Corrections Today articles from April 2005

Corrections Today archives from April 2005

Returning to society.(successful reentry of ex-offenders to the community)(Editorial)
April 1, 2005... More than 95 percent of those currently incarcerated will be released back into our communities. The Department of Justice estimates that nearly two-thirds of these individuals will be rearrested within three years. This statistic should set...

The complex problem of offender reentry.(Commentary)
April 1, 2005... We have all certainly heard and read a great deal about offender reentry. So what have we learned? First, the reality is that more than 95 percent of prison inmates will at some point return to the community. More than half of these released...

Western Union Payment Services.(Profile)
April 1, 2005... Western Union Payment Services is a global leader in money transfer and message services, with a history of pioneering service dating back more than 150 years. With more than 196,000 locations in more than 190 countries worldwide, Western Union...

New reentry philosophy guides Rhode Island.(State News)(release of inmates)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Where once the job of preparing inmates for release was the sole charge of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, now the department is sharing the job with various other state and private agencies that often end up serving the same...

Illinois' 'drug prison' is a success.(State News)(Sheridan Correctional Center)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Sheridan Correctional Center, located about 70 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, closed in 2002 and reopened in January 2004 as a prison that focuses exclusively on drug treatment, and more than one year later, preliminary statistics show...

Federal prisons to eliminate boot camps.(National News Briefs)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Federal Bureau of Prisons plans to abolish its "intensive confinement" program after the current group of 525 inmates completes the military-style course during the next few months at boot camps in California, Pennsylvania and Texas,...

Number of elderly on death row reaches record high.(National News Briefs)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A record 110 inmates age 60 and older were on death rows across the nation as of Dec. 31, 2003, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported. According to USA Today, that number is nearly triple the 39 death row seniors that BJS counted nine years...

Damaged homes have a helping hand.(BEST IN THE BUSINESS)(Ronald F. McLean volunteers with Methodist church-based Salkehatchie summer camp)
April 1, 2005... Homes with no running water, no electricity and sometimes, no roof, pose as shelter for some of the most poverty-stricken areas in the United States. But for poor South Carolinians, people like Ronald F. McLean are working to remedy the...

Be Smart - Choose Freedom: New Jersey unveils its crime prevention campaign.(Speak Out)
April 1, 2005... Perhaps more than in any other realm of law enforcement, it is the corrections professional who witnesses the broken dreams, the societal ills and economic disasters that are precipitated by the unprecedented number of young people flooding...

Provisional certification: a new benefit for students.(Professional Development Update)
April 1, 2005... On Nov. 3, 2004, the American Correctional Association's Corrections Certification Program administered for the first time a certified corrections officer/provisional (CCO/P) examination to a student, Amanda Ly. Ly is currently pursuing an...

Being smart on crime in nine seconds.(Legislative Issues)
April 1, 2005... During the 1968 presidential race, when President Nixon ran against Hubert Humphrey, the average length of one of their sound bites on network news was 43 seconds. By 1988, when George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis ran for president, the...

Executive director.(Job Bank)
April 1, 2005... Arkansas Partnership Program Little Rock, Ark. The Arkansas Partnership Program endeavors to reduce criminal recidivism of adults who are prone to criminal behaviors resulting from their serious and persistent mental illness and...

Changing prison culture.(NIC Update)(Institutional Culture Initiative)
April 1, 2005... Author's note: This article is dedicated to the memory and vision of Susan M. Hunter. "Prison culture can change from one based on fear to one based on hope." --Susan M. Hunter, Ph.D. Everyone knows what culture is. Everybody lives...

New Zealand's approach to a high-risk offender supervision program.(Probation and Parole Forum)
April 1, 2005... Much attention is being given to the supervision of high-risk offenders in community settings. The emphasis on public safety and security of victims and communities has made probation departments worldwide examine their supervision approaches...

Closing Breakfast--Conference closes with a hero's tale.(2005 Winter Conference Phoenix)(Michael J. Durant's survival of prison in Somalia)
April 1, 2005... Michael J. Durant, chief warrant officer 4, U.S. Army (retired) and the author of the book In the Company of Heroes which inspired the movie Black Hawk Down, spoke of his terrifying experience as a soldier and prisoner of war in Mogadishu,...

Individuals honored at the 2005 Winter Conference.(2005 Winter Conference Phoenix)
April 1, 2005... During the 2005 Winter Conference, the American Correctional Association presented awards that honored individuals who have demonstrated their dedication to the corrections field. Evelyn Dixon, a student at Jackson State University seeking...

"Sunset Hoedown": Monday Night Exhibit Hall Reception.(2005 Winter Conference recap)(Public Notice)
April 1, 2005... Attendees and exhibitors converged in the Exhibit Hall for some hand-clappin', knee-slappin' Old West excitement at this year's Monday Night Event: "Sunset Hoedown." They were able to say "howdy" to their colleagues and participate in plenty...

Grand Prize Giveaway Game.(2005 Winter Conference recap)(Public Notice)
April 1, 2005... Silence crept into the Exhibit Hall Tuesday afternoon, January 11, during ACA's Grand Prize Giveaway Game, as attendees waited, each one hoping to be the new owner of the beautiful in-home recreational prize package. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

ACA honors its Sponsors of the 2005 Winter Conference for a week of exciting, educational and enlightening events!(2005 Winter Conference recap)(Interview)
April 1, 2005... Hundreds of corrections professionals converged in Phoenix for a week of fun-filled social events and enlightening experiences during the American Correctional Association's 2005 Winter Conference, where they had a chance to reflect on its...

ACA policies and resolutions.(2005 Winter Conference Phoenix)(American Correctional Association)
April 1, 2005... Editor's Note: The following policies, previously printed in Corrections Today for member comment, were unanimously ratified by the ACA Delegate Assembly at the Winter Conference in Phoenix on Jan. 12, 2005. Policy on Offender-on-Offender...

Hard time: ex-offenders returning home after prison.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2005... Never before in U.S. history have so many individuals been released from prison. More than 600,000 people--1,600 a day--were released in 2003, a number nearly equal to the population of Washington, D.C., and greater than the state of Wyoming....

Developing successful reentry programs: lessons learned from the 'what works' research.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2005... For the past several years, almost 600,000 offenders per year have returned to the community from prison (Petersilia, 2000). While prison growth has recently slowed, prison and parole populations continue to grow (Glazer and Palla, 2004). When...

Jail inmates bake their way to successful reentry.(CT FEATURE)(Sweet Release Bakery Job Training Program)
April 1, 2005... Cakes, cookies, pastries, pies--the keys to success. This may not be the case for everyone, but it is for the inmates enrolled in the "Sweet Release" Bakery Job Training Program at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg, Md....

Releasing inmates with mental illness and co-occurring disorders into the cmmunity.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2005... In his 2004 State of the Union address, President George Bush proposed a four-year, $300 million initiative for offender reentry into the community. He asserted that "America is the land of the second chance, and when the gates of the prison...

Engaging communities: an essential ingredient to Offender Reentry.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2005... Although it is a widely acknowledged variable to the success of offender reentry, the development, maintenance and influence of community providers in the reentry process has become more paramount as releases from confinement continue to...

Informing policy and practice: prisoner reentry research at the Urban Institute.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2005... In 2000, the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute launched its ongoing investment in prisoner reentry research to address the dearth of studies on this important topic, with the overarching goal of influencing important policy and...

Assessing for success in offender reentry.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2005... Imagine that a couple goes to the grocery store, fills a cart with their desired items, walks to the check-out lane, and the clerk simply eyeballs their selections and says, "looks like about $200 worth to me." They probably would not be too...

Making inmate reentry safe and successful: using the Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2005... Correctional administrators and practitioners are intimately familiar with the critical need to find ways to keep offenders released to the community from returning to jail and prison. They are now finding powerful allies and new opportunities...

'Step down' programs: the missing link in successful inmate reentry.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2005... The sheer volume of inmates being released from federal, state and county prisons is now being recognized as a public safety issue. For example, more than 600,000 state offenders were released in 2002. (1) A significant minority of offenders...

Corrections calendar.(Calendar)
April 1, 2005... * Correctional Accreditation Managers Association, 18th Annual Training Conference, April 22-26, Seaport Hotel, Boston. Contact Nancy Agoglia at (508) 422-3337 or visit http://cama.corrections.com. * Association of Paroling Authorities...

Payroll deduction.(Membership News)(membership payment)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Membership for the American Correctional Association is on the rise again thanks to payroll deduction, online renewal options and electronic notifications and promotions. With the increased use of electronic communication, we have been able to...

Honoring member recruiters.(Membership News)
April 1, 2005... Along with payroll deduction, ACA's success is made possible by those who spread the word about our many benefits and networking possibilities. ACA would like to thank the following people who have helped promote the Association throughout the...

Becoming a Model Warden: Striving for Excellence.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Becoming a Model Warden: Striving for Excellence, by Clemens Bartollas, Ph.D., American Correctional Association, 2004, 198 pp. The content of Becoming a Model Warden: Striving for Excellence boils down to a tribute to the brilliant and...

Prisoners Once Removed: The Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families and Communities.(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Prisoners Once Removed: The Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families and Communities, edited by Jeremy Travis and Michelle Waul, Urban Institute Press, 2003, 396 pp. In recent years, a great deal of attention has been given...