CORRECTIONS CONNECTION
December 2025
Did you know MDOC finds creative ways to support those in our supervision?
The Kent County Parole Office has developed a closet of winter gear that can be provided to those on parole in the county. Madison Phillips (second from right), who is a parole resource navigator, began the initiative this fall after seeing clients come in without cold weather clothing when the weather began to turn. She also remembered seeing clients coming in last winter with doubled up sweatshirts trying to stay warm.
With support from office leadership, she began outreach to her alma mater, GVSU, where the criminal justice and social work departments, along with the help of local churches, donated tons of coats, hats, gloves, scarves and more! She remembers her colleague’s excitement when she showed them the amount of clothing they had gathered for the first time. She said agents value the resource because it is another need met for their clients, reducing the possibility of the parolee committing a crime to obtain it.
Madison says it has been a great way to give back to the community. Recipients have been grateful and at times surprised by the support they receive – both from the coat closet and the broader parole office. She recognizes clothing, hygiene products, and transportation as the biggest needs people face during reentry.
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Coats and other winter gear available in the closet.
Did you know that every single MDOC staff member is fully trained in CPR?
Officer Terria Hilliard recently faced a medical emergency in the housing unit she supervises. For the first time in almost a decade on staff at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility she put her CPR skills to the test and saved a life.
Officer Hilliard didn't hesitate to spring into action. She is almost always stationed at that same housing unit, allowing her to develop a strong rapport with all the women there. It's because of that familiarity that she quickly realized something was wrong when she approached the cell of a woman housed in the unit who was experiencing a medical emergency.
Hilliard has a background as a CNA and, when combined with her MDOC emergency response training and dedication to keeping the facility safe, had the tools she needed to respond. Beginning chest compressions while calling for the proper health care staff and AED, she saved the woman's life.
Did you know the first *outdoor* game played by an NHL team took place at Marquette Branch Prison in 1954?
The Detroit Red Wings played the Marquette Prison Pirates on February 2, 1954. Red Wings General Manager Jack Adams and Team Captain Ted Lindsay visited MBP in the summer of 1953 while touring the Upper Peninsula. Warden Emery Jacques invited the Red Wings back to play against their team of prisoners — Adams agreed assuming the warden was joking.
Well, a few months later Warden Jacques called him back and the game was set up! On a perfect-for-skating 21-degree day, the prison's population watched as the Prison Pirates team took on Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Terry Sawchuk, Red Kelly, Alex Delvecchio, and the rest of the team.
Of course, the Red Wings were professional athletes, and at the end of the first period the score was Red Wings 18, Pirates 0. At the end of the game the Wings were presented with a trophy made from a steel bucket, and just two months later they went on to win another trophy — the Stanley Cup.
Did you know there is an MDOC office that partners with Michigan counties to offer creative diversion programs?
The Office of Community Corrections (OCC) was created by Public Act in 1988 and works to partner with local communities to provide otherwise prison-bound felons with appropriate supports and services to address their needs. In Monroe County, some of these programs include opioid addiction treatment, trauma therapy, pretrial services, and temporary residential rehabilitation. OCC Analyst Molly Maynard serves as the contact for the local county staff there.
Holly Flint (pictured in front of the courthouse with two of her providers) leads the work for Monroe County. She, along with the police department, sheriff, prosecutor, and her team of providers work with Molly and OCC to maximize the capacity of the programs and fill in gaps in available supports. She says Molly has developed strong communication with Monroe’s service providers, jail staff, and local probation staff.
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This year Molly (pictured in her office) helped lead an OCC project to create a more efficient, complete, and intuitive grant application for community corrections advisory boards across the state. She helped implement a grantmaking process, called Intelligrants, to exponentially decrease the time it takes counties to complete an application, without jeopardizing the integrity of the Community Corrections Act. Holly remarked at the efficiency, but also how effective this new software is in identifying program needs.
Molly’s work on the process, and her continued commitment to strengthening the trust and impact MDOC has with counties, ensures grants are funded for the largest community needs and most effective programing. Because of this, OCC can better support programs focused on changing behavior and meeting the needs of people under supervision. That lowers long-term costs and reduces the need for incarceration.
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Did you know there is a fully equipped lodge that officer recruits can stay at during their academy training?
That’s right, the Green Oaks Training Center in Whitmore Lake is not only where academy training is held for officer recruits, it's also where most of them stay for their eight weeks of intensive training — in the on-site lodge!
This state-of-the-art facility offers recruits comfortable bedrooms, bright common spaces, quiet study rooms, fully equipped fitness centers, accessible laundry, and outdoor space (for when the weather is a bit warmer).
The lodge has been a home base for many of the nearly 200 recruits who recently graduated from the academy, as it has been since it was completed in 2024.
Did you know Chippewa Correctional Facility recently had a special feline visitor?
An elusive U.P. bobcat! Staff reported the bobcat jumped out of the wire, ran around the perimeter, up a maple tree and hung out for an hour.
Then he jumped down and ran around the parking lot where staff, with the help of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, were finally able to corral him off grounds back to the snowy forest!
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