Impact Georgia, 2006 July

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

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News and Facts to Keep You Informed - July 2006

Mission
The Georgia Department of Corrections protects and serves the public as a professional organiza-
tion by effectively managing offenders while helping to provide a safe and secure environment for the citizens of Georgia.
Vision

Managing Women Offenders: National Institute of Corrections Conference
Assistant Commissioner Brian Owens and Risk Reduction Services staff members Karen Jett and Katrinka Glass represented GDC at a recent conference hosted by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). The training conference was held on June 12-16 and focused on the theme, "Women Offenders: Developing an Agency-wide Approach." Based in Longmont, Colorado, the conference was held in response to the January 2005 NIC training program entitled "Critical Issues in Managing Women Offenders: A Policy Perspective," which was held at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth.

The Georgia Department of Corrections is the best
corrections system in the nation at protect-
ing the citizens from convicted offenders and
at providing effective opportunities for
offenders to achieve positive change. We are a leader and partner in making Georgia a safer,
healthier, better educated, growing and
best managed state.
Core Goal
A Safer, Healthier, Better
Educated Growing, and Best Managed Georgia
Core Organizational Principles
Value Based: Stewards of the Public
Trust
Embrace Change: Change, Transformation is
inevitable
Business Acumen: Better Business Practice
A Learning Organization: People are the Centerpiece

The ultimate goal of gender responsive practices is to improve outcomes for systems, agencies and women offenders, according to Assistant Commissioner Owens. "This is not a program initiative but a way of doing business that includes a paradigm shift," said Owens. "Our primary objective in attending this training was to gather information about evidence-based gender responsive programming and to work with NIC for technical assistance." Owens said the training conference provided timely information about new initiatives for realigning gender-responsive programming for female offenders. He said Risk Reduction Services will review GDC's current policy, practices and programming, and implementation of gender-responsive strategies to reduce recidivism in female offenders.

CHANGE OF COMMAND NEW WARDEN ASSIGNMENTS

METRO STATE PRISON CHANGE OF RESPONSIBILITY

Belinda Davis - from Dep. Warden of Adm. at GD&CP to Superintendent of McEver PDC Thalrone Williams - from Warden at Metro SP to Warden at Coastal SP Kevin Roberts - from Warden at Calhoun SP to Warden at Metro SP Billy O. Brown - from Dep. Warden at Smith SP to Warden at Dodge SP Donald P. Jarriel - from Warden at Dodge SP to Warden at Smith SP Dannie Thompson - from Warden at Coastal SP to Warden Calhoun SP D. Bruce Lee - from Acting Sup. at West Ga. Boot Camp to Sup. at Paulding PDC Richard W. Smith - from Assistant Sup. to Sup. of Rockdale DeKalb PDC Don Strickland - from Acting Sup. to Sup. of Bainbridge PSATC Shiela Oubre - from Unit Manager at Metro SP to Sup. of West Ga. Boot Camp

The Corrections Division hosted a Change of Responsibility ceremony at Metro State Prison in honor of Warden Kevin Roberts on Wednesday, July 5. Warden Roberts began his appointment as the new Warden at Metro State Prison effective July 1. Other Change of Responsibility Ceremonies include:
July 17 - Rutledge State Prison
July 17 - Calhoun State Prison
July 18 - LASP
July 21 - Dodge State Prison
July 21 - Smith State Prison
August 9 - Hancock State Prison
August 9 - Augusta State Medical Prison
TBD - Coastal State Prison

Continuation . . .

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News and Facts to Keep You Informed - July 2006

SPECIAL KUDOS
Breaking The Cycle
Special Kudos go out to Lee State Prison for its celebration of fatherhood at the Annual Father's Day Program, "Breaking the Cycle."
The program was held on June 16 in the Lee State Prison gymnasium. It highlighted poetry, essays, and musical performances by two inmate groups, "Men of Redemption" and "Second Helping" The Department of Corrections salutes Lee State Prison for its role in "Breaking the Cycle" of absentee fathers.

NEW IN CORRECTIONS: WEBSITE REALIGNMENT

The Department of Corrections has redesigned its public website to promote Governor Perdue's vision of Georgia having the best customer service of any state in the nation. The Department of Corrections created a new customer friendly layout for its public website. The new faster, friendlier, and easier design represents Georgia's new voice of expressing energy, spirit and confidence. It also highlights the new Georgia logo and Georgia brand colors.

The Georgia Department of Corrections was among the first state agencies to adopt the new Georgia brand. The Office of Information Technology and the Office of Public Affairs worked diligently together to create the concept of the new website design. The changes that have been implemented allow browsers to access the most frequently requested information, data and reports in the top section of the homepage: www.dcor.state.ga.us

Other websites that have embraced the Governor's mission of improved customer service:

www.georgia.org www.gov.state.ga.us

www.dca.state.ga.us www.decd.georgia.gov

Visit our website at www.dcor.state.ga.us
Commissioner: James E. Donald
Public Affairs Director: Yolanda E. Thompson
Managing Editor: Camille Y. Cunningham
Photographer: Paul Czachowski
Please direct comments or questions to:
Office of Public Affairs 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. East Tower, Suite 864 Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Phone: 404-656-9772 Fax: 404-656-6434 Email: GDCinfo@dcor.state.ga.us

WSB-TV NEWS LEE ARRENDALE FEATURED
WSB-TV reporter Don McClellan featured the Lee Arrendale State Prison and its Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program for women in a recent news story. The RSAT program is designed for 150 high-risk, high need probationers with a history of substance abuse as a causative factor leading to correctional supervision. RSAT is a comprehensive intensive, highly structured nine-month program. It is a controlled residential therapeutic community that combines the best elements of a therapeutic community social learning approach with advanced cognitive behavioral curriculum supported by Twelve Step Fellowships. The females in the RSAT program are refereed by judiciary sentencing, by probation revocation, or by signed waiver.

"OUR CHILDREN" AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
The Georgia Department of Corrections has employed 15 summer interns, in conjunction with Mrs. Mary Perdue's "Our
Children" campaign. The campaign began in August 2003. Mrs. Perdue launched it to raise awareness about the need for foster care programs in Georgia and to encourage organizations to take an active role in addressing the needs of their community. As Georgia's First Lady, Mrs. Perdue continues to make family and children's issues her primary focus working in support of the welfare of Georgia's community.
Mrs. Perdue's objective is to increase the number of available foster homes and the financial and in-kind contributions to available to youth-serving organizations.