266 County Farm Road    Dover, New Hampshire 03820    (603) 742-3310

2004 Strafford County Annual Report
2002 Strafford County Annual Report
 

2003 Strafford County Annual Report

2003 Annual Report of the Strafford County
Department of Corrections

Programs Report

Education: GED preparation and Adult Basic Education. Dover Adult Learning Center provided GED and Adult Educational classes two days each week for a total of 10 instructional hours per week.

Special Education: North County Education Foundation provided educational tutoring and mental health counseling for eligible special education students for a total of 7 hours per week of education and 7 hours per week of counseling services.

Volunteer Tutors: Dover Adult Learning Center provided a volunteer tutor for 2 hours weekly.

Education Attendance: 112 inmates received educational services. 45 attended 5 or fewer classes, 25 completed 5 to 10 classes and 42 completed more than 10 classes.

GED Exam: 28 inmates were administered the GED exam. 23 passed the exam and 5 did not pass. The pass rate for the year was 82%.

Tutoring: 7 inmates received volunteer tutoring services at the SCDOC. The average number of sessions was 6, with 3 inmates receiving 15 or more sessions.

Drug and Alcohol Counseling: SCDOC contracted with Southeastern New Hampshire Services to provide 11 hours per week of drug and alcohol counseling services.

Drug and Alcohol Attendance: 149 inmates received drug and alcohol counseling services. 76 completed 5 or fewer sessions, 25 completed 5 to 10 sessions, and 48 completed 10 or more sessions.

Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous: AA groups were held weekly this past year and NA groups were held bi-weekly. Attendance data is not tracked by programs.

Anger Management Training: SCDOC provided t hours per week of anger management training.

Anger Management Attendance: 132 inmates received anger management training. 89 completed 5 or fewer classes, 16 completed 5 to 10 classes, and 27 completed 10 or more classes.

Mental Health Counseling: SCDOC accepts master’s level interns from UNH. This year 2 interns provided a total of 8 weekly counseling hours. SCDOC also received 6 weekly counseling hours from volunteer counselors.

Mental Health Counseling Attendance: 57 inmates received individual counseling through the programs department. 22 had fewer than 5 sessions, 15 received 5 to 10 sessions, and 20 received more than 10 sessions.

Vocational Services: SCDOC offered 12 hours per week of vocational services through grant funding.

Pre-Employment Program (PEPP): This program teaches inmates job search skills, helps them to prepare resumes and job applications and teaches job interview skills. This program is held weekly for a total of four hours.

Labor Room Program – Employment Security Program: This program provides direct employment assistance and placement into work release jobs through SCDOC and the New Hampshire Employment Office. This program is held weekly for a total of 8 hours.

Pre-Employment Program Attendance: 169 inmates attended PEPP class. 118 attended 5 or few classes, 31 completed 5 to 10 classes, and 20 attended 10 or more classes.

Labor Room Program – Employment Security Program Attendance: 67 inmates were enrolled in this labor room program. 28 were placed in jobs.

Work Release Program: SCDOC offers work release to court-approved inmates. There were a total of 57 inmates on work release for 2003. 27 of these inmates ended work release for various reasons listed below:

Discharged to Strafford County Academy	1
Discharged to Drug Treatment Program	1
Discharged to Strafford County Community Corrections Program	8
Termination of Work Release by SCDOC	10
Quit Job	1
Suspended by SCDOC	3
Reinstated by SCDOC	3
Paroled	2
Laid Off	1
Fired	3

Religious Services

Chaplain: SCDOC has 2 volunteer chaplains. The chaplains provide religious counseling and guidance to inmates for a total of up to 15 hours per week.

Chaplain Attendance: 81 inmates received formal religious counseling with the chaplains. 35 had 5 or fewer sessions, 37 had 5 to 10 sessions, and 9 had 10 or more sessions.

Bible Study: SCDOC currently hosts 4 non-denominational bible study groups per week and two Catholic services per week.

Bible Study Attendance: Data is inconclusive.

Internships: SCDOC hosted 6 interns in 2003. 3 interns were enrolled in the Justice Studies Program at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). During the academic year each of these interns provided 9 weekly hours of services. Duties included: Assistance with educational and recreational program, as well as administrative support. One intern assisted with inmate educational program for a total of 2 hours per week. Two interns assisted with inmate counseling services for a total of 6 hours per week.

School Tours/Diversion Program: SCDOC provides tours for schools and community organizations. These tours consist of a general tour of the facility and a question and answer period with carefully screened inmate volunteers.

The Diversion Program consists of court-ordered youth touring the facility and speaking to inmate volunteers about the realities of incarceration as a means to dissuade the youth from further criminal behavior.

SCDOC conducted 41 diversion tours in 2003. In August of 2003 a ruling prohibiting these types of tours was issued from Federal District Court. Unfortunately, this has caused the cancellation of this valuable program at this time.

School Tours: SCDOC hosted tours from Dover High, Farmington High and Middle Schools, Spaulding High, Spaulding Alternative School, Dover Alternative School, and Somersworth Alternative School in 2003.

Organization Tours: SCDOC hosted tours for the United Way and Seacoast Leadership in 2003.

	Respectfully submitted,
	Vicki Heyl and Jake Collins
	Inmate Programs

Jail Industry Program

The Jail Industry Program has been in existence for seventeen years, providing continuous private-sector work opportunities for inmates. Strafford County’s Jail Industry program is the first certified County-paid work opportunity in the country and continued to meet its original goals to offset costs of incarcerations, reduce idleness, provide meaningful work skills, and generate monies for inmate release. The Jail Industry goals are: Reduce idleness of inmates; offset cost of incarceration; provide monies to inmates for release; and provide meaningful work skills.

The year 2003 found the Jail Industry Program located in the sally-port area of the facility. The limited space available during the expansion of the Strafford County House of Corrections necessitated limited operations with private sector partners.

Despite the limited work opportunities, 41 inmates worked during 2003. This generated 3,909 hours of inmate paid labor. The work opportunities occurred in the laundry and commissary departments, as well as work from our remaining private sector partner, Precision Assembly.

Another program that continues to grow and enhance the bridge between inmate families and the Department of Corrections is the “Family Reception Center.” The mission of this program is:

Community Corrections Program

1. Pre-Trial Bail Supervision: The program’s main objective is to guide pre-trial defendants back into the community under close supervision who may otherwise be incarcerated while awaiting trial. This is accomplished in conjunction with the program’s primary goal, which is:
   
   To assure that the defendant appears in court and that the defendant does not commit any criminal activity while awaiting trial.
   
   During its first nine months of operation, Strafford County Community Corrections received many referrals for the bail supervision program from a variety of sources that included the District and Superior Courts, the Strafford County Attorney’s Office, and the Public Defender’s Office. Additionally, when Strafford County took over the pre-trial bail supervision program from Volunteers of America in April of 2003, a new position was created in which we have labeled “Intake Coordinator”. The Intake Coordinator interviews/assess all persons detained by state and local law enforcement officers prior to that persons arraignment/bail hearing and to provide the court with relevant and verifiable information to help determine an appropriate bail for the specific charges that are alleged. List of areas that are covered in this interview are Residence, Employment, Family, Alcohol/Drug Usage, Criminal History, Other Open Court Cases and Ties to the Community.



2. Administrative Home Confinement (Electronic Monitoring): Administrative Home Confinement is a tool used by the court to impose a specific form of punishment to an individual that has been found guilty of a crime. This punishment is preceded by a fourteen day RSA mandated stand committed time of incarceration at the County House of Corrections. The guilty party wears an electronic monitoring device, more commonly known as “the bracelet”, for a specific amount of time (what the court deems necessary.)



3. Step Down Program: The Step Down Program is a unique program to Strafford County. This program rewards inmates that have been convicted of a crime and prove, by their attitudes and actions, that they are taking responsibility for their crimes they have committed and are addressing those areas of concern pointed out by the court. The House of Corrections’ Programs Director and Classification Officer refer inmates to the Strafford County Community Corrections Step-Down Program after an inmate has exhibited substantial and meaningful participation in programs that are offered in the jail (an example would be a drug/alcohol conviction = drug/alcohol counseling).



4. Chemical Dependency Treatment: Addictions Rehabilitation Center at Southeastern New Hampshire Services (ARC). The Strafford County Department of Corrections has initiated a pilot program in conjunctions with Community Corrections and Southeastern New Hampshire Services to provide short-term residential drug and alcohol treatment for inmates that have been ordered by the courts, as a condition of their sentence, to participate in. This program is designed to provide treatment for those sentenced inmates that suffer from chemical dependency. This program last from four to six weeks while they are still incarcerated. The inmates participate in all aspects of the program, seven days a week, thirteen hours a day. The only difference between the inmates and other participants is, the inmates sleep in jail.