Greetings, P&P Team! I hope the new year has been good to you so far. Since my appointment to succeed Julie Kempker as P&P Director, the outpouring of supportive responses has been overwhelming – in a very good way. I’m very proud of our team and the important work you do every day. Everyone in this agency contributes to succeeding in our mission, and that success impacts all of us and every Missourian for the better.  We have certainly not been idle the last several years. Nearly every major function of how we operate has been transformed completely or seen some level of change. With large scale change comes a transition for people doing the work – a challenging transition that often takes an extended period before high levels of comfort and confidence are again achieved about performing the work. The good news is these changes have put us in line with current evidence-based practices, and data indicates steady improvement in many of our outcomes. We will continue seeing forth new initiatives and exploring better ways of doing business, but I am intent to place a premium on stability for our immediate future. What we are doing is working, and there are times when staying the course can improve outcomes just as much as big changes can. Stability leads to better understanding, which then leads to higher confidence levels and proficiency in doing the job.  I believe we have entered a time where that needs to be a big focus. Thank you for choosing DOC/P&P and committing to this important public service. Please enjoy this newsletter and see all the wonderful things you and your colleagues have been up to.  Stay safe, support each other, and keep doing great things!

CarolLyree Price started with the department in 2008 at District 7C. As a PO, she supervised a variety of caseloads including IAP, Project Cope (a reentry housing program for individuals incarcerated for extended periods of time), an IAP gang caseload, and a female IAP caseload. In 2016 she transferred to District ERA where she was an out of district officer for St. Louis City and County. 

In 2018 she was promoted to Unit Supervisor at District EP, supervising the Eastern Region Female Residential Facilities. Currently, she is the Unit Supervisor of the Eastern Region Alt-Care program, and the Criminal Justice Ministries Primary Caseload. Additionally, she has served as a supervisor over primary, mental health, and ICOTS caseloads.

As a supervisor she has been very fortunate to participate in various committees and projects. CarolLyree has served as the local contract oversight for approximately $8,000,000 in DOC contracts and as a grant liaison for local re-entry grants. She has served on the statewide Supervisor Workforce Reduction Committee and the statewide Residential Facility Committee. She had the opportunity to work with OA, DMH, and the DOC Community Corrections Administrator to help write contract proposals for residential facilities and treatment programs, as and has served as a proposal evaluator. Additionally, she has helped develop and evaluate statewide re-entry grant proposals. Her favorite aspect about participating in these activities is being able to help create programs that directly benefit our clients, their families, and our communities throughout the state.

CarolLyree is also an Adjunct Trainer and currently training the Supervisor’s Briefcase.

She is the current President of the Missouri Probation and Parole Officers Association, which serves as the professional development organization for P&P staff.  

In 2012, Missouri established an "earned compliance credits" policy that allows individuals to shorten their time on probation and parole by 30 days for every full calendar month that they comply with the conditions of their sentences. Credits are available only to those who were convicted of lower-level felonies and have been under community supervision for at least two years. Missouri established its policy as part of the 2012 Justice Reinvestment Act, which was intended to reduce the incarceration of individuals convicted of lower-level crimes and to invest the savings into alternatives that are shown to improve public safety outcomes. 

The Pew Charitable Trusts evaluated the policy and found that in the first three years, more than 36,000 probationers and parolees reduced their supervision terms by an average of 14 months. The law had no evident negative impact on public safety: Those who earned credits were subsequently convicted of new crimes at the same rate as those discharged from supervision before the policy went into effect. Earned compliance credits helped reduce Missouri's supervised population by 18% or nearly 13,000 people between August 2012 and June 2015, which helped decrease probation and parole caseloads giving Officers a more managed average caseload to supervise. Earned compliance credits that the state adopted to improve the performance of a client's sentencing and correction system, demonstrates that such rewards can be valuable and help manage correctional populations. 

Resource: Missouri Policy Shortens Probation and Parole Terms, Protects Public Safety | The Pew Charitable Trusts (pewtrusts.org)

On October 22, Western Region staff decorated a trunk and participated in Kansas City Police Department's Annual Trunk or Treat event. Donated candy from the region was handed out to over 2,000 kids in attendance.

District 1-CSC PPA-II Zeikle has taken the CSC residents to Hy-Vee in December to ring the bell for Salvation Army. Pictured are residents Hale and Phinney. Zeikle said it is a rewarding experience for the residents and provides them the ability to give back to the community. Different residents participated each week. Some have come out of their shells, and Zeikle sees a whole new side to them. The Hy-Vee staff are even remembering the residents when they show up.

Robert Nold and Cary Stark (not pictured) were recognized for 10 Years of Service

On December 4, the Western Region held its annual Regional Recognition event. The award ceremony was held at the Kansas City Regional Police Academy and there were over 120 in attendance. Staff were able to celebrate each other and witness the Years of Service presentation. Johnny Waller was invited as the guest speaker. Mr. Waller provided testimony on his life throughout the criminal justice system. He discussed his experience with the reentry process and how he worked hard to obtain several college degrees and became a successful businessman in Kansas City. Mr. Waller also plays a key role as a reentry advocate in hopes that others can find success after incarceration. In addition to the ceremony, staff were able to come together and share a great meal and socialize together.

A special thank you to the Planning Committee for putting together such an amazing event!

5 Years of Service

10 Years of Service

15 Years of Service

20 Years of Service

25 Years of Service

TCKC was recognized by Historic West Bottoms Association for its many contributions toward betterment of the West Bottoms Community.

Incorporating restorative justice and prioritizing human dignity to better prepare individuals for their return to the community.

TCKC has become an active member of Historic West Bottoms Association.

Adoption of Mulberry Street; participating in neighborhood cleanups.

TCKC Residents have contributed hundreds of hours to the 9^th Street Community Garden and the enhancement and greening of public spaces in area.

Setting a new course for the State of Missouri and West Bottoms and improving the quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors to the West Bottoms.

District 2, Harrison County Probation and Parole Office and other local agencies participated in a Christmas Shop with a Cop on December 7, 2023, to help a young man have a very Merry Christmas! Joshua, a 15-year-old, was chosen to get the pleasure of shopping with a cop. Probation and Parole, DFS, Walmart, and local officers helped Joshua fulfill his best Christmas in 2023. Great job, District 2!

District 2 also participated in a district-wide Christmas drive. They adopted some local families to help for Christmas. District 2 staff generosity helped make this a special holiday for some local families. Trenton/Chillicothe staff adopted a family in Livingston County through Foster Adopt Connect. Cameron/CRCC staff adopted two foster children in Dekalb County. Thank you to all District 2 staff who made the holiday season a special time for some families. 

District 20 in Camdenton recently participated in the Shop with a Sheriff event on December 2. All law enforcement officers helped shop for over 200 kids at the Shop with a Sheriff event. Probation and Parole District 20 was happy to be a part of this holiday giving event. Great job working with our community partners and helping the community have a great holiday. 

On November 20, District 27 invited staff to come together to enjoy a well-deserved break. After enduring many ups and downs over this past year, the supervisors decided to do something special for staff.

Thanksgiving lunch included turkey, pumpkin pie and all the fixings. Family is not just who you are born with; sometimes they are those we chose along the way to work with and make lifelong friends. 

On November 10, the Boone County ICTS team participated in  team building at Breakout COMO after enjoying dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Room 13 at Breakout COMO proved to be quite difficult, but through teamwork, the Boone County ICTS team was able to breakout with 30 seconds to spare! Compass Health and Probation and Parole pictured from left to right: Jan, Shelby, Bre, Taylor, Kyle, Nichole, Shari, and Tonya. Great teamwork both for the clients and each other!

On October 31, 2023, the Northeast Region Personnel Club was pleased to present a beautiful quilt made by offenders at SCCC to Nya Rogers, Unit Supervisor from District 11. The quilt was themed for domestic violence awareness month. The funds from the raffle will go toward the 2024 Northeast Region Celebration Event.

District 11 held a hygiene item drive. The purpose was to collect items for hygiene kits, which can be distributed to clients in need. The items were donated by District 11 staff.

Enough items were donated to create 61 hygiene kits, 39 male and 22 female. The kits will be used in all six counties of District 11.

A special thank you to District 11 team members Melissa Roark, Kristina Wallace and Charles Claude for sorting the items and assembling the kits.

Right: just a few of the assembled hygiene kits.

District 26, which includes WERDCC and FRDC, staff generously donated several great coats and winter wear to Callaway Cares to be distributed to individuals who are homeless in our community.

District 11 Unit Supervisor Nya Rogers was selected as the 2023 District Employee of the Year. She was nominated by SOSA Amy Miller.

Due to staff shortages in the Texas County Office, Nya Rogers has been covering Unit Supervisor duties for the IPO Office since July 2023. During that time, she has reviewed all Parole Hearing Reports, Special Reports, and Grid Review Reports, as well as Sentencing Assessments, Court Report Investigations, Time Credit Requests and Final Case Summaries handled by the IPO Office. She has attended all parole hearings and conditional release extension hearings during this time for SCCC.  Nya has also established goals for the office to have Parole Hearings, Special Reports, and Releases completed in a timely manner, which will allow for IPOs to begin working on Readiness Release Reports and warm hand-offs in 2024. 

Nya has provided guidance and coverage for the IPO Office in addition to her regular Unit Supervisor duties in the field. Her knowledge and willingness to help have been invaluable during this time of supervisory transition, and she is greatly appreciated. 

Nya continued to supervise her field unit consisting of seven officers.  Her unit is always one of the highest functioning units. All members are under the 14% agency expectation for ORAS reassessment completion. Also, all members of her unit are not just over the 25% agency expectation for case-plan compliance and the district's 40% goal, they are all over 60%. Nya leads a high functioning team. Additionally, Nya coordinates several items for the district including staff recognition efforts, ECC and SOP revision and maintenance.  Nya supports her staff and carries forward the agency mission.

Melinda Vaughn (then an OSA at FRDC) is a huge spoke in the wheel at FRDC. She assists the office in continuing to run smoothly on a daily basis. She makes sure reports are done and sent where they need to be sent in a timely manner. As a result of Melinda thinking ahead, recognizing the impact of changes as they happen and taking proactive actions, the well-oiled machine that is the P&P office at FRDC continues to run without interruption.

Jessica Sullivan and Anthony Brown, both PPOs with District 16, have spent several months helping to rebuild and strengthen the relationship between Troy P&P Office and Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. Jessica and Anthony meet with Lincoln County regularly to staff cases and work on any communication needs for each agency. Since working with Lincoln County several positive things have come from their meetings. Lincoln County is in the process of creating a crime/high profile digital map and would like to include P&P. Since meeting with Lincoln County Jessica and Anthony have received a key card access pass to the sheriff's office for all staff. This allows officers to enter the jail and facilities to see clients at a much faster rate vs sitting for long periods of time in the lobby. They continue to actively meet with Lincoln County bridging any gaps between the agencies.

Each district was challenged to come up with a creative way to introduce itself during the region's Unit Supervisor Meeting in November. D7B stepped up to the plate and US Dave Scruggs did not disappoint. He was supposed to have help but after his peer deserted him he decided to do it on his own. Dave wrote and performed a song for D7B! His dance moves could use a little work but his air guitar was on point! Just ask to see the video. Dave received a standing ovation from his peers along with our divisional leaders. Way to go Dave! 

D8C Unit Supervisor Allison Rekart (center) was awarded the Regional Employee of the Month for October 2023. Congratulations, Allison! 

Congratulations to Peter Gavin, D7B PO on his Regional Employee of the Month Award for December!

On November 9, MECC Institutional Parole Staff toured Mission Gate – Fort Good Shepard in Cuba, MO. They were able to network with staff, tour the property and obtain information on all the amazing opportunities for our population there. 

The APA offers a program called Safe Care. While 8C PO Lisa Kelly and 8S US Joe Spence were dropping off the Eastern Regions donations, they also met a new friend. Not sure if either of them took him home. 

This program offers pet assistance for survivors of domestic violence.

More information on this program can be found in the    following link: https://apamo.org/wellness/safe-care/  

On December 11, the Eastern Regional PR Committee in cooperation with the St. Louis Area Red Cross hosted a Blood Drive at the ERV/EP/7B Probation & Parole Office. The effort was a phenomenal success with 25 participants including our RA DAK, showing up to donate from the Eastern Region!! Thank you to all who participated, with a special nod to District EP, who had the highest total participants with 9 donors!  It was an inspiring experience to see a line of people ready to roll up their sleeves to help others in need! It was the perfect time of year for giving, and the gift of lifesaving blood is unmatched. Thanks to the PR Committee for setting up the drive and a special thanks to PO Debra Sue Bailey for taking the lead and organizing the event!

PPO Lacee Cox received several phone calls in a row from a client after hours. Based upon her knowledge of the client's mental state earlier that same day, PPO Cox answered and spoke with the client who was greatly distressed, having a mental health episode, and running through the woods in rural area.

While PPO Cox had the client on the phone, she contacted PPO Angela Bullock via text, asking for PPO Bullock to contact Washington County Dispatch. PPO Cox was able to get the client to tell her where he was located and relay that information to PPO Bullock, who passed the information on to Washington County Dispatch. Using the information gathered, a Washington County Sheriff's Deputy was able to locate the client and transport him to Washington County Memorial Hospital for a mental health evaluation and wellness check.