increased, and the skills that staff learn are transferable, providing considerable career enhancement. “I am convinced,” Culver concluded, “that these improvements have greatly improved our delivery of services.”

By Michael Kelly

Branding Corrections – Creating a Message That Endures

When you think of corrections, what comes to mind? Based on the image that society has depicted about the profession, would you want your son or daughter to consider it as a field of study, and ultimately, his or her career? Creating a positive brand for corrections is the subject that was tackled at Tuesday’s workshop. Presenters Calvin Edwards, chair and associate professor of Justice, Law and Public Safety Studies at Lewis University, Romeoville, Ill., and Charles J. Kehoe, ACA past president and vice president of Group 4 Securicor in Richmond, Va., gave attendees an array of functional tools to help them reverse the negative stigma that has been placed on corrections for some time.

Edwards immediately pointed out that, “The field of corrections is often misunderstood — especially by students.” Society has done the field an injustice because they do not have a good sense of what corrections is all about. “It is very essential that corrections professionals sustain and foster a culture of excellence so that the best and the brightest see the field as a viable course of study,” Edwards said.

When Edwards often asks students in his department what they want to be when they grow up, they immediately say either police officers or FBI agents. Very rarely does he hear corrections officers. When he asks them what they know about corrections, they only see two options, either becoming a “guard” or a warden and nothing in between. And that to them is demeaning. “Very few see corrections as an attractive career,” he said.

Edwards stressed the importance of corrections personnel acting as ambassadors for the field to get out and tell the “corrections story.” The media especially does a poor job of reporting on corrections in a positive light. Negative images are often portrayed and are left in the minds of the public.

“How can these images be reversed?” Edwards asked. He touched on a variety of ways that this task can be accomplished. They include: creating a corrections track in criminal justice degree programs, developing a student orientation that includes defining corrections, developing student internships and organizations, offering student workshops and seminars about corrections, using corrections practitioners as adjunct faculty in colleges and universities, giving correctional programs local media exposure, encouraging professors to speak at workshops, as well as publish materials about the field, inviting professors to become consultants to correctional organizations, hosting job fairs and offering job placement in correctional organizations, establishing strong ties with alumni organizations at colleges and universities, forming partnerships between correctional agencies and universities, and inviting correctional institutions to establish community relations boards.

As Edwards concluded his portion of the presentation, he stated, “We must educate and carry a broad message to the community to be able to erase corrections’ negative image.

Kehoe’s part of the presentation focused on the brand of corrections. He stated that the corrections profession has not done the best job of promoting itself. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful profession,” he said. “However, we are losing more and more corrections employees of the baby boomer generation, and we need to devise a plan to replace them.” According to Kehoe, between now and the end of this decade, approximately 500,000 more corrections officers will be needed in the work force. And the biggest problem is going to be finding these individuals. “The corrections industry work force pool is shrinking,” Kehoe said. Typically the corrections field targets a certain segment of the population to recruit from — white males, between the ages of 25 and 44. Kehoe pointed out that that segment happens to be the fastest shrinking part of the population. On the other hand, the fastest growing part of the population is the Hispanic population, and a lot of correctional agencies do not recruit to them. “We must improve the way we market ourselves,” he reiterated.

To successfully market the corrections field, one must understand the importance of creating a positive brand; consider how others have shaped corrections’ brand and how corrections can create its own positive brand. A brand is a symbol, an icon, it’s something in one’s mind that mentally connects us very rapidly to whatever the product, service or business is that people have. “If we don’t shape our vision … others will,” Kehoe said. With movies and cable series such as “The Green Mile,” “Shawshank Redemption,” and “Oz,” the general public sees this type of imagery and forms an opinion of corrections, usually an incorrect one. “These types of programs serve as an image and branding of our profession that causes us to be in a defensive mode,” Kehoe said. Other ways corrections’ image has been portrayed negatively are through editorial cartoons that have been published in major newspapers, like USA Today, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Creating a brand that endures means to create a positive, public image by aligning corrections personnel with the community and the public they serve and protect. “One thing that the community needs to realize is that corrections does not exist on an oasis; that we are somehow stuck out in the middle of this desert, and we are the only green tree out there that no one else cares about. Today, corrections is competing with a society that has more older people than anywhere else. One of the fastest growing age groups are those age 60 and older. The extent to which corrections can get support from legislatures for budgets and other types of programs is largely driven on its public image and branding — by what people think. “We need to communicate to the public at large that we are a vital part of the community,” Kehoe said.

For instance, when the public sees offenders participating in public service projects, such as building homes through Habitat for Humanity, what’s being communicated is that corrections is not just about locking up people and throwing the key away, this is about taking a work force that can do some things in the community that will hopefully mitigate their tax burden and cause the community to look better and be better for it. Corrections employees who participate in fundraising efforts, public works projects, public safety projects, as well as join civic organizations, also help in improving corrections branding.

“We are a part of the brand,” Kehoe said. “How we present ourselves to the community sends a strong message about our brand,” he continued. Facilities that mandate a uniformed dress code help to foster a professional and positive environment. So when visitors and other people come to a facility and they see corrections employees who look professional and know what they are doing, they have a greater respect for them, as well as the corrections field.

Creating a great place to work is another successful way to create a positive brand. One of the ways of doing that is by taking care of employees. They are an agency’s or department’s greatest asset. According to Kehoe, when an agency has a reputation for taking care of its own, not only can they recruit qualified employees, they can retain the ones that they have.

“There are great places to work in corrections,” Kehoe said. He took part in conducting an employee survey at the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Eighty percent of the employees at the Oklahoma DOC said that their supervisors are doing a good job, that they model what it is to be a public employee, that they can go to them for help, and that they are willing to teach them. “When you have a supervisor with that kind of reputation, that’s an agency that I will consider working for,” Kehoe said.

How does an agency create an enduring brand? Many of them have Web sites, they achieve an accredited status, publish and disseminate agency brochures, participate in public events, and put up displays in public buildings, libraries and airports. Kehoe was proud to point out that when he was traveling from the airport to the hotel, he spotted a large billboard that said “Welcome ACA” from Corrections Corporation of America. “I’ve been attending ACA conventions since 1969, and I don’t ever remember seeing a billboard welcoming ACA,” said Kehoe. Now someone will see that and say what is ACA? What answer are you prepared to give them?

By Dana McCoy

King and Valor Awards Presented at Opening Session

At the Opening Session on Monday morning, ACA presented the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Award to Rebekah Vann and the Medal of Valor to Allan Collins, John Gearhart, Terry Kidwell, Thomas Hopper and Jim Millar.

With a family that includes nine siblings, six of whom still live at home and two who are mentally handicapped, Vann and her family struggle to make sure that she can continue her education. Despite many obstacles, she is currently pursuing a degree in sociology at Mid America Nazarene University in Kansas. Emulating King’s compassion, Vann completed an internship at the Johnson County Detention Center, where she displayed genuine care and dedication toward the juvenile offenders there. “It is an honor and a privilege to be here and receive this award,” Vann said. “King was an extraordinary man with an extraordinary dream ... and his dream has burst into my heart.” Part of that dream, she said, “is for ordinary men and women like you and me to be able to invest in the lives of youth in a practical way.”

The Medal of Valor was presented to U.S. Department of Justice corrections advisors Allan Collins, John Gearhart, Terry Kidwell, Thomas Hopper and Jim Millar for actions they took in Iraq at the Rusafa Prison Complex. On Feb. 16, fire broke out in a cell block housing 90 inmates. Braving heavy clouds of smoke and roaring flames, the corrections professionals evacuated the inmates, dragging or carrying those who were unconscious, even going from bed to bed to locate a missing inmate. Accepting the award for the group, Terry Kidwell said, “We really appreciate being recognized here today by ACA, but the fact is we were just doing our job.”

By Michael Kelly