Impact Georgia, Apr. 2007

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

News and Facts to Keep You Informed - April 2007

GEORGIA CUSTOMER SERVICE
"Faster. Friendlier. Easier."
Mission The Georgia Department of
Corrections protects 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.
Vision
The Georgia Department of Corrections is the best corrections system
in the nation at protecting 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 GOALS

&aith haracter "".. .. wwhheenn II wwaass nnaakkeedd,, yyoouu ggaavvee mmee ccllootthheess ttoo wweeaarr.. WWhheenn II wwaass ssiicckk,, yyoouu ttooookk ccaarree ooff mmee,, aanndd wwhheenn II wwaass iinn pprriissoonn,, yyoouu vviissiitteedd mmee..""
GDC Hosts Advisory Board Prayer Breakfast
Second in the on-going series of faith-based services behind bars
Recalling a biblical passage familiar to many in the audience, the Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory reminded state officials and guest clergy at a recent prayer breakfast that they, too, are "called" to find ways to balance justice and charity inside Georgia's prisons. In his inspirational message, Archbishop Gregory proclaimed the power of putting charity in action and "faith behind bars" as he reflected on the early years of his ministry and his role in prison ministry programs in Illinois.
"Prison ministry has been an important dimension of my priesthood, and it must continue to be a part of the life of the church," said Archbishop Gregory. "The men and women who are incarcerated do not cease being our brothers and sisters in Christ while they are in prison." Archbishop Gregory was the featured speaker at GDC's Faith and Character Based Advisory Board Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday, March 27. More than 40 members of the FCB Advisory Board and
GDC staff gathered to hear the uplifting words of the sixth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta during the a la carte breakfast. Members of the Atlanta Transitional Center Choir sang during the breakfast. GDC Chaplain Thomas Silvestry, Georgia Diagnostics & Classification Prison, who also serves as a Deacon in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, shared the benediction. The FCB Advisory Board consists of clergy leaders in communities statewide. Members play a key role in supporting offender re-entry initiatives under way in Corrections, according to A. J. Sabree, Coffee with a friend - Arnie DePetro, (left) a GDC Div. Director of Re-entry Services.
Director exchanges ideas with Archbishop Gregory.

A Safer, Healthier, Better Educated Growing,
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

Leadership Georgia Focusing on Offender Re-entry Initiatives
More than 250 of Georgia's most outstanding leaders spent two days of a recent leadership conference learning more about the offender re-entry programs available in Corrections prison facilities. Leadership Georgia's members developed their March 23-24 agenda specifically to focus on Georgia's prison system. Commissioner Donald kicked off the group's program as the featured speaker during a dinner banquet in Milledgeville, which was hosted by GDC volunteers Joe and Andrea Shelton.
Warden Vanessa O'Donnell and the staff at Baldwin SP hosted the group during an extensive prison tour and site visit. On Saturday, March 24, Leadership Georgia hosted the Atlanta Transitional Center Choir which presented the Choose Freedom Campaign program. Following the choir's presentation, panelists led a discussion about "after care" initiatives.
Leadership Georgia stands apart as one of the nation's oldest and most successful leadership-training programs for young business, civic and community leaders with the desire and potential to work together for a better Georgia. Its primary purpose is to identify, train, and inspire a network of emerging young leaders, whose ages typically range from 25 to 45 years old. It is affiliated with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

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News and Facts to Keep You Informed - April 2007

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The Choose Freedom campaign took an honored position among caring parents, friends, instructors and clergy at the Frederick Douglass High School Teen Violence Prevention Summit -2007. An annual event focusing on stopping teen violence and thwarting those pressurized moments that could lead to making the wrong decisions, the open forum discussions gave at-risk teens an chance to listen and learn from those who have `been there.'

KUDOS!

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Former GDC board member Ellis Wood gets a grand salute from the men and women of Georgia's Correction! When clean-up assessments were completed in Americus he rallied his friends and organized a three mile convoy of equipment and volunteers to clear the debris from the Americus/Sumter Regional Hospital hauling an average rate of 82 dump trucks an hour. . "It was the Christian thing to do," Wood said. "We wanted to help."

EXTRA! Mission EXTRA! Personal Courage EXTRA!
Selfless Service A category-three tornado created a path of destruction through two states. Leaving Governor Perdue no choice but to declare Americus a disaster area. The call to lend a hand was selflessly answered by hundreds of GDC professionals as Team Georgia united to clean-up. Read all about it in this month's special supplement to IG!
C hanging of the Guard New Probation Chief Installed in North DeKalb DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gail. C. Fluke, of the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, recently presided over the Change of Responsibility Ceremony for the North DeKalb Probation Office.
Shirley Griggs, who has been with the Department of Corrections since 1982, was promoted to Chief Probation Officer. Commissioner Donald, senior central office staff members, as well as an abundant crowd of family and friends attended the ceremony. Jermaine Griggs, Shirley's youngest son, flew in from Germany to attend.
Carl Franklin, Gov. Purdue's latest appointment to the GDC Board of Corrections said "The professionalism I have encountered with GDC senior staff, as well as those men and women in the field, is evident. I can't say how impressed I am with the entire department."

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

Ian Ashworth and Martha Ross (above) welcome Annie to Metro SP- her new home for the next six months.

It was a first for Ian Ashworth. A native of the United Kingdom, he has

worked as a breeding program manager for the GuideDog Foundation for

the Blind, Inc. for over 22 years and had never been to prison, until he began

working with the GDC.

"I have not worked with offenders as puppy walkers, but it has been successful

for us and the inmate."

The puppy walker program is an ongoing doggie bootcamp-training animal to become

companions to those visually impaired or with other disabilities as Guiding Eyes and works

in close partnership with VetDogs K-9 Veteran's Corps.

Martha Ross, an inmate trainer at Metro State Prison, meets her `baby Annie' for the first

time. `Annie' greets her with a wet tongue and determination Ross has experienced before.

She has trained the future companions for almost three years at Metro State Prison and

is now a manager/aide assisting with training logs and as an adjunct instructor/mentor to

other inmates and staff participating in the program.

"Each of these babies has their own personalities. Just as people

have different strengths and weaknesses we learn about the dogs

and re-train them to help those that need them."

Its one of the reasons the program has worked so well in combat-

ing recidivism Pat Lehn, a manager with GDC's Risk Reduction

Services.

Susan Brown (above, left) introduces her trainee to Janie Yorker, a Disability Link job developer who is visually impaired. (left) Cynthia poses with Taylor!

"We want to give these women the opportunity to reacquaint with the concept of responsibility and work as a learned behavior. Our experience is that the structure can be successful by building on these concepts."

Through tear filled eyes, Cynthia, a former inmate who now works for a veterinarian in

Smyrna, trained one of the first dogs to graduate from the program. Three years later she

continues to welcome the separation anxiety she feels each time she relinquishes her charge

for puppy-dog college. Today she says good-bye to Taylor after six-months of training.

"This program changed my life when I was (incarcerated)," she says dabbing her

eyes. "It reminded me that you don't have to come back (to prison) when you

have unconditional love just for the asking."