Impact Georgia, 2007 June

GEORGIA GGEGEOEORORGRGIGAIAIA

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

GEORGIA

ON THE MOVE

Page 1
"Faster. Friendlier. Easier."
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.

News and Facts to Keep You Informed - June 2007
S S erving
those who give elflessly
Commissioner Donald accepts the PRO PATRIA award from Georgia ESGR Chair Tom Wessels along with a GDC employee /48th BCT CitizenSoldier
Tucked away in an encasement of the Georgia Department of Corrections boardroom is a letter. At a glance, it is impressive as one notes the weight and texture of the paper, the five gold embossed stars and the care in which it was framed. Yet this is not a common piece of paper. Some would say it might well be one of the most important pieces of paper the agency's commissioner, James E. Donald, has ever signed.

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 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

His signature was part of a formal ceremony to adopt, abide by and exeed the expectations and policies of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), an agency of the Department of Defense. Donald's signature committed the GDC, as one of the largest employers of Reserve and National Guard Service men and women, to honor the needs of the country during this time of war. Allowing the nearly 500 Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines the opportunity to train and fight when necessary and still depend on their colleagues to secure a place for them when they returned home.
For this extraordinary show of support the Georgia Department of Corrections was honored May 4, in Augusta, Ga., as a Georgia "PRO PATRIA" employer. GDC is one of two employers, statewide, to receive the prestigious honor for the Georgia division of ESGR. Currently the Department of Corrections has 89 of its employees on active duty, and at one point more than 300 serving, simultaneously, worldwide!
"I believe I speak for all 15,000 Department of Corrections employees in affirming our support for the nearly 500 teammates who are members of the Guard and Reserve and serve so selflessly as they protect our freedoms," said Corrections Commissioner James E. Donald.
The selection is an example of what one should do `for one's country', the definition of the Latin Pro Patria. It is a pride GDC employees shared with the ESGR of being a part of a disciplined culture that is reflective of their own military experiences. They recanted the camaraderie and flood of support from colleagues `backhome' while they fought in dense sands more than 7,000 miles away.
The nomination process has now pushed towards Washington, D.C. where 15 employers will vie for the title on a national level. The 2007 recipients will be honored in the Capital City at the 12th Annual Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award Ceremony, September 12, 2007. Such an honored recognition would again prove the power of the pen.
Celebrating Nurses: Caring in Corrections
Atlanta Governor Sonny Perdue proclaimed the week of May 6 through May 12, as Nurses Week in Georgia. Nurses and prison officials from across the state were present during a ceremony at the Board of Corrections monthly meeting on Thursday, May 3, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. The meeting took place in the 8th floor Board Room of the East Tower in the Sloppy Floyd building in Atlanta.
Georgia's Nurses perform a vital role in the correctional health setting by providing quality health care to nearly 60,000 state prisoners.
Nurses in the Georgia Department of Corrections provide care to individuals with infectious diseases, mental health disorders, chronic medical conditions, and acute or emergent problems requiring immediate intervention.
"It is entirely fitting that we express our appreciation and acknowledgement for the important job performed and for the commitment to health care provided by our Nurses," stated Commissioner James E. Donald. "Corrections Nurses pro-
WHO Cares? Nurses DO! vide quality health care to inmates under stressful working conditions, often risking their own personal safety in order to
provide care."

Continuation . . .

Page 2

News and Facts to Keep You Informed - June 2007

SPECIAL KUDOS

OUR GDC EMPLOYEES
Georgia's Employee Appreciation Week gave us a chance to "brag" on our YOU! So we again applaud all you do. Sharing your accomplishments with the citizens we are privileged to serve. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMITMENT!

Faith & Character Applauded

To change the

course of one's life

can be overwhelm-

ing. To those who

have taken control of

their lives, moving in

a positive direction to

give back to the

community and

encourage others

through an example

iPrison Industries

of strong faith and character...

Enhancement

WWee aappppllaauudd yyoouurr

iPre-Release Initiatives ssttrriiddeess ttoowwaarrddss

iSubstance Abuse/ ssuucccceessss!!

RSAT

iMotivational Change

iVocational & Work

Skills Training

iCognitive Thinking

and Work Programs

HOPE IS NOT A METHOD

Visit our website at www.dcor.state.ga.us

Commissioner: James E. Donald
Public Affairs Director:
Yolanda E. Thompson

Thursday, June 7, 2007
8:00AM - NOON Make the Right Choice, Choose Freedom

The Georgia On The Move event is designed to help Georgia's senior management teams move forward with initiatives that will increase levels of service to our customers--the citizens of Georgia. As we segue into day two of this historic event we appreciate the chance to acquaint with our customers, roll up our sleeves and get down to the business of improving our communities.
Community involvement and partnerships will drive our efforts to continue leading change and expanding how we use "best practices" to be the best managed state in the nation.
Thank you, again, for joining us on this historical occasion in Georgia.
Team Georgia. Ready to Serve.

8:00AM - 10:00AM Executive Session.
Ramada Plaza Hotel & Conference Center, 640 Broad Street. City Council & County Commissioners with State Agency Representatives.

10:00AM - NOON Tour of Augusta Transition Center & Richmond County Prison.
Augusta TC, 601 Taylor Street and Richmond CI, 2314 Tobacco Road. A walk-thru and overview of the facilities and their roles, responsibilities, and programs for incarcerated offenders. Public invited.

10:30 AM11:30 AM Board of Corrections Meeting
Ramada Plaza Hotel & Conference Center, 640 Broad Street. An opportunity for interested citizens to attend the Department of Correction's monthly Board of Corrections meeting. Open to the public.

1:30PM - 3:30 PM Multi-Agency Re-Entry Roundtable Session. "The Boathouse Community Center, 101 Riverfront Dr. A facilitated discussion format focusing on "Offender Re-Entry." Public invited.

6:00PM - 8:00PM

LEADING CHANGE, Partnership "Team Building." (Invitation Only) Enterprise Mill and Canal, 1450 Green Street.

OUR VISION

For invited community leaders and state agency partners.

Managing Editor:
Tracy J. Smith

Friday, June 8, 2007

Photographers/contributors:
Paul Czachowski Mallie McCord Rachelle Willoughby 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

8:00AM - 9:00AM Inter-Faith Breakfast.
"By Invitation Only" at the Beulah Grove Baptist Church. 1434 Poplar Street. The breakfast is for area pastors and community leaders, and will be followed by a Faith & Character-Based Re-entry Forum

9:00AM - 10:30AM Faith and Character Based Re-entry Roundtable Forum
Beulah Grove Baptist Church. 1434 Poplar Street. Providing an opportunity for open dialogue/questions and answers by Community Clergy and Public Officials about faith and character based re-entry initiatives. Open to the public.
Note: A bus will be provided after the forum for those attending the AMSP tour/demonstration. Seating is limited and departure will be from Beulah Grove Baptist Church.

10:00AM - Noon Augusta State Medical Prison (ASMP) Tour &

FASTER, FRIENDLIER, EASIER

Demonstration

Augusta State Medical Prison, 3001 Gordon Hwy,

Grovetown, Ga. Tours of the prison facility and the

Corrections Division's Special Operations Tactical Squads. Open to the public.

Note: Following the Special Operations demonstration, the bus will depart and return to the Beulah Grove Baptist Church.

NOON "Georgia On the Move" - Augusta adjourns.

FEEMMAALLEE FIIRREE FIIGGHHTTEERRSS

They are firefighters with

a purpose, getting a second

chance at life, even though

A Sense of Purpose

they are behind bars. Crews making sure the hot spots

in Ware County won't flare up again. But the firefighters fighting this

fire didn't come from a local fire station, they are inmates from Lee Arrendale State Prison.

The all woman crew is part of the Georgia Department of Corrections Rehabilitative program. They spend 240 hours, 40 hours a month training to fight fires, and battling their own demons.

"I used to look at myself and say I'm a victim, I'm the victim also," says inmate firefighter Brenda Edwards. "It took this for me to see, wait a minute I'm not the victim, I'm the problem." Brenda Edwards' look now is much different than just 3 years ago, when the Savannah woman
was put behind bars for Identity Theft. ...it took (being incarcerated) for me to see....
Edwards say this program has given her a new identity, as a person.
I'm the "it gives me a sense of purpose,"
says Edwards. "It gives us somewhat of an
problem! identity to show us that we can do greater
than what we have done. Finding ourselves." "We're just like everybody else," explains inmate firefighter Ashley

Scarborough. "Firefighters, we're all a team, this is what we do.
Inmates, no inmates if your house is burning you want it out." Ashley Scarborough won't be getting out of jail for two more years. Convicted in 2004 of Robbery

by Force, this Savannah native says when she was arrested, she thought her life was done. That is until she found this program.
"I thought it was over," says Scarborough. "This is great. Great for all

of us." Now Ashley is putting her past aside, and thinking about her future. "I'm thinking EMT," smiles Scarborough. "This is right up their alley."

Brenda believes she's on the right track, and will work to regain the trust of her community, one fire at a time. "Yes we did do crimes for different reasons but once we find our true

selves we can give back to the community," explains Edwards. "As for myself, that's what I want to do, give back to the community for what I've taken." The inmate firefighting program started in 1962. Now there are more than 200 inmates fighting

fires around the state. The women don't go out there unprepared, they go through 240 hours of training, 40 hours a month, before they are allowed to ever pick up a hose.
Reported By: Andrew Davis adavis@wtoc.com

Atlanta Journal-Constitution shed on: 04/24/07
kGoing hard time is easier for prisoners in program that teaches puppies to help blind
an Denise Brown hefts the s uirming puppy into her arms and es as it licks her face. For a few moments, the bars and ra or that surround the kennel full of puppies seem to fade into the ground. Brown is part of a group of Metro State Prison inmates will spend the next year raising 10 dogs Labrador retrievers Lab and golden retriever mixes at the maximum

State Prison inmates left Susan Denise Brown with dog Tina and Martha Ann Ross og Shipley raise puppies for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind. 'It's a prestige detail, a ge detail,' Brown said of the assignment. 'It gives you a lot of freedom and hope.' Hadley/AJC Staff
rity prison in Atlanta. The puppies will learn skills that one day d help them become the eyes for a blind person or become a bled person's helper.
learn a lot about yourself and what you can do," said Brown, who is serving eight years for racketeering. "And you're also g back to society. It gives you the chance to do something to others." puppies learn how to share their lives, and their love, with ple.
can't do what we do with dogs raised in a kennel," said Wells es, president of the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind of htown, N.Y., which placed the puppies at the women's prison.
can't replicate the love and caring and experiences they need ecome well adjusted dogs." ause training dogs to help the disabled can be time intensive, mber of groups have turned to prisons to fill the need. Prison als like the programs because they encourage good behavior, inmates learn a skill and because the dogs can be a soothing ence in an otherwise tense environment. for the inmates, like the women at Metro State Prison, who n are facing years of regimented days behind drab walls, the pies represent a bit of normalcy, a window of unconditional and a feeling of accomplishment. a prestige detail, a privilege detail," Brown said of the assign t. "It gives you access to a lot of areas of the prison. It gives a lot of freedom and hope." wn was accepted into the program in 2006 and just sent her trained puppy to Southeastern Guide Dogs of Palmetto, Fla., h placed 29 dogs at the prison over the past four years. This

Metro State Prison inmates left Martha Ann Ross holding Shipley and Susan Denise Brown with Tina raise puppies for the Guide Dog Foun dation for the Blind. Keith Hadley/AJC Staff
she started the program two years ago. Now she ho make a career of working with animals when she's r leased. "I need 1 months to finish the vet tech program," R said. Patricia Lehn, manager of workforce developm the Georgia Department of Corrections, said severa women from the program have gotten jobs at veterin clinics after getting out of Metro. ne is Cynthia Stu Mableton, who was in the first group of puppy raiser had worked at vets' offices before she was sent to M but the program taught her a lot more, and not just a dogs. "I learned ... a lot about getting along with people," s Sturm, who served 2 1 2 years for a probation violat had to work closely, 10 hours a day, with the inmate get along. I don't sweat the small stuff anymore. I wo ter with everyone now." Sturm is working at Cumberland Animal Clinic in Sm where she just received a promotion, and has contin raising guide dogs since leaving Metro in 2003. "My first dog is in Florida with an elderly woman," St said. "My next dog is working outside of Chicago an third dog is still in training."
ictoria Malone, deputy warden of care and treatme Metro, said puppy raising is a plum job at the prison inmates and three aides, including Brown and Ross been assigned to work with the latest batch of puppi be eligible, Malone said, inmates must maintain a cl behavior record, have a diploma or GED, or be work ward one, and cannot be charged with an offense th overly violent or cruel. In their first month at the prison, the puppies, with na like Shipley and Annie and Tina, had only learned co mands for sit and down. But by the time they return York for the last six to eight months of their schoolin will know commands like "find the stairs," "find the c "find the elevator," Lehn said. Because the inmates are limited in where they can t puppies, the puppies are sprung each Friday by a w family, which takes them to places like supermarkets on public transportation. Lehn and several other staf bers are weekend raisers.