WERDCC and NECC participated in the Vandalia Fire Department’s Angel Tree Charitable Event. P&P Staff from NECC and WERDCC helped wrap the 560 presents that were received. Vandalia Fire Department shared the following with the Warden at WERDCC.  

“On behalf of the Vandalia Fire Department and the Angel Tree, we would like to thank everyone who adopted angels, purchased toys and clothing and gave financially to make this year a success. A special thank you to those who contributed their time and assisted with organizing this event. With your help, Christmas gifts were provided to over 80 children in the Van-Far School District. We are humbled by the generosity of the local community as well as the staff at WERDCC. A huge shout out to WERDCC and NECC Probation and Parole Departments for coming together and wrapping over 560 presents! It was truly a team effort and could not have been accomplished without you. May your holidays be filled with peace & joy knowing you have brightened the life of a child.”

The Annual Employee Recognition Event was held on December 20, 2019 at TCSTL and was a huge success. They recognized some amazing staff members whom have dedicated their time and service to the Department of Corrections. Staff were honored with a catered brunch, prestigious plaques, pins and gifts from the Personnel Club. Lisa Schulze, Deputy Director for Eastern Zone, came to  support of the honorees and thank them for their hard work and dedication. Congratulations to all!

Interstate PPO Bonnie Hamburg (pictured in the gray pullover) was chosen as the P&P Central Office Employee of the 3rd Quarter, 2019. Bonnie is pictured with PPO Shelby Hunsaker and PPO Trevor Harrison (who received their award earlier), Director Julie Kempker and Unit Supervisor Ryan Halbert.

Director Kempker wrote to Bonnie, " I want to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for the excellent work you have done in the Interstate Compact Unit. On May 22, 2019, a tornado hit Jefferson City causing significant damage to many buildings in town and restricting travel. As a result, Governor Parson closed state offices in Cole County on May 23rd and 24th, which included the Probation and Parole Interstate Compact Unit. After Memorial Day, staff returned to work on May 28th with a significant workload to catch up with due to the remainder of the state and country working two days the office was closed. This was compounded for the Probation and Parole Officers in the Interstate Compact Unit due to other circumstances that had staffing reduced to 50% at the end of May and the first couple weeks of June.

You have shown exceptional teamwork and dedication during this time to ensure all tasks were completed in a timely manner and Missouri remained compliant with Interstate Compact rules and time frames. While you were given general caseload assignments to cover, you took it upon yourself and decided which of them would complete tasks that were missed and not specifically assigned by the supervisor. You worked overtime to ensure our office was able to get the work in and out as required. Without this level of teamwork, professionalism and dedication, the office would have struggled to keep up. This would not only have impacted Missouri's compliance with the Interstate Compact, but also affected the lives of those offenders whose paperwork would have been submitted late.Please accept our appreciation for the contributions you have made to this organization. We are proud to have you as a member of the Central Office team and wish you much continued success."  Congratulations Bonnie!

On August 22, 2019, PPO Andrew Testerman and Unit Supervisor Nate Arnold were alerted by other staff members that a woman had driven her vehicle onto District 24-Independence property and was causing damage to parked cars. When they went outside the car was observed to be in the grass between the parking lot and the adjacent creek. The creek sits approximately 20 feet below ground level. The driver, a unknown female, was attempting to move her vehicle off the grass and onto the parking lot, however the steep incline and parked cars were preventing her from moving. She was ordered by other staff members to turn her vehicle off and wait for assistance, however she refused. At one point she intentionally rammed her vehicle into a parked car. The vehicle then slid down the embankment into the creek. Law enforcement had been called and arrived shortly after the car went into the creek. At this point Andrew and Nate went down the embankment and could hear a baby screaming from inside the vehicle. Law enforcement quickly was able to remove the female driver and took her up to the parking lot. Andrew and Nate began to assess the situation. They discovered a child (approximately 4 years old) was screaming for help that was strapped into a car seat in the backseat of the vehicle. There were also two dogs inside of the vehicle. Nate went around to the other side of the vehicle and unbuckled the child’s seatbelt and removed her from the car. Andrew then helped one of the dogs out of the car as it was too scared to come out on its own. Both the child and dog were carried up to the parking lot and was kept watch until the woman's husband arrived. Due to the actions by Andrew and Nate both the child and the dogs were removed from the situation without injury and were safe. Both are pictured with Regional Administrator Kim Hubbard-Stewart. Congratulations Andrew and Nate!

Jani Holt, PPO II at WMCC, was chosen as the North Central Region Employee of the Month for January 2019.

In July 2019, the merger between CRCC and WMCC was completed. This created new caseload challenges due to a new maximum offender population the WMCC Parole Office was not accustomed to, along with safety concerns. In addition, the Role of the IPO was still being developed along with the Case Management Plan. The Role of the IPO was moving from report writing, to one on one offender interaction with meaningful conversations to create effective case management planning for clients during their incarceration, and successful re-entry back into the community. In order to foster effective case management and meaningful conversations with clients during their incarceration, the WMCC P&P Office began discussing having "Open Door" with maximum security offenders. 

Jani volunteered to conduct a regular Open Door pilot for A-Side maximum security offenders in addition to still learning her job, other duties, and preparing for changes happening with IPO’s. The pilot lasted sixty days from September, 2019 to November, 2019. The pilot she conducted was a success, which resulted in having regular Open Door for maximum security offenders, further facilitating case planning, addressing the needs of incarcerated offenders, and assisting with re-entry back to the community. Jani has shown herself to be a team player. She takes on additional tasks, is highly motivated, and is well respected by staff along with offenders throughout WMCC. Her experience, knowledge, and skill-set often crosses divisional lines. She is a great asset to the Department of Corrections and the WMCC Institutional Parole Office. Jani is pictured with WMCC Deputy Warden Chris Brewer. Congratulations Jani!

Over the last year, District 22-Cape Girardeau has worked closely with Gilster-Mary Lee (GML), one of the Midwest’s largest food product manufacturers, to get more clients employed. Gilster has been around over 100 years and produces over 8,000 different products in nearly 500 private labels brands. The company has about 3,000 employees at its 14 manufacturing facilities in four states. Several of those are located in Perryville, Missouri (Perry County), and just across the Mississippi River in Illinois. Gilster-Mary Lee is very offender-friendly and is eager to give a second chance to clients looking for a stable job with benefits. The company contracts with a number of transportation vendors to transport employees from surrounding towns, charging employees a flat rate per week which may be paid via payroll deduction. This has greatly reduced transportation and financial barriers for our clients. During 2019, District 22 began hosting direct-hiring events with GML at the Cape Girardeau district office and Perry County sub-office. Currently approximately 77 clients from District 22 are employed, making it the district’s largest client employer. At January’s hiring event at the district office, another nine clients were hired after being interviewed and passing a drug screening (of 19 who applied that day). We are thanks for community partner such as Gilster-Mary Lee for helping us Improve Lives for Safer Communities.

How do we handle Specialized caseloads (Specialty Courts, DV, Sex Offender) who score low risk overall on the ORAS?

Low Risk on the ORAS, you will NOT do a reassessment yearly.  Policy dictates reassessment with a significant event or new felony conviction, so we will be catching any issues that occur while on supervision.  You will continue to case plan relative to any Domains that may have been high or moderate.  Absent any high or moderate Domains you will concentrate your efforts with case planning on those offender specific issues surrounding their offense.  With the idea that if they complete certain objectives in Domains scoring high or moderate it may eventually impact two or more Domains by at least one level (on the positive) which would lead to reassessment by policy. 

CST 1.3 Scoring: Prior Sentence as an Adult to a Jail or Secure Correctional Facility:

CSC, RF, TCSTL do not count for scoring on this item. Although these facilities are considered somewhat “secure” the offender is not sentenced to these facilities. The manual states “sentenced to” in order to count.   

The Case Management Folder on the K Drive is a great resource to learn more about administering the ORAS, and developing a case plan.

Catherine White will be cruising into retirement after 26 years of service. Catherine began her career in December 1993 at District 7 Central. Catherine was said to show potential early on, quickly learning the job and exceeding expectations. As an Officer, she supervised a primary caseload, then ISP. She also served as a Boot camp Liaison, Drug and Alcohol Liaison, REACT Coordinator, Volunteer/Intern Liaison and a member of the Regional Audit Team. She conducted training in the areas of TCUD, Positive Solutions for Youthful Offenders, Behavior Modification and Drug Education. In December of 2003, she was promoted to the position of Unit Supervisor, due in part to her diplomacy, willingness to take on new tasks and challenges. She was described as and continued to be a team player, willing to go the extra mile to assists offenders, her staff, peers and management. In December 2005, she transferred to District 8 East, wherein she continued to display her loyalty, her leadership, dependability and commitment to the mission and vision of the agency. Her greatest contribution has been her operating knowledge of policy and procedure. She has earned the respect of her staff and peers and has been an asset. Her presence will be missed. Good Luck Catherine, as your cruise to the Caribbean and to another chapter of your life, and congratulations!