Impact Georgia, Apr. 2013

April 2013 Newsletter

In This Issue
1 HR Participates in the 2013 TEFGA Career Expo & SkillsUSA Championships
First Offender Job Fair Held in Augusta

HR Participates in the 2013 TEFGA Career Expo & SkillsUSA Championships
Contributed by Michael Tolson & Jan Humphrey, Human Resources Specialists

2First Annual GPWA Sporting Clay Tournament

New SCRIBE Care & Custody Application
Atlanta Circuit Holds Open House
3Recognition of Retirees
"Roming in Macon"
4Around the Perimeter with Mike Nelson-Palmer
Life Afte Rescued
Honoring a Deserving Johnson SP Employee

Students participing in the TEFGA Career Expo & SkillsUSA Championships

Personnel Analyst II Jan Humphrey (L) speaking with students during the Career Expo

On March 21-22, the Corrections Human Resources Management (CHRM) Office participated in the 2013 Transportation Education Foundation of Georgia (TEFGA) Career Expo and SkillsUSA Championships at the Georgia International Convention Center.
At the event, High School students have the opportunity to receive scholarships and grants. Students were awarded scholar-

ships and grants by participating in the SkillsUSA Championships portion of the event.
During SkillsUSA, students participated in timed workshops. Students were required to work as team to complete a project. Students worked in such mock crime scene as well as NASCAR engine reconstruction workshops to name a few.

The TEFGA staff judged students on their teamwork and attention to safety.
"It was amazing how well they worked together," said Human Resources Specialist Jan Humphrey.
CHRM looks forward to being a part of this great event next year!

First Offender Job Fair Held in Augusta

Contributed by Scott Wilkes, Augusta Transitional Center Superintendent introduced employers to a group of men and women who are seeking careers. This helps both offenders and the community by filling jobs and reducing recidivism," said Superintendent Scott Wilkes.
Twenty organizations, including twelve employers and eight service groups participated in the job fair.

Have a great story idea?
Please submit articles and photos to Gwendolyn Hogan by April 22.
Email: hogang00@dcor.state.ga.us

There were eight offenders from the TC hired as a result of the event.

Augusta Probation Counselor Roxanne Williams reviewing the informational material from the Department of Labor table

On March 21, the Augusta Transitional Center (TC), Probation Office and Parole Office hosted the first Augusta Job Fair for Offenders at Lake Olmstead Park.

"We saw a need in the area of employment and decided to pool our resources to create an annual event. Since employment and recidivism are linked, we simply

"One of our success stories involves former TC resident Shawn Lloyd. He was released in Jan. 2013 and was promoted to Assistant Manager at a local restaurant. His General Manager chose Shawn to represent the company at the job fair, said Wilkes."

Did You Know..The agency has a Twitter & Facebook page? Follow us on Twitter & Like us on Facebook!

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First Annual GPWA Sporting Clay Tournament
Contributed by Johnny Weaver, Warden of Jackson County Correctional Institution

L to R: Warden Johnny Weaver, Dick Berman, Facilities Operations L to R: Warden Hooks, Pete Woods, Tim Bradley with Benelli. Warden Weaver and Warden Bill Assistant Commissioner Timothy C. Ward speaking with partici-

Director Randy Tillman and Warden Brad Hooks. Dir. Tillman won the McKenzie

pants of the Clay Tournament

shotgun in a raffle drawing

On March 1, the Georgia Prison Warden's Association (GPWA) held its First Annual Sporting Clay Tournament to benefit the GPWA Scholarship Fund.
Twenty-eight, four man teams participated in the competition that was held at the Forest City Gun Club in Savannah. The club is the oldest operating gun club in America. It was formed in 1883 and was charted in 1901 as a private club.

GPWA's goal for this event was to increase the number of scholarships that are awarded each year from ten to 17. Scholarships are presented to Department of Corrections employees and their eligible family members.
While there were many responsible for the success of the tournament, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the following people who went above and beyond.

Thank you to Warden Brad Hooks, Coordinator for the event, who worked diligently for many days, making sure every detail was in place; and Warden Bill McKenzie, Secretary/Treasurer of GPWA, who had the registration process working like clock work.
Additionally, we would like to express our appreciation to our sponsors. Without their generous donations and time the event would not have been

possible. Lastly, we would like to thank Mr. Robyn Quattlebaum, founder of Driftaway Restaurant for catering our event.
GPWA looks forward to the Second Annual Clay Tournament! Thank you to all participants of this year's event!

New SCRIBE Care & Custody Application

Atlanta Circuit Holds Open House

Contributed by Michael Nelson-Palmer, Director of OIT

Contributed by Susan Phillips, Coordinating Chief Probation Officer

L to R: Stephanie Joyner, Secretary, Vickie Covington, Atlanta Community Impact Program Administrator Toriarn POM Manager, Susan Phillips, Coordinating Chief Pro- Weldon presenting bation Officer, Veronica Cox, Chief Probation Officer

L to R: Suresh Komarneni, Suresh Ganespandian, Sravan Kanduri, Sridhar Anajipuram, Larkin Crumbley, Vee Sridhar, Madhu Pradha, Dan Sumner, Dilip Mehra, Nagesh Aynavollu, Nan Winge, Mlynarz Janusz, Maryann Swain, Karima Hirani

On March 4, the new SCRIBE Care & Custody application was implemented.
The purpose of the application is to manage and record the issuing of offender clothing, linen and hygiene items, along with employee uniforms and security items for all GDC State Prisons, Probation Detention Centers, Transitional Centers, Probation RSAT Centers, warehouses and central office locations.
This application replaced all legacy standalone CARES applications that was being managed and run independently at each location.
The new enterprise level application

provides GDC with the capability to manage and track inventories across the state where access to GDC's intranet is available.
Unique aspects of this application include the following: locations are no longer required to submit monthly reports to document usage and support ordering requests and uniform issue history automatically follows an offender and employee as they are transferred from one location to another.
Through the new application, the collection of historical data will provide the agency with the means to make more cost efficient decisions when ordering and stocking inventory in the future.

On March 20, the Atlanta Judicial Circuit hosted a successful Open House.
The purpose of the open house was to engage with organizations throughout the criminal justice system in Fulton County.
At the event, DOC employees provided information about the circuit, probation and agency. In addition, they provided their partners with an opportunity to ask questions to circuit and agency subject matter experts.
Thirty-nine guests attended over the three sessions. Guests included Superior Court Judges Robert McBurney, Kelly Lee, Richard Hicks, D. Todd Markle, Gail Tusan and Walter Lovett; Clerk of Superior Court Tina Robinson; and Court Administrator Yolanda Lewis and District Attorney's office, Sheriff's

Office, Accountability Courts and Fulton County Jail staff.
Presentations included a Circuit Overview by Chief Probation Officer (CPO) Veronica Cox; Probation Alternatives by Circuit Probation Officer Sentencing Specialist Officer Xo Carlton; MADRC and ACIP by ACIP Administrator Toriarn Weldon; Probation Options Management by Developmental Assistant Vickie Covington ; and Offender Administration by Unit Manager Theresa Lindsey.
"It was a great success! Most of the guests who attended the open house commented that they learned a great deal and appreciated the opportunity," said Coordinating CPO Susan Phillips.

Delphine Reese 32 Years of Service

Recognition of Retirees

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Brad Patterson
30 Years of Service

Calendar Events
Monday, April 15 GDC Roll-Up
"Day in Central Office"

"Thank you for your selfless service to the great state of Georgia."

Friends and family gathered for the retirement ceremony of Delphine Reese on March 27, 2013 at State Offices South at Tift College. Delphine was presented with an award for her 32 years
of faithful & dedicated service.
Jim Arnold 34 Years of Service

-Brian Owens Commissioner

Friends and family gathered for the retirement ceremony of Brad Patterson on March 14, 2013 at State Offices South at Tift College. Brad was presented with an award for his 30 years of
faithful & dedicated service.

Virginia Grizzle-Turner 34 Years of Service

Friends and family gathered for the retirement ceremony of Jim Arnold on February 22, 2013 at the Waycross Probation Office. Jim was presented with an award for his 34
years of faithful & dedicated service.

Friends and family gathered for the retirement ceremony of Virginia Grizzle-Turner on April 9, 2013 at State Offices South at Tift College. Viriginia was presented with an award for her
34 years of faithful & dedicated service.

"Roming In Macon"

Contributed by Maria Stephenson, Center Administrator Macon Day Reporting Center
cross-trained, networked with one another to improve the operations of both DRCs and built cohesion of staff working towards the same goal of protecting the public and providing intensive substance abuse treatment for offenders.

The DRC "Cross Training Event" was created by Statewide DRC Manager Rosalyn Davis to ensure that all DRC staff received adequate understanding of the centers and had necessary training to perform their jobs and the jobs of their coworkers, if needed.

In regards to the training, Center Administrator Ken Ward stated that, "When you stop learning, you stop living."

Rome and Macon Day Reporting Center participants in the first DRC Cross Training event

Staff from the Rome Day Reporting Center (DRC) joined together with the Macon DRC staff in a joint DRC Cross training event on Feb. 13 and 14. This training event was the inaugural joint DRC Cross training event for the Department.

DRC Manager Rosalyn Davis, Rome Center Administrator Ken Ward, Macon Center Administrator Maria Stephenson, Rome Substance Abuse Counselor Greg Sanders and Macon Substance Counselor Yolanda Arnold.

DRCs are encouraged to continue the cross training throughout the state. Thanks to Macon and Rome for setting the standard!

The training was conducted by Statewide DRC team members shared processes,

Wednesday, April 17 Military Job Fair
Glennville National Guard Armory
Thursday, April 18 Joint Board Meeting
Glennville, GA Friday, April 19 Warden's Golf
Tournament Monday, April 22
HOLIDAY Tuesday, April 23 National Victims Rights Event at Tift College Wednesday-Thursday
April 24-25 Senior Leadership Off-site
Friday, April 26 Commissioner's Challenge
Tuesday, April 30 Quarterly Awards
Ceremony
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facebook.com/georgiacorrections
GA_Corrections

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Around the Perimeter with Mike Nelson-Palmer

On March 4, Public Relations & Information Specialist Rachad Hollis sat down with the new Director of the Office of Information & Technology Mike Nelson-Palmer to get to know a little more about our newest leader at the Department of Corrections.
Q: Educational background B.S. in Applied Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and Master of Science degree in Information Technology from

the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
Q: Previous positions Director of IT Planning & Development for the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority; IT positions at the Georgia Institute of Technology including Instructor in the College of Computing, Operations Manager in the Georgia Tech Information Security Center and Senior Research Engineer with the Georgia Tech Research Institute; Project Manager and Program Manager with CACI, Inc. for important IT planning initiatives and infrastructure projects across the United States for the US Army Reserve Command located at Fort McPherson; and Project Manager with Five Rivers Services, LLC supporting the US Army 7th Signal Command at Fort Gordon.
Q: What do you find most rewarding about working in Corrections? Supporting dedicated professionals in law enforcement with their important mission.
Q: Proudest accomplishment? Personal: Meeting and marrying my "Georgia Peach" from Augusta and our

upcoming 34th anniversary this month.
Professional: Leading soldiers over a 30 year US Army career.
Q: What are some of your goals you would like to achieve in the position that you are working in now? Complete a relatively painless Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) transformation effort as well as create and staff the needed support structure for GDC's new mobile device environment.
Q: What are some of the major challenges facing our facilities Information technology department? Realign the IT organization for the missions and tasks for today and tomorrow, realize hardware and software accountability and improving the information security posture in the Department.
Q: What do you look forward to most working in management? The chance to work with and mentor my outstanding IT staff.
Q: What is your favorite quote? "Sometimes the best thing you can do

with a computer is turn it off." -Bill Husted AJC technology columnist
Q: What is your favorite movie? Patton
Q: What music/artists are on your iPod? Don't own an iPod.
Q: What's your favorite website? Facebook to keep up with my two grown children.
Q: What's your favorite car? Honda Accord V-6 coupe
Q: If you could be a Super hero, which one would it be and why? No desire to be a Super hero.
Q: Do you have a celebrity look-alike? No

Saving Detainees & Dogs One Life at a Time Honoring a Deserving Johnson SP Employee

Contributed by Diane Hassett, Superintendent Colwell Probation Detention Center

Contributed by Cathy Tanner, Administrative Assistant Johnson State Prison
Regina provided assistance for both Emanuel PDC and Women's Facility during a very critical time when their Personnel Representative Cindy Mosley was out on sick leave after she was involved in an accident the first of the year.

Program participants and the dogs they trained during class four

The Rescued Program is proud to announce the fourth graduating class since its inception in July 2012.

graduates are gainfully employed in the pet industry as a direct result of the Rescued Program.

The center is happy to report that out of the eight graduates released, all remain compliant with Probation and have completed their community service hours. Fifty percent of which were completed in animal shelters and rescue groups. Additionally, three

The success of the program is a direct reflection of our partnership with TriState Pet Rescue as well as the support of our volunteers.
Class number five began on April 1.

During this time, Regina conducted the hiring process for both facilities, scanned all of their employees into the new timekeeping system and prepared the facilities for audits.

Clerk Regina Sterling (L) and Personnel Manager Cynthia Chester
On April 2, Johnson State Prison's Personnel Manager Cynthia Chester presented Clerk Regina Sterling with a Letter of Appreciation written by Superintendent of Emanuel Probation Detention Center (PDC) and Women's Facility Robert Humes.

Johnson State Prison is proud to have an exemplary employee as Regina Sterling on our TEAM.

MISSION The Department of Corrections creates a safer Georgia
by effectively managing offenders and providing opportunities for positive change
VISION To be recognized as the best corrections organization in the nation.

BRIAN OWENS Commissioner
PUBLIC AFFAIRS Joan Heath Director
Gwendolyn Hogan Managing Editor
Rachad Hollis Contributor, Public Relations & Information Specialist