Atlantic Region Advocacy Committee Board Report November, 2011

Atlantic Region Advocacy Committee Board Report November, 2011

Elizabeth Fry Society of Cape Breton

Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia

Elizabeth Fry Society of Saint John

The committee has been in operation since September 2007 and consists of a representative from 3 of the societies in the Atlantic Region: Nicole Farmer (Mainland, NS), Denise Durette (Saint John, NB) and Darlene MacEachern (Cape Breton, NS). The RA-AAC visits Nova Institution for Women once per month.

Over the past few months the population has been fluctuating between 63-69 women. During our visits to the Secure Unit there were 9 women on the Pods and 1 woman in segregation. Please note: There were no women in Seg on my last visit, Oct 25, 2011.

Nova is under major renovations, there is a new reception area that is in progress, and the Secure Unit is able to now double bunk.

There were 2 lockdowns over the past few months:

1.  The women were locked down for a tool going missing from maintenance. The apparent tool that went missing was a nail gun. The lockdown was lifted within 24 hours; however we expressed our concerns because this is not the first time the women have been locked down to the problems in the maintenance area. As a result of this the maintenance area was closed for a period of time so a process could be developed to better monitor the area and the signing in and out of tools. The women that worked in the maintenance area did not lose pay as a result of the temporary closure.

2.  There was staff training on culture sensitive and awareness and the women were locked down during this time. Staff failed to properly inform the women prior to this and the AW apologized to the women during the NMT meeting. In the future a memo will be sent around to each house prior to a lockdown due to staff training.

Here is a snap shot of a typical RA –AAC visit at Nova:

1pm -Food Services Meeting:

As requested by the Food Service Committee we attend all meeting. The committee is made up of 1 rep from each house, as well as the SLE. The meetings are well organized and productive. The women expressed that they feel their views and concerns are being addressed. The following proposals have been submitted to management over the past year:

1.  That all house reps be paid for attending foodservice meeting. – Approved

2.  Cooking classes be available to all houses if requested. – Approved

3.  A reception house for new women. – Pending

4.  Individual packaged condiments for PFV’s – Pending

Sugar has become an issue at Nova over the past few months. The women expressed concern that they were not being provided enough sugar per house. They suggested that the 2kg bag of brown be substituted for another bag of white. On the advice of the dietitian the request could not be approved, however 50 more Splenda packets would be given to each house.

2pm- Prisoner Committee Meeting:

Nova has a new Prisoners Chair; she has been officially in the position for almost 2 months. The purpose of the meeting is for the house reps to discuss concerns that they want address at the NMT meeting, ideas for proposals, or group grievances.

The women are looking into getting the Lifers Program up and running again.

3PM-NMT Meeting:

This meeting consists of: Prisoner Chair, House Reps, Warden/ Acting Warden, AWMS and the SPO. The Prisoners Chair chairs the meeting, as we are all given an agenda and a copy of the previous minutes for approval.

Topics of discussion:

TV’s

The women are still not able to purchase TV’s due to the issue with the USB ports. Nova is still waiting to hear back from National Headquarters in regard to the locking device that would disable the UBS port. The information was sent to NHQ almost a year now for approval. The AW advised the women that he will continue to follow-up with NHQ.

Paperwork:

As always paper work continues to be an issue. We have requested a copy of the different time frames for paperwork; however we have not received them yet, but will continue to follow up. The problems appears to be administrative, as well as with the PW’s finishing and locking the report. The AW suggested that the women could come see him individually to look at the status of their paperwork. He also suggest if the women want to see him and the staff at the front desk refuse to call him that they could knock on his outside window to see him.

Psychological/Mental Health Service:

Nova now has a mental health team that is made up of: Chief of Psychology that comes to the institution once a week; mental health nurse, clinical social worker. They hired a full-time psychologist, but due to the administrative process the hiring has been delayed. The women expressed concerns regarding delays with psychological services if it is required for their parole. Management assured the women that the parole board is accepting the National Strategy that there will no longer be long term treatment plans (therapy lasting more than 8 weeks), due to services offered by other professional ie: clinical social worker, mental health nurse.

PFV’s (Solo):

The women have raised the issue of being striped searched after a solo PFV. They expressed that this process deters women from applying as it is punitive and not necessary. The Chair, as well as the AW will review the policy and CD’s, and hopefully the strip searching will no longer be a process.

PW’s Office/Leisure:

There is now a PW’s office located in the leisure area. The purpose off the office was to elevate the number of women going to the front desk, as well as having better access to their PW’s; however this has not been the case. There have been several complaints that the office door is never open and staff is rude when answering the door. There are also complaints that the doors to the leisure/program area are not being opened at the appropriate times during program area. NMT explained that a memo would be sent to all the PW’s explaining that the doors are to be open at 8:30 during program days, and the PW’s office door half door is open to the women when it is occupied or staff not in training.

Med-line:

The women are still not able to wait inside at med-line due to fire regulation. This has been an ongoing issue since Nova opened, but things got worse since hood were taken away. NMT are looking into a solution to the problem that does not violated fire regulations or the security of the area.

6:30pm Secure Unit:

There is currently only one Pod rep on the unit, as the other Rep is now in GP. There is a concern that there is no BC available on weekend, as well as no weekend activity. There is an issue with women being locked in their rooms if they choose not to attend leisure with the women going. This is happening frequently as a result of the unit being short staffed. We will continue to monitor this situation as the women are documenting this.

The women have submitted a proposal to do horticulture on the unit to pot plants and flowers.

There are more women going of the unit for programing; however there are no programs or groups currently offered in the evenings.

Day 2:

9am- Meeting with Warden/AW:

During this meeting we raise any concerns that have been brought to our attention or do follow-up from our previous visit.

10am -12 Walk of the houses:

During this time we visit the women in the houses to ensure any maintenance issues they reported are being addressed in a timely manner or issues they feel the RA can assist them with.

In Solidarity, on behave of the Atlantic Advocacy Committee

Nicole Farmer

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