Collaborative Reentry Summit 2017: “Tools for Change”
By Jana Carr, MNSIRR
Project Analyst
October 4th, 2017 will be a day of learning, collaboration and
capacity building focusing on the use of Core Correctional Practices throughout
our criminal justice system. This 2017 Collaborative Reentry Summit will
feature local and national experts in criminal thinking, behavior modification
and the science of reducing recidivism.
By definition, from DOC policy 102.150, Core Correctional Practices
(CCP) is:
“A combination of practices that corrections staff can use to
more effectively interact with offenders and manage behavior. These practices
include anti-criminal modeling, effective reinforcement and disapproval,
problem-solving techniques, structured learning procedures for skill building,
effective use of authority, cognitive self-change, relationship practices and
motivational interviewing.”
The DOC has had an ongoing, contracted partnership with the University
of Cincinnati Corrections Institute (UCCI) to provide both train-the-trainer and
end-user training in Evidence-Based Practices (EBP), CCP training to DOC
staff, community, and corrections partners. Through on-going, two-day CCP training
sessions, over 300 attendees have already learned the core skills needed to
support cognitive behavioral programming. Specific topics included in these
trainings are principles of effective intervention, an overview of the core
correctional practices (relationships skills, effective use of reinforcement,
effective use of disapproval, effective use of authority, prosocial modeling,
cognitive restructuring, social skills training and problem solving skills),
and principles of an effective behavior management. One of the goals of MNSIRR
is to build a capacity for sustainability by training over 500 of Minnesota’s
corrections professionals and community partners in CCP as either end-users or
coaches by the time the end of 2017.
The Collaborative Reentry Summit 2017: “Tools
for Change” event is being held at the Eagan Community Center and is aimed at
people who have completed CCP training. This exciting opportunity will give CCP
trained professionals a chance to bolster knowledge and connect with others. If you
have not attended CCP Training, but are interested, please contact Bridget
Letnes at MNSIRR.DOC@state.mn.us
for further information.
Partners in Recidivism Reduction
By: Charles ‘Pete’
Sutter, MNSIRR Regional Coordinator, Charles.sutter@state.mn.us
Bridget Letnes
training RESOURCE staff in June, 2017
In the May of 2017, Boyd Brown, Vice President of Chemical and Mental
Health Services at RESOURCE, Inc. (RESOURCE), contacted the Department of
Correction’s Recidivism Reduction (MNSIRR) team with a plan. He wanted to train
his entire treatment staff in Core Correctional Practices (CCP).
For those of you who are unfamiliar with RESOURCE (soon to be Avivo),
they are one of the largest nonprofit social service providers in the state of
Minnesota. They provide employment, education, and chemical and mental health
services to nearly 20,000 participants each year. RESOURCE's mission is to
increase well-being through recovery, employment and career advancement.
Work began in earnest and on June 14th, 2017, the first batch of
RESOURCE staff were being trained by a MNSIRR led team at the New Brighton
Community Center. When asked about his experience collaborating with MNDOC,
Brown stated, “Working with the MNDOC has been extremely helpful. The MNSIRR
team has been very open to our needs and generous with their resources.”
For Brown, CCP is part of larger plan to engage in continuous quality
improvement and achieve better outcomes. “Choosing to integrate Core
Correctional Practices into our service model was an easy decision to make. We
work with the many of the same people and target similar risk and need
factors.”
Currently, RESOURCE is working with the MNSIRR
team to train the rest of their staff in CCP and has agreed to host the
University of Cincinnati at their Minneapolis facility in training CCP Coaches
at their Minneapolis Facility in the fall.
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“Choosing to integrate Core Correctional Practices into our service model was
an easy decision to make. We work with the many of the same people and target
similar risk and need factors” - Boyd Brown, Vice President Resource
Inc. Chemical and Mental Health Services
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MNSIRR: Reducing Barriers for Visitors
By Bridget Letnes, MNSIRR Project Supervisor, bridget.letnes@state.mn.us
While MNSIRR staff and work group members work
hard to connect the dots for a number of projects and build sustainability for
strategies designed to reduce recidivism, a new contract was launched in June
to address the perceived barriers that approved visitors face. Peace of Hope
and Emerge Community Development have partnered together to provide workshops
for persons interested in visiting loved ones while they’re incarcerated and
transportation to our correctional facilities.
Workshops, titled “Know Your DOC”, provides participants with
information on visiting policies, instructions and assistance with J-PAY
registration, and overviews about what their loved one may experience. As well
as programming they may have the opportunity to participate in while
incarcerated. The workshops are intended to better prepare visitors for
pro-social interactions and a positive experience while visiting their
incarcerated loved one. Workshops are currently held monthly in the metro area
and Peace of Hope is planning to hold future workshops statewide. Participants
in the workshops, who are approved to visit, will be offered video visit
credits.
Peace of Hope will be partnering with Emerge to provide transportation
for approved visitors as well. This will be a piloted opportunity for offenders
who are currently identified as high risk per the MNSTARR assessment. Case
Managers, upon talking with offenders they serve, can refer visitors to Peace
of Hope for transportation assistance. Transportation will be made available
via Emerge’s vans or other means, such as bus tickets or a taxi service. Other
staff are encouraged to work with offender’s case managers if they are aware
that visitors could use assistance getting to the facilities.
We know through recent DOC research that
in-person visits may have a positive impact on recidivism reduction. We hope
that this pilot prepares visitors better for their experiences with the DOC and
encourages more visitors to build or rebuild positive relationships with our
offenders.
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Core
Correctional Practices: Effective
Disapproval
By Chris Busche, former MNSIRR Regional Coordinator
This is a continuation of a
discussion that began last newsletter centered on CCP
The concept of Effective Disapproval ties into the prior discussion on
Effective Reinforcement. Where Effective Reinforcement seeks to increase a
particular behavior, Effective Disapproval aims to reduce undesirable behavior
through the use of punishment. Punishment is often a word loaded with negative
implications; however, in psychological terminology, it has a specific meaning.
Punishment is the operant conditioning process of reducing a target behavior
through either adding a stimulus of consequence (positive punishment) or
removing a desirable stimulus (negative punishment). For example, a
correctional client engaging in undesirable behavior may be given community
service hours (positive punishment) or have privileges such as phone time taken
away (negative punishment) in order to reduce the undesirable behavior. Alternatively,
the process of punishment may be thought of as sanctioning.
Staff working with
correctional clients engaging in the sanctioning process will have an impact on
the outcome of the sanctions. Effective Disapproval is a technique used to
reduce negative behaviors through appropriate application of punishment or
sanctions. Effective disapproval also helps to reduce the unintended
outcomes of sanctions, such as retaliation, emotional reactions, and
"nothing to lose" mentalities. The following steps outline the
process staff may use with correctional clients when using effective
disapproval:
- Immediately identify undesirable behavior.
- Inform the person of your disapproval of the
behavior.
- Provide the reason for why you disapprove of the
behavior.
- Discuss the potential consequences for the
behavior.
- Provide prosocial, desirable behavioral
alternatives to the undesirable behavior.
- If appropriate to the situation, tie a form of
punishment or sanction, whether positive or negative (in psychological
terminology), to the undesirable behavior.
Effective Disapproval is strengthened or hindered by the
quality of the professional relationship between staff and correctional clients. Relationships between staff and correctional
clients that are built on distrust and dislike will negatively impact the
process of effective disapproval. This
type of relationship is more likely to lead to ineffective disapproval
characterized by threats, ineffective taking of privileges, and further verbal/nonverbal
cues of disapproval. Conversely, professional, quality relationships (effective alliance)
between correctional clients and staff members increase the intended outcomes
of effective disapproval and sanctions while reducing the likelihood unintended
outcomes will occur.
Sources:
- Andrews,
D.A., Bonta, J. (2010). The Psychology of Criminal Conduct (5th
ed.). New Providence, NJ: Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.
- Latessa,
E. (2015). Core Correctional Practices Study Guide. University of Cincinnati
Corrections Institute.
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