From Building Prisons to Building Bridges

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• From Building Prisons to Building Bridges

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Team PATraining Plan

• Greg Gaertner, Penn State University
• Kristin Sayers, PA Department of Corrections
• Krista Griffith, PA Board of Probation Parole
• Traci Jacobson, Bureau of Community Corrections
• Valarie Kusiak, PA DOC, SCI Mercer
• Jason Gines, Penn State University
• Vladimir Beaufils, Firm Foundation
• Randy Loss, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation
• Lynn Zale, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation

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Current Priorities

• Funding
• Overcrowding/Bed Space
• Recidivism
• Collaborations
• Public Safety

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Current Situation

• Administration and Level of Support Changes
• Recent Change of Department Structures
• Legislators/Pending Legislation
• Prison Overcrowding

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Our Over-Arching Goal

• To foster partnerships with agencies through
  centralized training that supports ex-offender
  employment and job retention within the
  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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Objectives

• Provide initial group instruction
• Use curriculum developed by National Institute of
  Corrections and Department of Justice
• Identify individuals from each training session
  that will extend training to additional partners

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Target Training Population

• Key Corrections Staff
• Administration
• Employment Vocational Coordinators
• Educational
• Community Corrections Counselors
• Key Parole Agents
• Assessment Sanctioning Community Resource Agents
  (ASCRA)
• Institutional Parole
• Department of Labor Industry
• Office of Vocational Rehabilitation
• Workforce Investment Board

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Program Delivery

• Regional Training
• Modified Offender Employment Specialist (OES)
  Training Modules

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Impacts on Program Delivery

• Staff morale
• Timing
• Logistics
• Funding
• Community Support

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Positive Outcomes

• Partnerships
• Enhanced Communication
• Shared Resources
• Increased Staff Skill Sets
• Increased Offender Employability Skill Sets