July 2010 Newsletter DEPARTMENT HOSTS QUARTERLY AWARDS CEREMONY The Department held its 20th Quarterly Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, June 15, 2010. Employees were recognized from the Corrections Division, Operations, Planning, and Training Division, Administrative Division, and Executive Operations. Probation Officers Anthony Rutledge and Marissa Viverito of the Atlanta Community Impact Unit and Correctional Officer John A. Sapp of Smith State Prison each received an Officer of the Quarter Award for their outstanding contributions. Selected individuals received Customer Service Champion Awards for delivering exceptional customer service, and others were presented with the Unsung Hero Award for going above and beyond the call of duty. Faithful Service Awards were presented to dedicated employees with service ranging between five and 30 years. Personnel Director, Cindy Schweiger was presented with the Commissioner's Coin for her 34 years of faithful service with the State of Georgia and the Department. In this Issue: GDC Quarterly Awards Day Reporting Center Graduations Probation Reporting Contact Center Georgia Prison Wardens' Association Teacher Training Conference Coastal RSAT Graduation Pictured left to right: Commissioner Brian Owens, Coordinating Chief Probation Officer of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit, Shirley Griggs, Officer of the Quarter recipients Marissa Viverito & Anthony Rutledge of the Atlanta Community Impact Unit, Assistant Commissioner Derrick Schofield , and Probation Operations Director, Stan Cooper Upcoming Events: July 13 - Augusta Day Reporting Center Graduation Ceremony July 15 - Governor's Commendation Awards July 19-24 - National Law Enforcement Conference Warden Change of Responsibility Ceremonies will be held at the following facilities: July 6 - Metro State Prison July 13 - Montgomery State Prison July 22 - Lee Arrendale & Phillips State Prisons July 27 - Lee & Macon State Prisons July 29 - Dooly State Prison Correctional Officer John A. Sapp is presented with the Officer of the Quarter Award Commissioner Brian Owens and Assistant Commissioner Derrick Schofield present Personnel Director, Cindy Schweiger, with the Commissioner's Coin PARTICIPANTS GRADUATE FROM DAY REPORTING CENTERS AROUND THE STATE Multiple graduations occurred at several Day Reporting Centers during the month of June. Participants completed the programs at the Metro Atlanta, Gainesville, and Athens Day Reporting Centers. The Metro Atlanta Day Reporting Center recognized 20 graduates at the June 2, 2010 commencement ceremony. This was its second graduation since the center opened in February 2009. Gainesville's Day Reporting Center graduation was held at the Montgomery Memorial Baptist Church on June 10, 2010 where the center graduated 30 participants. This was the second graduation the center has held since its opening in November 2008. The Athens Day Reporting Center held its third commencement ceremony in the Ebenezer Baptist Church West Fellowship Hall on June 17, 2010. Since its opening in January 2008, 35 participants have completed the program. There are currently 13 Day Reporting Centers around the state. Field Operations Manager, Michael Kraft, congratulates one of the graudates Eleven of the 20 Metro Atlanta DRC graduates are shown One of the graduates of the Athens DRC receives his certificate of completion Did You Know?..... The Probation Reporting Contact Center took more than 5,000 calls last month PROBATION CALL CENTER ALLEVIATES FIELD WORK LOAD The Probation Reporting Contact Center (PRCC) is a new initiative within the Corrections Division. The PRCC is a centralized telephone call receiving center that allows selected lowest risk standard level probationers to report to their officers via telephone contact. The seven team members in the PRCC immediately document vital case management information directly into SCRIBE. This allows field probation officers the opportunity to focus their attention and resources on higher risk offenders. On February 1, 2010, the PRCC began receiving telephone reports from four judicial circuits: Augusta, Blue Ridge, Gwinnett and Southwestern. On May 1, the Dougherty, Lookout Mountain, Ocmulgee and Piedmont Circuits were added. Beginning July 1, the Cobb Judicial Circuit will be added. Pictured to the left (Left to right): Customer Service Representatives, Charlotte Keller, Virginia Benoskie, Leonora Williams, Glen Appling, Pat James, Linda Tate, and Supervisor Charolette Beard STAFF PARTICIPATE IN GEORGIA PRISON WARDENS' ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE The Georgia Prison Wardens' Association held a Convention and Training Conference June 13 - 16 in Greensboro, Georgia. Seventy-five Wardens and Superintendents attended the conference where they were provided with leadership and technology training. Ten $1,000 scholarships were presented to employee and/or employee family members during the awards banquet. The organization is a collaborative network of professional Wardens and Superintendents from state, county, and private prisons who share the mission to operate safe and secure facilities. For more information, visit www.gpwainfo.org. Pictured to the right are the Wardens and Superintendents that attended the conference DEPARTMENT HOLDS TEACHER TRAINING CONFERENCE The 2010 GDC Teacher Training & Conference was held at the Central Georgia Convention Complex in Forsyth, May 12 - 14, 2010. The conference focused on the Correctional Education Association (CEA) Peer Tutoring Training. The program trains teachers to train tutors (education aides) to address individual student educational needs with the focus on reading intervention activities and is based upon the most current reading research. Eighty GDC facility teachers and GDC education staff successfully completed the 20 hours of training conducted by Angela Day, Louisiana Corrections Education Director; Jewel Kesler, Maryland State Department of Education; Roger Rhodes, Teacher Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction; and Steve Steurer, Executive Director of the Correctional Education Association. Pictured to the left: Jewel Kesler, trainer from Maryland State Department of Education, is training Steve Smith (center), regional education supervisor, and Raymond Givan, Coastal SP teacher, in the process of scripting, a technique to promote reading and writing literacy COASTAL STATE PRISON HOLDS FIRST RESIDENTIAL SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT (RSAT) GRADUATION The first Strategic Intervention Program graduation was held at Coastal State Prison on May 27, 2010. The program is comprised of a six-month Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program, a 90-day Intensive Re-entry Program (IRP), and a two-year Faith and Character Based Program. There were three graduates who successfully completed the program. The RSAT program lasts six-months and consits of four six-week phases. The assessment and orientation phase utilizes valid assessment tools at both pre and post treatment. An active treatment phase focuses on identifying, questioning, and replacing distorted criminal thinking patterns with realistic alternatives to criminal behavior and maladaptive coping strategies. The third phase, re-entry (pre-exit planning) affords more opportunity for actively practicing the skills and responses learned during active treatment. The final phase is relapse prevention exit planning with the focus shifting to the integration of all that has been learned, practiced and refined. Pictured below are graduation attendees Commissioner Brian Owens Public Affairs: Joan Heath, Director; Sharmelle Brooks, Managing Editor; Kristen Stancil, Contributor; Peggy Chapman, Contributor Contact: 404-656-9772; www.dcor.state.ga.us