Delaware Department of Correction
Council on Correction
October 2, 2012 Meeting Minutes
Members in Attendance:Members Absent:
Chairman Roger LevyRobert Webster
Elder Ty JohnsonKevin Marine
Lois MyersJoe Paesani
James Burton
Ann Couzens
Richard Senato
Ed Perez
Melissa Dill
DOC in Attendance:
Acting Deputy Commissioner Kimberly WheatleyChief James Welch
Chief Karl HinesChief Mike Deloy
Gail Minor-Stallings
- Call to Order
Chairman Roger Levy called to order the regular meeting of the Council on Correction at 4:10 PM on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 in Conference Room 300, Department of Correction Administration Building.
The minutes from the July 24, 2012 meeting were unavailable for approval.
Chairman Levy distributed various hand-outs and articles to the Council Members.
- Summary of Progress
1)Service Dog Training Program – Chairman Levy expressed his support of the program at SCI. The dogs in this program are being trained so that they may be adopted by families or individuals as pets. It is the intent of the program to train “service dogs” to assist people with disabilities. Chairman Levy pointed out one of the hand-outs, “Dogs of War”, which refers to research that finds dogs can help veterans overcome PTSD.
2)UW Research Program – Chairman Levy provided information regarding a program in which the UW and Wisconsin’s DOC partner in UW research aimed at discovering brain abnormalities in psychopaths to eventually build the foundation for what eventually could become a viable treatment for a group of people long considered a lost cause. Chairman Levy expressed interest in launching such a program in Delaware. Chief Welch advised the council that BCHS currently has three Delaware State University interns that are assisting inmates with their transition, and added that any research conducted within the Department of Correction must be approved by a Review Board to ensure no inappropriate research is conducted.
- Recommendations
Chairman Levy referred to previously discussed recommendations:
1)Council members be reimbursed for mileage traveled to attend council meetings at standard state mileage rate in accordance with paragraph 8905 (e). Acting Deputy Commissioner Wheatley to follow up with Commissioner Danberg.
2)Prospective council members be appointed/reappointed with advice from Chair of Council on Corrections. The council members agreed to have Ms. Lydia Prigg inform the council members of new appointees, such as name and background information.
3)That a Dept. of Correction (D.O.C.) called “Inspection” or “Internal Affairs” be established and is independent and separate of other Bureaus of D.O.C. It’s mission would be to investigate and monitor instances of actual or alleged personnel misconduct and failure to abide by the Rules of Conduct. Chief Deloy advised the council members that the Department of Correction has an independent Internal Affairs Unit, as well as separate investigators at each site. It was noted while this is not an oversight agency Internal Affairs investigates instances of actual or alleged personnel misconduct whether allegations are initiated internally or externally. It was therefore agreed by all council members that this recommendation be stricken off the list.
4)That the Governor meet with Council at least once a year.
5)Furniture Repair – It was previously recommended that the furniture construction and repair program be expanded to include the construction of “special orders” for custom items on a for profit basis. Chairman Levy suggested D.O.C. contact Mr. William Good, who volunteered to spearhead such program if implemented. His contact information will be forwarded to Carl Barker of Prison Industries.
6)That D.O.C. partner with an Institution of Higher Learning to pursue research in areas of penology and inmate psychology that would be beneficial in managing the various institutions and improving the success rate of inmates upon their release.
7)Develop and publicize a mission statement for Correction Department. Acting Deputy Commissioner Wheatley advised the council members that the Department of Correction’s Mission Statement may be found on the D.O.C. website and the Annual Report.
Elder Ty inquired as to the number of offenders currently incarcerated for non-violent offenses that could be potentially transferred to work-release programs. An exact number was not available at time of the meeting, and it was noted that D.O.C. has to follow sentencing laws. However, a committee headed by Magistrate Davis is currently looking at that population and at a series of graduating options. Further information may be found on the Lt. Governor’s website and recommendations are available under Senate Bill SB 226.
- Commissioner’s Report
An Internal Affairs and a separate security audit are currently conducted at SCI. Draft reports will be provided to the Commissioner by October 11th. The Commissioner reserves one week to review these reports and will release results within one week of the review.
The contract for commissary services was awarded to Swanson September 1st of this year; however, the award was challenged by another vendor. The challenge proved to be legitimate and a termination notice will be forwarded to Swanson by December 21st. Re-bidding will begin within the next couple of weeks.
The Department of Correction is being sued by four former inmates that were erroneously held over from their release date. The Department is currently looking into it and no further information was available at time of this meeting.
- Old Business
1)I-Adapt:1,200 individuals agreed to participate; 600program participants were released into the community and the University of Delaware is collecting data on completions with SAC. A working group was assigned. Information is shared among State agencies and a larger sample is needed before statistics can be published. New ID cards are now being issued at institutions and will be expanded to work release sites. Program participants are provided assistance prior to release in obtaining birth certificates, replacement social security cards, as well as given contacts for DHSS to receive assistance with issues such as resume building and writing, finding employment, obtain food stamps, medications, etc. Institutions also offer workshops to help offenders with their transition back into society.
2)Project Manual for family members and visitors to be produced by Council of Corrections.
3)Parenting classes for male and female offenders while incarcerated. Chief Welch advised that a court authorized class is currently being offered by mental health staff in Sussex County. The program is run by Tracy Coleman. Plummer also does a parenting course.
4)Donated items storage: As the D.O.C. has no available storage for donated items, it was suggested that individuals interested in donating items for inmates contact Health and Social Services to obtain a list of non-profit organizations that may be able to assist.
5)Chairmen Levy followed up on a previous discussion regarding the increase of individuals incarcerated for child support/arrears. During the previous meeting Mr. Paesani asked for information on the average length of stay for these types of cases and whether any cases could be moved to lower levels of supervision. No information was available at time of this meeting.
6)Community Meetings: Council members agreed to schedule the next Commissioner’s Community Meeting for mid February. The objective is to answer any questions and solicit input from members of the community.
IV. New Business
There was no new business to report.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:30 PM, motion by Chairman Levy, 2nd by Elder Ty Johnson.
Submitted by Britta Strop