The process of bringing the From Corrections Fatigue to Fulfillment (CF2F) class to our Department of Corrections actually developed over a period of almost two years. I will try to provide you with relevant information as I describe the process from my point of view.
I was the warden for [name removed] for 4 and-one-half years. During my time in the position, I realized that I had great staff, but I also realized that my employees were under a tremendous strain from the work in an administrative segregation environment. My conversations with other wardens led me to conclude that my employees were experiencing negative life events at a rate that surpassed the employees of other facilities. I had more employees that were involved in worker compensation incidents, more instances of staff needing to use FMLA, and more staff that reported criminal charges from their actions in the community (i.e., DUI, domestic violence, menacing, theft, etc.). By the time I was appointed the warden there, I had worked for the Department of Corrections for over 20 years. That background also led me to believe that the staff at that facility were dealing with more issues of depression, anger, drug and alcohol struggles, stress issues, and were less satisfied with their work.
Due to the structure of the facility, most of the posts that had inmate contact were with high security inmates, so I couldn’t “give them a break” with lower-custody inmates. Additionally, most employees did not want to transfer out of the facility for a variety of reasons, many times due to a change in shift and days off. An additional burden was put on our facilities when the facility’s expansion was opened under a very tight timeline, and then major changes were being made in the Ad Seg environments.
I grew increasingly concerned about the welfare of my employees and began to look around for help. I found that Dr. Kevin Gilmartin and Dr. Caterina Spinaris Tudor were about the only people that were publishing any type of resources for law enforcement. Gilmartin’s work (2002) was aimed primarily at the street cop, but it did offer some good advice. The work of Caterina and the Desert Waters Correctional Outreach (DWCO) organization was developed specifically for corrections environments.
I had heard good things about the way corrections people were treated by DWCO, and I knew many people that believed that the resources that were being developed at Desert Waters were right on target. At about that same time, a “training for trainer’s” course was being advertised in Florence for the “From Corrections Fatigue to Fulfillment” course. I was very involved in training in the DOC for the majority of my career, and I also knew that if such a class would help my employees, it had to be communicated that the management of the facilities totally supported it. As a result, I signed up one of my training staff and myself to take the class. When I completed the training, I felt like I had discovered a tool to actually bring some type of relief to my employees, as well as the other employees in the DOC.
The next step I took was to present a mini-version of the class to the wardens and executive staff. After only a one-hour presentation, the decision was made to ask Caterina to present a four-hour class to all the managers and above. This presentation was set up and Caterina was able to present to a room of almost 100 DOC management employees. I was unsure what type of reaction she may get from this particular group, because I was worried that members of this group might not see the value or need for this type of training, but I was wrong. The people in attendance seemed to take the information very seriously and to fully engage in the seriousness of the situation. As a result, a commitment was made to send additional trainers from each facility to the next several T for T classes.
There was some discussion at the wardens’ meeting that by providing this information to staff, we were admitting that the workplace was harming them and the state may be liable. The discussion quickly turned to the fact that all those in the room knew the effect of the environment and they felt that the need to help our staff was more important. In the end, we did not have an increase in staff filing for worker’s comp injuries as a result of this training.
After that “kick off” session, I began to present this class to employees. While the class was heavily attended by my employees, employees from other DOC facilities also attended. The reactions that I saw from employees attending the training ranged from relief to tears. I saw employees reach out to coworkers and supervisors to talk about what they were experiencing. I also saw employees reach out to medical/mental health providers for assistance. The number of employees that asked for contact information for the employee assistance program also increased. The most important result was that I saw employees sharing their stories. It was as if this training opportunity opened the dialogue and gave my employees permission to talk about “it.”
I retired from the Department of Corrections a few years later, so that I could concentrate upon finishing the requirements for my PhD. The research that I completed in that program was influenced by the CF2F course. I have conducted, and continue to conduct, research that looks at the correctional environment and the effect that it has upon a variety of circumstances and employees. I look back upon the 31 years that I worked in corrections and I am proud of many things, including helping to implement the CF2F program in DOC. My only regret it that it took me so long to realize the need for it.
CF2F is not a cure-all. I had employees for which it did not seem to offer any relief, but I credit it for giving “permission,” for employees from entry level to executive staff, to admit that the environment changed them and some of those changes were negative. Prior to this program, such a discussion seemed disloyal somehow.
I know that the program continues to flourish in my absence, and I still get feedback from employees that stop me at Walmart to thank me for helping them with CF2F. I don’t know the impact it would have on your facilities, but I do know the impact it had on mine.
