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266 County Farm Road Dover, New Hampshire 03820 (603) 742-3310 |
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2003 Strafford County
Annual Report |
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2004 Strafford County Annual Report
As the staff and I complete this year in the new jail, it is evident that the direct supervision concept presented many challenges, but overall it is a safer and much more efficient way to manage inmates. Bringing all programs, meals, visiting and interviews to the inmates instead of transporting inmates to service areas, as in the old jail, has reduced the need for staff to be involved, as was the design. Booking has an adjacent public entrance that makes that area more efficient. This area includes a new automatic teller machine (ATM) installed for helping families and friends post bail. With the bigger facility we were able to expand our rented beds to double what we had before. U. S. Marshal Service inmates and other jurisdictions now account for over half of our secure population. We also have contracts with the Maine U.S. Marshal Service to hold their inmates. These boarding contracts help increase our revenue. In addition to experiencing a 32% increase in average monthly program participants for 2004, Community Corrections has added a new program called the Community Work Program. This program takes offenders sentenced to less than 30 days and puts them to work for non-profit agencies, under the supervision of a correctional officer. This eliminates the need to house them in jail, which reduces the drain on jail resources while providing more bed space for those who need it. I am pleased to announce that again all Strafford County Correctional Officers completed the required training hours necessary to maintain their New Hampshire Association of Counties Certification. It was a monumental task that I applaud our staff for accomplishing. Staff were not only were re-certified for minimum standards, but also learned a whole new building operation, including a new electronic security system, fire alarm system and booking process. As we enter 2005, I look forward to moving our Industry program and Community Corrections program into the newly renovated old jail as the last piece of the major jail expansion. In addition this year, I expect to be expanding our work release area to the old Annex to better utilize our resources for minimum custody inmates and keep the more secure beds available as needed in the new jail. Statistical information is included below as is customary regarding the inmate population, programs and Community Corrections.
The average population for 2004 was 223.21. There were 2,095 males, 481 females, and 19 others incarcerated in 2004. There were 124 females held for the following facilities:
There were 283 males incarcerated for the following facilities:
2004 Offenses
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 13 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: 187 inmates received GED preparation classes and Adult Basic Education Classes. Special Education Attendance: 57 inmates received special education services. GED Exam: 28 inmates were administered the GED exam. 21 passed the exam and 6 did not pass. One inmate completed a partial exam. Two Spanish language GED exams were administered. Tutoring: 11 inmates received volunteer tutoring services at the SCDOC. 9 inmates received tutoring in mathematics and 2 received tutoring in remedial reading and pre-GED skills. English as a Second Language: In October 2004, Dover Adult Learning allocated 3 hours per week for ESL classes. In 2004, 14 inmates received ESL services.
SCDOC offered 18 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 six 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 4 hours.
SCDOC offers work release to court-approved inmates. There were a total of 76 inmates on work release for 2004. 3 inmates were released for child-care release. Individual breakdown of work release inmates:
Chaplains: Volunteer Chaplain Ralph Flodin now sees inmates 4 mornings a week. Volunteer Julien Olivier sees Catholic inmates one evening and one morning per week.
SCDOC hosted 4 interns in 2004. 2 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 programs, as well as administrative support. Library: The program department maintains the jail library. In 2004, all books were organized, stamped and classified into categories. The program department also solicited donations of more than 5,000 paperback titles in 2004. There are currently 2 inmate library workers who rotate book carts twice weekly to each housing area in the jail. Through other donations, the program department has made DVD movies and players available to the housing areas as an incentive for positive inmate behavior and facility cleanliness. Law Library: The program department maintains current New Hampshire law on a computer system on a rolling cart, and has volumes of Federal law available in book form. These materials can be requested and scheduled. These materials were used by approximately 11 inmates per week in 2004. Volunteer Orientation: In 2004, the program department developed a training program for all volunteers and paid program staff that provides services at SCDOC. In 2004, 73 program volunteers and service providers received this training. Sewing Program: In November of 2004, SCDOC started a sewing program. This program hosts volunteers from a local sewing guild who teach inmates how to sew. In 2004, 13 inmates were enrolled in this program and helped to produce several quilts for donation and have produced numerous hats, head warmers, and infant buntings for the St. Charles Children’s Home and New Hampshire Newborns in Need Foundation. Crochet Program: Inmates crocheted and donated more than 20 afghans in 2004. Recipients included local churches, hospitals, and the Chase Home for Girls.
In August of 2004, the Jail Industry Program moved from the sally port area of the old jail facility into the modular building that had previously housed the female inmate population. Through all of the moves, including our initial move from our original jail industry building, Precision Assembly, one of our small private sector partners, continued to maintain our business partnership. We are very grateful for that. Two to three inmates are employed daily for Precision Assembly. In the fall of 2004, Strafford County Jail Industry partnered with another private sector business, Trelleborg Industries. As a result of those efforts we have been able to employ in-house 12 to 15 inmates for the contract with this new company. Our Laundry operations were curtailed in August when all inmates were moved into the new jail facility, but will be resumed in the newly renovated Jail Industry space in 2005. The laundry department will then expand its operations with the additional laundry services provided to Riverside Rest Home. The Jail Industry employed 57 different inmates in 2004. Some post-release services were provided to the Jail Industry workers as needed. The inmate work hours totaled 3,963. The gross revenues earned by the Jail Industry Program totaled $45,689. The Family Reception Center celebrated its third anniversary in the spring of 2004. The Center continues to operate through grants and volunteers who give of their time to help staff it. Though space is limited, the Center continues to provide a warm and friendly space where families and friends may come before or after visits to receive support, snacks, and relevant materials to lessen the stress of a loved one being incarcerated. A monthly support group is also offered. A grant of $1,000.00 was received from the Bishop’s Charitable Assistance Fund in the late fall for the Family Reception Center. These funds will ensure that our Center’s efforts will continue in 2005. The Grant monies will be used to provide refreshments for the Center, as well as to assist us with our special family events conducted quarterly. I have a wonderful group of volunteers who are also very generous. The quarterly events include: Easter Baskets for the children, a summer barbeque for visiting families, a Fall Halloween party, and a Christmas celebration that includes children’s presents, a visit from Santa, with free family pictures taken with Santa that are delivered to the incarcerated loved ones.
The year of 2004 was the first full year of operations for Strafford County Community Corrections. Two hundred and seventy four (274) participants were serviced during this year, for an increase of 115% over the 9 months of operation last year. Each day a participant is supervised on Community Corrections is counted as one “inmate day;” this year we had 24, 917 inmate days. Using our 2004 approved budget, it costs roughly $11 per inmate day for supervision on Community Corrections, which contrasts with the $55 per day in costs for a jail bed, thus saving the County $1,096,348. Of the 274 participants, 26 were returned to jail, 18 for new charges and 8 for violating the program rules. Community Corrections consists of four programs: Pre-trial Bail Supervision, Administrative Home Confinement, the Step Down Release Program, and the Weekender/Community Work Program.
One change instituted this year was that the Superintendent now grants good time to those participating in home confinement programs. This enables us to use good time as another sanction to keep participant behavior consistent with out mandate of implementing court-ordered sanctions in the lease restrictive environment of consistent with public safety. This year we also started using the Global Positioning System (GPS) for tracking of selected participants. The GPS uses satellites to track a participant’s location every 60 seconds with a dot on a computer generated map. The Case Manager can call up where a person was and even reproduce where the offender went on a screen in court. This provides useful information, particularly in domestic violence cases. The Community Corrections staff continues to be involved in the criminal justice and law enforcement communities. Interacting with various officials helps us maintain rapport as well as keep up with changing ideas. We are involved in the Strafford County drug Court, Mental Health Council, Domestic Violence Project Advisory Board, Addiction Recovery Center, Strafford County Criminal Justice Council, Jail Spiritual Care Board, Jail Industry Advisory Board, Family Reception Advisory Board, and Special Olympics. Two of our staff attended Chemical Dependency Training in Vermont last year. We also have three correctional officers who completed their 40 hours of mandatory training for their officer certification. I would like to recognize the staff for their outstanding efforts to keep Strafford County Community Corrections a well respected and crucial part of the criminal justice community in this County. An increasing work load of 115% means they have met the demands of the system while keeping up the high standards that were emphasized when the program started: Implementing court ordered sanctions in the least restrictive environment consistent with public safety. All of these team members have performed well beyond the norm, considering how much we have expanded: Kelly Dumont is the Senior Case Manager, Jamie Dunn is our Intake Coordinator, Kevin Snyder is our Pre-trial Case Manager, Deputy Mark Riss is our enforcement officer, Dave Bedard is our Community Work Supervisor, and Pozey Thipphavong is our Administrative Assistant. In closing, I want to thank the Strafford County Board of Commissioners for their unfailing support of this agency, and Ray Bower, County Administrator, for his enthusiastic guidance throughout these changing times.
We currently have worked for 14 different clients for a total of 2,575 man-hours of service. The projects have ranged from roadside clean up, raking, and painting, to delivering meals to the elderly for the Meals on Wheels program. We have developed a relationship with the following organizations: Dover Facilities and Grounds, Dover Housing Authority, Farmington Highway Department, Farmington Boys & Girls Club, Rochester Opera House, Somersworth Housing Authority, and Habitat for Humanity. These are solid relationships that have provided the bulk of our work. We have taken the liberty of advertising the program on the United Way Website, and have received a favorable response from that. Recently, we have taken on the responsibility of adopting Garrison Hill Park in Dover through the “Adopt a Spot” program. When spring arrives in 2005, we anticipate the workload will have increased enough to justify adding a second staff member. There have been a total of 66 participants in the program. The majority of sentences come from Rochester District Court. The bulk of the labor continues to be supplied by inmate labor. Participation can be broken down in the following categories:
Of the above inmates I have broken them into categories by gender as follows:
10 participants have successfully completed the program. 2 have failed due to being incarcerated on new charges before completing. 4 have not reported to sign up as ordered by the Court. 7 are actively participating in the program. In all cases the courts have been notified of all successes and failures. I have estimated the labor cost at $9.00 per hour, as this seems to be an average estimate. Cost savings to the various organizations are as follows:
These costs are estimates; however they should represent a fairly accurate cost savings to the communities. Feel free to contact me if there are any questions or items that need clarification.
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