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266 County Farm Road Dover, New Hampshire 03820 (603) 742-3310 |
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Update for September, 2008
It appears this website is quite active considering we are getting over 400 visits per month. If there is anything you would like to see on this site, please email us at Straffordjail@co.strafford.nh.us and we’ll see what can be done to accommodate reasonable requests. Since I last reported in January a lot has happened: Tours of the jail – Honorable Judge K. Brown from Strafford Superior Court, Carroll County Superior Court Clerk, McIntosh College - 5 students, Diversion tour - 4 kids at risk, St. Thomas - 18 students, Leadership Seacoast - 27 adults, Grafton County officials, Rochester District Court Clerk & Assistant, Farmington Police Dept. Citizen’s Academy – 10 adults, Dover Youth to Youth 7 kids, Dover H.S. 14 kids at risk, Dover H.S. Civics & Civil Law 25 students, Spaulding H.S. 26 students, UNH 27 Students w/ two mock arrests, 2 Diversions - children at risk by parents request, Milton PD 20 kids Health class, Portsmouth H.S. 40 students, ORHS 160 students, Strafford County Attorney’s office staff (8), Strafford County jury tour for a Superior Court trial, and NHDOC staff (3). Programs taught over 20 new volunteers in classes on security demands of the jail. New hires included Chaplain Robert Ervin, 8 new officers, and a Programs Assistant. We had our annual Facility Recognition Awards Banquet this year with 24 staff being recognized for various good deeds and performance. Recipients are listed on the 2007 departmental annual report. Our physical fitness test was given for all staff who volunteered (15) with many staff awarded the up to 3 days off with pay for completing all 7 tests. Consultant David Bennett visited for his quarterly Criminal Justice Council meetings with jail staff, A DEA agent visited to instruct a class on illicit drugs, 75th County Corrections Academy graduated 6 – Officers R.Hayden, E. Britton, S. Campbell, M. Clancy, J. Wheeler, and J. Brisport. Field Training Officers M. Landry and A. Rivera attended a NHDOC FTO training which now means all our FTOs have had this training. Mock riot training in W. Virginia was attended by officers D. Meehan, B. Chapple, B. Stice, R. Pomeroy and Cpl. J. Fisher. Marilyn Allen attended an American Jail Association Conference in Sacramento California. Isabel Padial and Marilyn Allen attended the Albuquerque NM National Correctional Industries Association conference with Marilyn participating as a presenter. Captain J. Topham and Lt. B. Pelkie attended the Northeast Technology Product Assessment Committee in MA, sponsored by the Bureau of Justice. The Strafford County Family Reception Center sponsored an art contest online where website visitors could vote for their favorite inmate artist work which was posted on our website. So far this year 22 inmates have graduated with their G.E.D. certificates. Assist. Supt. S. Bird For more information about what happened during the above time frames, see our annual reports which detail out general information. Suffice it to say we have grown and the building design has proved itself very well in helping us manage a population which has grown from 143 when we move in on August 9, 2004 to over 400 regularly now. Assist. Supt. S. Bird 297 inmates were booked in May of 2005 as compared to 137 for April 2004. Head count on April 30th was 236 inmates , 186 on May 30, 2004. Community Corrections: For the Month of May we had a total of 85 in the program at month’s end, 18 new inmates with 14 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2576 for an increase of 9 % from April. Thirty one assessments were done on prospective clients. The Community Work Program performed 2573 hours of work in May. Inmate Programs Update: April – May 2005 Programs are in full swing for 2005! To date we have tested more than 23 for the GED and already have 19 graduates! A large graduation ceremony is in the works for this coming June. We have several new volunteers and interns scheduled for our next training class. Several new programs have also been proposed such as Pet Therapy and Yoga as well as a spiritual reflection group led by the Dover Society of Friends (also known as the Quakers.) One of our spiritual volunteers, Reverend McKnight has increase his hours here at the facility. He is now coming in three days a week to fill in for Chaplain visits! Reverend McKnight’s chaplain sessions have been very well received, we are happy to have him working closely with the jail programs. Our library has had several recent large donations of books- this has kept our library workers busy! Many thanks to the local libraries and Annie’s Book Stop for these great reads for the inmates! See you next month! Vicki & Jake, Inmate Programs SCDOC 295 inmates were booked in April 2005. Head count on April 30th was 236 inmates. Assistant Superintendent Sid Bird and Industry Director Marilyn Allen attended a three day conference in Minnesota for the National Association of Correctional Industries,. Marilyn presented a workshop on the Family Reception Center. A meeting was held this month to plan for installing the video courtroom electronics. This system will also enable us to use the system for video conferencing. Odyssey House from Hampton toured the jail and inmate speakers presented to the group. Community Corrections: For the month of April we had a total of 79 in the program at month’s end, 21 new participants with 18 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2354, for an increase of 3 % from March. Thirty nine assessments were done on prospective clients. The Community Work Program performed 1893 hours of work in March. Programs: Inmate Programs Update: April – May 2005 Programs are in full swing for 2005! To date we have tested more than 23 for the GED and already have 19 graduates! A large graduation ceremony is in the works for this coming June. We have several new volunteers and interns scheduled for our next training class. Several new programs have also been proposed such as Pet Therapy and Yoga as well as a spiritual reflection group led by the Dover Society of Friends (also known as the Quakers.) One of our spiritual volunteers, Reverend McKnight has increase his hours here at the facility. He is now coming in three days a week to fill in for Chaplain visits! Reverend McKnight’s chaplain sessions have been very well received, we are happy to have him working closely with the jail programs. Our library has had several recent large donations of books- this has kept our library workers busy! Many thanks to the local libraries and Annie’s Book Stop for these great reads for the inmates! See you next month! Vicki & Jake, Inmate Programs SCDOC Welcome to new officers - David Meehan, and John Teves who were hired this month! 206 inmates were booked in March 2005 as compared to 177 for March 2004. Head count on March 31st was 239 inmates, 179 on March 31, 2004. This month our old jail renovation was close enough to completion that we were able to move our industries program into the new space specifically designed for industry. Although not fully functional, we are working sentenced inmates there every business day. We were also visited by officials from the National Correctional Industries Association and passed our recertification inspection for the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Officer Aaron Dodge is welcomed back after his tour of overseas for the U.S. Army. He was gone for more than a year serving our country and, thankfully, came back safely. Community Corrections: For the Month of March we had a total of 76 in the program at month’s end, 19 new inmates with 18 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2348, for an increase of 7 % from February. Thirty assessments were done on prospective clients. The Community Work Program performed 1700 hours of work in March. We received a vehicle from the Sheriff’s Department this month for Case Manager Kevin Snyder. Programs: The program department would like to congratulate our recent GED graduates! We had a ceremony for 6 recent graduates, Superintendent Dowaliby was the keynote speaker and Assistant Superintendents Rollins and Bird were in attendance to present the diplomas. Jim Verscheren from Dover Adult Learning also spoke to the graduates. All programs continue to be well attended. In many areas we are adding extra classes to insure that students have a low student to instructor ratio. We had several schools and civic groups tour the jail this month. Officer Heyl interviewed and set up an excellent panel of inmate volunteers who spoke to these groups about the realities of being incarcerated. Our sewing program has taken on some new projects including making dolls for children who are in cancer treatment centers. This program always has great projects to benefit those in need! Treatment programs have been in great demand as Strafford County has started some of the Drug Court program. We have been busy with interviews and interventions for the ARC program as well as other treatment center assistance! See you next month! Vicki & Jake, Inmate Programs SCDOC  Jail Industry entrance, looking from the new jail into the renovated old jail - Mar 05 195 inmates were booked in February 2005 as compared to 153 for February 2004. Head count on February 28th was 254 inmates. Our criminal justice consultant David Bennett visited this month and met with community corrections, classification and programs. As a result of his efforts in other meetings, all county inmates sentenced from Superior court will now be eligible for work release unless otherwise indicated in the sentencing order. This eliminates the need for deserving inmates to reappear before the court to apply for work release – they can work directly with the Department of Corrections to progress to this classification. Jail Industries signed a renewal of our contract with Trelleborg. This guarantees the relationship to continue into the renovated old jail which will provide three times the space now used for a working area. A McIntosh College criminal justice class toured the jail, with inmate speakers talking about their view of the criminal justice system. Community Corrections: For the Month of February we had a total of 75 in the program at month’s end, 10 new inmates with 10 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2192, for a decrease of 8% from February. Forty five assessments were done on prospective clients. The Community Work Program performed 1618 hours of work in January. Programs: The program department would like to congratulate our recent GED graduates! We had a ceremony for 6 recent graduates, Superintendent Dowaliby was the keynote speaker and Assistant Superintendents Rollins and Bird were in attendance to present the diplomas. Jim Verscheren from Dover Adult Learning also spoke to the graduates. All programs continue to be well attended. In many areas we are adding extra classes to insure that students have a low student to instructor ratio. We had several schools and civic groups tour the jail this month. Officer Heyl interviewed and set up an excellent panel of inmate volunteers who spoke to these groups about the realities of being incarcerated. Our sewing program has taken on some new projects including making dolls for children who are in cancer treatment centers. This program always has great projects to benefit those in need! Treatment programs have been in great demand as Strafford County has started some of the Drug Court program. We have been busy with interviews and interventions for the ARC program as well as other treatment center assistance! See you next month! Vicki & Jake, Inmate Programs SCDOC Welcome to new officers Jason Dodge, Brent Chapple and Michael Wescott who were hired this month! 189 inmates were booked in January 2005 as compared to 154 for January 2004. Head count on January 31st was 260 inmates. New delegation members toured the new jail with Ray Bower this month. Farmington High School, Dover High School, Leadership Seacoast also toured this month with inmate speakers volunteering to interact with the visitors. The renovation of the old jail continues on with the Industries section coming closer to completion. Electrical drops and door controls are being worked on. Washers and Dryers have been installed to be used for Industries to do laundry for Riverside Rest Home and the jail. The Alms house dormitory is being cleaned and painted by the Community Work Program in preparation for renovations for the area to house work release inmates. Design of the activity areas are being developed so this section will be a self-contained direct supervision unit. See picture. Community Corrections: For the Month of January we had a total of 76 in the program at month’s end, 17 new inmates with 20 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2394, for an increase of 3 % from December of 2004 (59% from January 04). 45 assessments were done on prospective clients. The Community Work Program performed 1669 hours of work in January. Programs Report: 2005 looks to be a promising year for programs at SCDOC. The program department conducted a volunteer training and orientation. 17 new program staff and volunteers were trained. In attendance at the training were 2 new educational volunteers. They will assist with helping inmates work toward their GED’s. The sewing guild also had 3 new volunteers trained for the sewing program. This program has produced numerous items for donation to worthy causes. The program department held the first GED graduation in the new jail! 7 graduates received their GED diploma at a ceremony that included Superintendent Warren Dowaliby and Jim Verscheruen, Director of Dover Adult Learning Center as the keynote speakers. Assistant Superintendents Della Rollins and Sid Bird presented diplomas. The inmates had a reception with soda and pastries as well as a chance to receive congratulations from their teachers and counselors as well as from other Department of Corrections Officers and staff. See you next month! Vicki & Jake, Inmate Programs SCDOC  Alms House dormitory in the process of renovation for work release inmates 205 inmates were booked in December 2004 as compared to 147 for December 2003. Head count on December 31st was 241 inmates. Our next expansion project – the old jail renovation – is on schedule. The entire old jail is being altered to expand our Jail Industry operations. The old central control, booking and nurses station are being painted and finishing touches are being applied. Jail Industry is expecting to sign another private contract which will help expand operations into the new old jail. A new staff member is to be hired so training can be accomplished before the move. Another renovation is underway in the old “Annex” portion of the Alms house next door. This used to be our minimum security dormitory and will be used to house work release inmates once opened - hopefully before the end of summer. Assistant Superintendent Sid Bird attended an Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve trip to Fort Benning, Georgia for three days. It was an amazing demonstration of how our troops receive the finest training possible to prepare them for combat. A lot of schools toured the jail this month – McIntosh College, Oyster River High School, St. Thomas High School and Spaulding High School. Although seeing the new jail is impressive – the best part of every tour is the question and answer period when volunteer inmates talk to the students about their personal feelings of being in jail. Community Corrections: For the Month of December we had a total of 78 in the program at month’s end, 24 new inmates with 16 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2330, for an increase of 11% from November. Forty assessments were done on prospective clients. Year 2004 monthly averages are: New: 19, Released: 17, Total on end of month: 69, Inmate days: 2061, Assessments: 37. Community Work Program performed 819.5 hours of work in December. The Work Program has recently joined the Adopt a Spot program in Dover and adopted Garrison Hill Park. Program Report: Nov – Dec. 2004 We had another volunteer training where 17 new volunteers received their training for the facility! Many of these new volunteers will be with the 12 STEP programs; others will be tutors and instructors for a prospective writing program. This Christmas our staff and volunteers put on a wonderful Holiday party for the inmate population. There was music, goodies and a visit from Santa! Program attendance continues to be very strong with many new inmates enrolled in education, drug and alcohol treatment and mental health programs. Chaplain Ralph has added another day to his schedule and he is already booked! The sewing program has donated a large amount of hats and mittens sewn by the inmates to the St. Charles Children’s Home in Rochester. Program volunteers have found us donations of materials and new sewing machines! Our library services have received some great donations from the Dover and Somersworth Libraries and from Annie’s Bookstop. We have received many new paperbacks for our library. We appreciate the support! In all 2004 was a great year with a move to the new jail and many new and exciting programs. It is our hope that 2005 brings even more opportunity and quality programming for the Strafford County DOC. See you next month! Vicki & Jake, Inmate Programs SCDOC  Previous 'maximum security' dayroom being converted to inmate worker lunch room for Jail Industry Congratulations to the graduates of COT #65 – Officers R. Blanchard, T. Chase, A. Founier and A. McKnight all received certification at their graduation and banquet on November 12, 2004. 184 inmates were booked in November 2004 as compared to 181 for November 2003. Head count on November 30th was 232 inmates. Strafford County’s annual employee appreciation banquet was held on November 19th at the Cat ‘N’ Fiddle restaurant in Dover – many staff members enjoyed the food, raffles, and door prizes. DOC employees present to receive pins were Robin Pomeroy (3 years) and Sandy Miller (20 years). Community Corrections: For the Month of November we had a total of 70 in the program, 13 new inmates with 14 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2096, for a decrease of 2.2 % from October. Twenty five assessments were done on prospective clients. Community Work Program performed 1,031 hours of work. Consultant David Bennett visited this month and met with the Community Corrections team to discuss flow of information and procedures. A meeting was held at the Public Defender’s office about the Community Work program which introduced the program to the attorneys and several district court judges. Community Corrections received training from Behavioral Interventions on the new GPS system so we can start monitoring offenders with global positioning satellites. Kelly Dumont and Kevin Snyder attended an electronic monitoring support meeting hosted by Sullivan county this month. The meeting was held to meet and greet county EM providers and swap information about how NH counties can network to improve services. On November 22, Superior Court Judge Bruce Mohl announced that five inmates were placed on the new Drug Court program. The Community Corrections Work Program will be part of sanctions used for these offenders. Program Report: Nov - Dec. 2004 We had another volunteer training where 17 new volunteers received their training for the facility! Many of these new volunteers will be with the 12 STEP programs; others will be tutors and instructors for a prospective writing program. This Christmas our staff and volunteers put on a wonderful Holiday party for the inmate population. There was music, goodies and a visit from Santa! Program attendance continues to be very strong with many new inmates enrolled in education, drug and alcohol treatment and mental health programs. Chaplain Ralph has added another day to his schedule and he is already booked! The sewing program has donated a large amount of hats and mittens sewn by the inmates to the St. Charles Children’s Home in Rochester. Program volunteers have found us donations of materials and new sewing machines! Our library services have received some great donations from the Dover and Somersworth Libraries and from Annie’s Bookstop. We have received many new paperbacks for our library. We appreciate the support! In all 2004 was a great year with a move to the new jail and many new and exciting programs. It is our hope that 2005 brings even more opportunity and quality programming for the Strafford County DOC. See you next month! Vicki & Jake, Inmate Programs SCDOC Update - October 2004 Welcome to new officers Christopher Dame, Mark Warren and Rhondalee McMahan who were all hired this month! Congratulations to Officer Dave Bedard who was promoted to Community Work Supervisor! 324 inmates were booked in October 2004 as compared to 189 for October 2003. Subtracting the 101 US Marshall inmates booked for an overnight on October 14th gives 223 for an increase of 18%. Head count on October 31 was 216 inmates. This year at the NH Association of Counties annual convention Officer Dave Bedard was awarded the Employee of the Year award for his transition work. The annual Strafford County award ceremony for volunteers was held this month at the Riverside Rest Home. The following got recognition for their efforts in helping at the jail: Chuck McDonald – 1 year, Fred Guldbrandsen – 2 years, Ralph Flodin, 11 years, Rufus Hartford – 19 years, Minnett Induisi – 22 years. Community Corrections: For the Month of October we had a total of 71 in the program, 16 new inmates with 15 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2144, for an increase of 2.2% from September. Thirty seven assessments were done on prospective clients. This month a new alternative sentencing program started! Officer Dave Bedard takes defendants who would have otherwise been sentenced to weekends in jail into the community to do work. They are not inmates but have a suspended sentence hanging over their heads. This month he used mostly inmates for the crews and performed 755 man hours of work. Eventually the crews will be persons sent to him by the courts; he had three sentenced to the program at month’s end. October Program Report: The program department has now added 2 new programs to the facility! In October we started an English for Speakers of other Languages class. We currently have 10 students who are learning to speak English in this class. This class will be very beneficial to everyone involved. The women’s sewing guild has also started a sewing program for female inmates. Female inmates will learn sewing techniques and will complete projects to benefit charity. They will be making buntings for the NH Newborns in Need Program as well as hats and gloves for the local homeless shelters. All programs have been well attended and we have also have several more GED graduates! Programs will be offering another training for volunteers on Dec. 04. See you next month! Vicki & Jake, Inmate Programs SCDOC Update - September 2004 Welcome to officer Troy Chabot who was hired this month! 243 Inmates were booked in September 2004 as compared to 185 for September 2003 for an increase of 31%. Head count on September 30 was 213 inmates. This month our classification officers attended a 3 hour video conference on classifying high risk offenders. Consultant Dennis Liebert visited for a follow-up assessment of how the new jail is being run. Officer Brunson and Assistant Superintendent Bird recruited at the September 15th McIntosh College job fair. Vicki Heyl and Jake Collins conducted a 4 hour training class for volunteers who missed the new jail training. A defensive tactics class was conducted by Community Corrections Deputy Mark Riss at the new jail training room. Community Corrections: For the Month of September we had a total of 70 in the program, 16 new inmates with 19 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2098, for a decrease of 2.6% from August. Thirty seven assessments were done on prospective clients. September Program Report: September was a productive month in the program department. Enrollment in all programs has increased, and the interview process is working quite well. Each inmate at SCDOC is interviewed by program staff and a personalized schedule of programs is developed. We have had to attend extra education and drug and alcohol counseling classes to meet the demands. We have also now started our computer classes and have started English as a Second Language classes. We had 4 inmates test for the GED in September. 3 of the 4 passed the exam, the 4 only needs to retake one of the tests. Great Job! See you next month! Vicki & Jake, Inmate Programs SCDOC Update - August 2004 Welcome to new employee Andrew Bromfield who started this month. WE MOVED THIS MONTH!! During the week of August 2-6 a lot of activity was taking place in getting the new jail ready. The old jail had to be emptied within four days of moving so everything that could be moved ahead of time was taken out. Several inmates worked every day as a crew and were depended on to move the big furniture, supplies and equipment. On August 9th we moved 143 inmates to the new jail with the help of several agencies including Strafford County Sheriff’s Department, Carroll County Department of Corrections, Barrington Police Department canine unit, New Durham Police department canine unit, and Strafford County Community Corrections. The 3 hour move went smooth and had no problems. The rest of the month saw an increase of inmates as the U.S. Marshall’s started transferring more inmates to us. As of August 31st we had 192 inmates. Transition Team: Training was conducted for all staff to get ready to move inmates. Emergency drills, several shakedowns of the building and testing of the security system were done. Transition Team is now disbanded, to be brought back on occasions to discuss how things are progressing and what changes need to be made. Community Corrections: For the Month of August we had a total of 73 in the program, 26 new inmates with 17 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2154, for a decrease of 4.5% from July. Thirty assessments were done on prospective clients. Programs: Programs are now open for business in the new jail! We are starting our third week of programs in the new facility. Our program areas are quite an upgrade from the old jail! Classrooms are well lit, comfortable and clean. Jake and Vicki have interviewed over 175 inmates to date, giving each a schedule of their recommended programs. Program staff report that attendance in drug and alcohol and education is way up. In fact, we have needed to schedule additional sessions of drug and alcohol classes in some of the larger housing units because classes are too large. We have received funding to continue our job placement program and also have funding for new life skills classes. Counselor Minnett Induisi has also developed several modules to present to inmates targeting many problem behaviors in their lives. Programs continues close work with the ARC program and Community Corrections, identifying inmates who may be eligible for intermediate sanctions. See you next month! Vicki & Jake, Inmate Programs SCDOC Update - July 2004 Welcome to new employee Marianne Horne (Industries) who started this month. On July 16th we had our opening ceremony! Speakers were: the Honorable Justice Joseph P. Nadeau , George Maglaras, Chairman of the Strafford County Board of Commissioners and U.S. Marshall Steve Monier. That same night we had an overnight fundraiser for equipment for the jail’s employee work out area. Over 40 people stayed for the Casino night sponsored by Victim’s Inc. with entertainment supplied by Jukebox Gems. Excellent meals and snacks were provided by Dan Heon and his staff from the Riverside Rest Home. The festivities went on through the night with breakfast served to those who stayed all night. Transition Team:  Cpl. Gwen Weisgarber supervised the completion of the visiting area murals this month. Several inmates and two supervising artists were involved in painting the three murals which are part of an
effort to make the visitor area more user friendly, especially for
children. The themes are the four seasons, a seascape and a farm scene.
We hope these will help visitors, especially children, be more
comfortable in the institutional setting. This was done with a grant
from the NH State Council on the Arts( http://www.nh.gov/nharts/). Training was conducted for over 100 volunteers by Vicki and Jake. Building systems were tested this month as they came on line. Policies and procedures were finalized for printing. Tours were suspended because of testing fire systems. The jail was officially given to us on July 30th. Community Corrections: For the Month of July we had a total of 69 in the program, 14 new inmates with 18 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2257, for an increase of 2.5% from June. Forty two assessments were done on prospective clients.
Update - June 2004 Welcome to new officer James Bermingham who was hired this month! Officers Kevin Snyder, Jake Collins, and Thomas Moore ran in the Special Olympics torch run from New Durham to Farmington, raising money for the games. The NH Bar Association had their monthly committee meeting in our new facility on June 4th. Consultant David Bennett and Judge Bruce Mohl were the speakers highlighting the programs of Strafford County Department of Corrections. Training was conducted this month for all staff on sexual harassment and suicide recognition. Transition Team: Consultant Dennis Liebert taught a five hour class to all supervisors on managing in a direct supervision facility. Seven days of training were conducted on the new jail security system by Norment Security Systems, Inc. Community Corrections: For the Month of June we had a total of 71 in the program, 19 new inmates with 23 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2199, for a decrease of 3.4% from May. Thirty four assessments were done on prospective clients. Programs: The program department at SCDOC continues to work on scheduling and program development for the new facility. Although programs were well attended this month, our focus has been to prepare for training all volunteers and teachers on procedures for the new jail. Security issues and a volunteer handbook will be the emphasis of the training being offered to the more than 100 people who assist us to deliver excellent services to inmates. See you next month! Vicki & Jake Inmate Programs
Update - May 2004 Congratulations to the following officers who graduated from Correctional Officer Training class #64: Officers K.Boucher, C. Brackett, W. Britton, E. Haskell, J. Fisher and N. Richard. Superintendent Dowaliby, Assistant Superintendent Rollins and Officer Dave Bedard visited several facilities in Colorado to view their operations. Officer Bedard was particularly interested in the weekend work programs and how they are managed. Frontier Industries of Milton, NH started using inmates to help with their recycling service this month. For 4 days a week they pay overtime for an officer to supervise the 4 inmates needed. They also provide lunch for the officer and the inmates. The inmates sort plastic and break down other recyclables for processing. Transition Team: Weekly tours are given every Friday at 3pm by staff for the public - construction gear must be worn. Please call 740-8691 extension 20 for information. Lately, inspections have limited tours so please be sure to call ahead. Cpl. Gwen Weisgarber was successful in securing a grant from the NH State Council on the Arts to have local artists work with inmates to paint murals in our inmate public visiting areas. These murals will liven up the visiting areas, especially for children who will have a place to play nearby where parents are visiting. Community Corrections: For the Month of May we had a total of 75 in the program, 20 new inmates with 6 released. Days inmates served on the program were 2277, for an increase of 12.5%. Training about addiction was attended by Jamie Dunn and Kevin Snyder in Vermont which was provided by the NH State Department of Corrections. Programs Update: Hello from programs! This May we hosted our first GED graduation ceremony. We had eight inmates attend the ceremony. Dover Adult Learning provided caps and gowns for the ceremony. Superintendent Warren Dowaliby and Jim Verschueren, Director of Dover Adult Learning were the speakers. This was an exciting event! In the future we hope to continue this ceremony and perhaps expand it. By the way- One of our inmate students was ranked #4 in the top ten highest scores in Strafford County this year! Macintosh College has provided us with a work study student. Bryan is helping with administrative duties and will be doing some math tutoring with the inmates. See you next month! Vicki Heyl, Jake Collins Inmate Programs  Unit C - Male Maximum, May 04  General Population Cell Update - April 2004 Welcome to Officer Joseph Devine who was hired this month! The following staff members received recognition from the Board of County Commissioners for their efforts when an inmate slashed his throat and survived after receiving 250 stitches: Jeff McPherson, Bruce Pelkie, Gary Cormier, David Baggs, Sheri Moore, Jen Blaisdell, and Carl Elliott. Officer Kathleen Proverb was also recognized by the Commissioners for responding appropriately when she found an inmate who had succumbed to a drug overdose. Six officers started Correctional Officer Training Class # 64 on April 26th. They will be graduating next month. Transition Team: Training on classification was conducted by a representative of the National Institute of Corrections this month. Their technical advisor from Kentucky, Don Leach, spent two days here learning about our system and explaining the importance of how crucial an objective classification system is in managing inmates for direct supervision. Our consultant, Dennis Liebert visited this month to check on progress of construction and also meet with the Transition Team. On July 16, 2004, we are having opening ceremonies and making the new jail available for tours. That evening we begin the overnight fundraiser when people can spend the night to get the feel of what it’s like to be in jail overnight without the hassle of breaking a law. Please see our home page for information. Weekly tours are given every Friday at 3pm by staff for the public - construction gear must be worn. Please call 740-8691 extension 20 for information. Community Corrections: For the Month of April we had a total of 71 in the program, 13 new, 17 released, 2023 inmate days served. Consultant David Bennett met with the Community Corrections team to discuss program progress and statistics. Programs Update: April was a busy month for education at SCDOC. 5 students were tested for the GED exam and classes continue to have an increased number of students. Our two criminal justice interns Matt and John will finish their internship on May 6. We are going to miss them! Both Matt and John did a great job for us assisting many inmates with Adult Basic Education and helping out the program administration with various duties! Programs and Community Corrections staff attended 3 graduations at the ARC program this month, and have had 2 new candidates start the program. Our computer classes are in full swing. The first class of Office Skills- Computers and More completed the program at the end of April. Two more classes will be starting mid- May. The PEPP class continues to be popular with several placements into jobs this month! See you next month! Vicki Heyl, Jake Collins Inmate Programs Update - March 2004 Welcome to Officers Meggan Barbour, Jonathan Forcier, Joseph Irving, and Albert Small, who were hired this month! On March 1st our no-smoking campaign started. It will gradually reduce smoking materials available until we become smoke free by June 13, 2004. Records Director Sandy Miller and Officer Dave Bedard traveled to Carroll County to assist in training on their booking system this month. The following officers received letters of thanks from the Programs Department for their part in making the Labor Room a success: Jack Mitchell, Tina Hutchinson, Ed McGowan, Kirk DeRusha, Kathleen Proverb, Robin Pomeroy and David Baggs. This grant funded program helps inmates get jobs by officers transporting them to NH Works and to job interviews. Transition Team: The building is really taking shape now! Housing units in HP1 all have walls up and glass installed. The visiting areas are near completion. Weekly tours are given every Friday at 3pm by staff for the public - construction gear must be worn. Please call 740-8691 extension 20 for information. Clerk of the Works Paul Nason worked many hours renaming over 500 fire alarm panel notifications to be consistent with the department’s room numbering system. Each smoke, heat and water flow detector location had to be described in 25 characters or less. Community Corrections: Assistant Superintendent Bird has been given the responsibility of supervising the Community Corrections Program as of March 10, 2004. Community Corrections supervises inmates out of the jail both pretrial and sentenced. For the Month of March we had a total of 74 in the program, 30 new, 11 released, 1985 inmate days served. Programs Update: This March saw the expansion of the ARC program- We now have had a total of 11 individuals enrolled in this program! 5 have completed the program and have been released, 4 are still completing the program and 2 have failed the program. This is a very impressive start! We have also started computer training classes for the inmates! Elaine from Dover Adult Learning is teaching a computer and office skills class for the females. She will begin a class for the males shortly. Elaine brings an excellent working knowledge of and vast experience of office skills to the program. Education is right on track this year- So far we have given 7 GED exams- and we have had 6 of the 7 pass the test! The one who didn’t pass has been working on his math skills and will be taking the test again in April! We also have several more students getting ready for the April exam. See you next month! Vicki Heyl, Jake Collins Inmate Programs
Update - February 2004 Welcome to Officer Rudolph Blanchard who was hired this month! The following persons attended a video training seminar on Community Corrections held with help from UNH Cooperative Extension, sponsored by the National Institute of Corrections: Vicki Heyl, Natasha Richard, Chris Brunson, Kevin Snyder, Kirk DeRusha, James Dunn, Marilyn Allen, Sid Bird, Kelly Dumont and Jake Collins. Consultant Dave Bennett visited to show the Strafford County Criminal Justice Council the most recent jail statistics about inmate population trends. He met with jail and Community Corrections personnel to discuss the efficient processing of inmates to release programs, and the objectives of supervision in the community. Continuing his ongoing support for the Special Olympics, Officer Dave Bedard took a crew of inmates to help set up the Penguin Plunge area for their weekend fund raiser. Our own Ann Fournier took the plunge to raise over $1,000! Transition Team: Tours this month included UNH president Ann Weaver Hart with other University members and Strafford County Commissioners, and Plan NH Executive Director Mal Towne Merrill. The touch screen security system is being installed and some doors/intercoms are fully functional from the officer work station control panels. Floor tile is installed in one of the big units and the staff support area is painted, tiled and rugs are down. The staff locker rooms are finished. Programs Update: Hello from programs. February was a busy month in the program department. We have 3 new interns who are doing a great job helping us with the inmate programs and helping with streamlining our record keeping process. Matt and Jon from the Justice Studies program at UNH have been very busy with these projects. Carol, our new counseling intern, now has 3 counseling clients. Right now the program department at SCDOC is offering counseling to 23 inmates. Almost all of this counseling is done by volunteers and interns. The ARC (Addiction Recovery Center) substance abuse treatment program will have graduated 4 individuals as of March 9, 2004. Assistant Superintendent Rollins, Officers Heyl, Dunn and Collins have recently attended graduations of inmates who have completed this program. Program participants have shown a high degree of insight and positive behavior changes upon completing this program. The PEPP program continues to be well attended. PEPP officer Mitchell has been working on Wednesdays and Fridays at NH Works and with local employers. If an inmate needs a job for work release, chances are we can get him or her one! Coming in March: New computer classes for inmates! We’ll keep you posted. Vicki Heyl, Jake Collins - Inmate Programs
Update - January 2004 Welcome our new employee hired this month: Timothy Chase! Our hopes and best wishes go to Officer Aaron Dodge and his family since he was deployed to Iraq this month. Congratulations go to Linda Lee who was promoted to Lieutenant this month and Dan Baud who was promoted to Sergeant! Assistant Superintendent Sid Bird attended the first meeting of the Strafford County Mental Health Council. Transition Team: Consultant Dennis Liebert visited this month twice. We worked on the training manual and scheduling for the 21 day transition period. Assistant Superintendent Sid Bird and Sgt. Laura Noseworthy visited Rockingham County Department of Corrections to receive training on the new classification system which will be instituted. Merrimack County Transition Team visited us to tour and ask questions about transitioning to a new facility. Programs Update: The program department at SCDOC has started the exciting year of 2004! Program administration has been busy working on scheduling and program development for the new facility. Education was been very well attended and 4 GED exams were given in the month of January. We are still awaiting the results. 2003 was a record breaking year for GED graduates from our facility. This year we hope to set another record! So far we are off to a good start! Programs welcomes 3 new interns this semester: Matt and Jon are from the Justice Studies program at UNH. They are assisting with the drug and alcohol counseling program, education program and employment program. Both Matt and Jon have also been very helpful with various administrative support duties. We also have Carol from UNH's counseling program. Carol is working on her Master's degree in counseling and is seeing 3 inmates for individual counseling. The new Addiction Recovery Center program has had tremendous success- we have 2 recent graduates of the program- 3 more inmates are currently enrolled and we have 5 on the waiting list! As always, drug and alcohol counseling is well attended. The Spiritual Care Team reports that they hope to meet with all current religious program presenters and they also report that they have received applications for new religious programs. The PEPP program continues to be well attended, and we continue to place inmates into jobs on a regular basis. See you next month!
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