DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS Page 1 News and Facts to Keep You Informed - October 2006 "Faster. Friendlier. Easier." Mission C E H ommunitywide vents osted The Georgia Department of Corrections protects by City & State and serves the public as a professional organization by effectively managing offenders while helping to provide a safe and secure environment for the citizens of Georgia. Agency Heads Senior executive management teams of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, the Board of Pardons and Parole, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Depart- Vision ment of Corrections and the Criminal Justice Coordinating The Georgia Department Committee met with Savannah of Corrections is the best Mayor Otis Johnson, City Man- corrections system ager Michael Brown and other in the nation at protecting local officials and citizens in the citizens from con- Savannah-Chatham County for victed offenders and at a two and half-day community- providing effective oppor- wide program, Georgia On The tunities for offenders to Move in Savannah. achieve positive change. Jim Lientz, Chief Operat- We are a leader and part- ing Officer of the Office of the ner in making Georgia a Governor, convened the state safer, healthier, better agency team at the kick-off educated, growing and event, a Town Hall Forum at best managed state. the Coastal Georgia Center. The following morning Mr. Core Goal Lientz and the five state agency heads met with city, A Safer, Healthier, Better Educated Growing, and Best Managed Georgia county and other Savannah community leaders for a reentry summit at the Savannah Hyatt, which included a special presentation by AssistantnCahommissioner Brian Owens. The Re-entry Roundtable was hosted at the Coastal Georgia Center and tours were hosted at the Savannah Impact Program and Coastal State Prison. Core Organizational Principles Georgia On The Move in Savannah concluded with a Faith-based Re-entry Breakfast and Change of Responsibility Ceremony both held at Coastal State Prison. GDC Board member Wayne Dasher was among the guest speakers at the prison events. More than 200 local citi- Value Based: Stewards of the Public Trust zens attended the two and half-day events, and the local media WTKS-AM radio, Savannah Morning News and WTOC-TV supported the state agencies' efforts with great coverage of the local events. Second Annual GDC Awards Ceremony Embrace Change: Change, Transformation is inevitable Business Acumen: Better Business Practice A Learning Organization: People are the Centerpiece Melissa & Allison Dodson accepting the Bobby Franklin Award. Honors Employees and Community Partners Several key officials were on hand for GDC's Second Annual Employee Awards Ceremony that 300 guests attended on Tuesday, Sept. 19, at GPSTC in Forsyth. Making the award presentations with Commissioner Donald were State Senator John Grant (R-GA), State Representative Jim Cole (R-GA), Board Member, Attorney Rob Jones and Assistant Commissioner Brian Owens. Other special guests included Forsyth's Mayor Jimmy Pace and County Commissioner Harold Carlisle, and the family of the late Sgt. Phillip Dodson, his wife, Melissa and daughter, Allison. Sgt. Dodson was presented the Bobby Franklin Award, posthumously. Continuation . . . Page 2 News and Facts to Keep You Informed - October 2006 SPECIAL KUDOS Excellence in all they do.... Lee Arrendale are the recipients of this years 2nd Annual GDC Awards Ceremony . The facility is recognized for continuing work with probationers through the hugely successful Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program, or RSAT; expansion of vocational training programs and mentoring future leaders. C.O. 1 Amanda Mull (above photo, left) has been with the facility 11 weeks and looks forward to an opportunity to fill the shoes of mentors like Dep. Warden Kathleen Kennedy (right). "I enjoy my job and plan on working my way up," Mull said assuredly. She plans to take full advantage of all educational benefits. "I know she will do well with us," Kennedy said. Visit our website at www.dcor.state.ga.us Commissioner: James E. Donald Public Affairs Director: Yolanda E. Thompson Managing Editor: Tracy J. Smith Photographers/contributors: Paul Czachowski Mallie McCord Tracy J. Smith 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 FFiirreeffiigghhtteerrss bbllaazzee ttrraaiill AAllttoossttaattiioonnhhaassaalll--ffeemmaalleeiinnmmaatteeccrreeww Atlanta Journal Constitution ajc.com By CARLOS CAMPOS Published on: 09/17/06 Alto -- The Firefighter inmates in Alto, Ga. have received a great deal of attention lately. The Lee Arrendale State Prison Fire Station No. 1 crew makes up the only all-female inmate firefighting crew in Georgia. They are a supplemental firefighting team for Banks and Habersham counties and the city of Baldwin. The Associated Press, Reuters, Local Newspapers and CNN have all vied for a chance to chat with these women and also explore the vocational opportunities available for inmates at the facility. Read the full article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, on ajc.com or check out the GDC Early Bird ! Faith Based Initiatives Make News!!! The Lee State Prison hopes to see implementation of a faith and character-based program by January 2007." Lee State Prison Warden says. Joshua Brown is a staff writer with the Albany Herald. He visited Lee State Prison and had a conversation with the staff chaplaincy and warden about the inclusion of faith based initiatives. Read it online in the Early Bird. More on Faith & Character-based initiatives below. Corrections State Prison Chaplains, Faith and Character-Based Dormitories Hosted 84 Revival Services Director of Chaplaincy Services for Corrections, the Rev. Douglas Simmons, believes in spreading the "good news" and recently led a team of 26 state prison chaplains in the largest weekly revival program in GDC history - 84 simultaneous revival services in 21 state prisons serving more than 5,000 inmates. The efforts of Chaplaincy and the Faith and Character-based programming caught the attention of the Albany Herald newspaper and made front page news. There were 26 state prison chaplains who exchanged pulpits to lead worship and minister to inmates in different prisons instead of their assigned facilities. "We are excited that our chaplains are thinking outside of the box and are willing to offer inmates more faith and character-based opportunities," said Chaplain Simmons. Currently, there are 51 state prison chaplains and 10 of them serve in full-time positions. According to Chaplain Simmons, the Department of Corrections is continuing to bring back more full-time chaplaincy positions statewide. In addition, there are more than 8,600 certified prison volunteers who assist prison chaplains statewide, and many of them support five Faith and Character-Based Dormitories at prisons throughout Georgia, as well as the state's three private prisons. The state prisons are Hays, Pulaski, Macon, Calhoun, Valdosta State Prisons and the Three private prisons are Coffee Correctional Facility, D. Ray James Correctional Facility, and Wheeler Correctional Facility. Also, Faith and CharacterBased Dormitories will be added to Lee Arrendale, Lee, Metro and Scott State Prisons before the end of the year. The vision in Chaplaincy Services is to expand this program to all prisons.