Common Ground Page 10 - Suffolk County Sheriff's Department

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Page 4 Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department Welcomes Family Friends To CGI Graduation The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department recently held a special graduation for the House of Correction inmates enrolled in the Department’s vocational educational program, the Common Ground Institute. Created in 2005 by Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral, the Common Ground Institute (CGI) is a 10–week instructional program that is designed to enhance and fortify employment skills that aid the prison population of Suffolk County in making a successful transition back into society post–incarceration. With the CGI program, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department has taken a proactive approach to reducing recidivism, in part, by placing an emphasis on vocational education, which includes the teaching of skills in carpentry, custodial maintenance, painting and landscaping, among others. During the ceremony, much as all of CGI’s past 483 graduates have done, participants approached the podium one–by–one after being called to collect their certificates of completion along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) card, which they also earned through the program. Members of the Sheriff’s executive team and various Department staff were also in attendance, adding to the air of familiarity, but the key element separating this graduation from all previous ones was the presence of family and friends of the graduates, who were permitted access to the ceremony for the first time since the inception of the program. “This is the 46th time we’re holding graduation for the Common Ground Institute and it’s the first time that visitors are able to come in to be a part of it,” said John D’Amore, Director of Vocational Education for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. “We wanted people to come in and witness their loved ones accomplishing something that’s very positive. It is important for them because it can be encouraging to see what can be achieved by these men and we wanted the men in the program to also be encouraged by the support that they’re getting today.” Adding to that support was special guest speaker Jamal Wornum, a former SCSD inmate and CGI graduate who was featured in a Department video about achieving success post–incarceration. In his time following the end of his sentence, Wornum gained employment from a local automotive service company and steadily grew into a management position before establishing a musical production company of his own. His message to the day’s graduates was a simple one, born from the wisdom Visitors were permitted to attend the CGI graduation for the first time Common Ground Guest speaker Jamal Wornum gave graduates an inspiring address of his own experiences as one who has traveled the journey that they are about to undertake. “This is a good program,” said Wornum. “The fact that you’re graduating from it is a big accomplishment. Now, when you come out into the world, you have to go two–times as hard as you did in here. It’s hard, but don’t give up. Stay focused. You have to remember that nothing else really matters except staying focused and achieving your goals. Congratulations on your first step.” Despite carrying a great sadness into the event after facing a death in his family only days earlier, Wornum provided a sterling example of his own focus and commitment. (Continued on page 10)
Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, MSA Team Up For Public Safety Trainings Summer 2011 Page 5 The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) and the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association recently completed a series of trainings developed to enhance the skills of employees in county corrections and law enforcement throughout the State of Massachusetts. Led by SCSD Deputy Superintendent and Training Supervisor Yolanda Smith, the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association (MSA) hosted separate trainings in Plymouth and Holyoke during the MSA’s Training and Education Committee Annual Conference, which touched on a wide variety of subjects designed specifically for the many participants attending from the fourteen county sheriff’s departments and various local law enforcement entities. Offering workshops that included such topics as: “Frequent Areas of Litigation in Corrections and Employee Civil Liability,” midlevel supervision, “Classification 101: Inmate Security Risk and Needs Assessment” and “Ground Survival Workshop”, members of the SCSD facilitated a number of practical trainings, which – together with presentations by representatives from surrounding counties – provided a powerful resource for participants. Presenting the workshop on Frequent Areas of Litigation in Corrections and Employee Civil Liability for the Plymouth training, SCSD Superintendent of the House of Correction and Special Sheriff Gerard Horgan talked about the benefits of offering extended training to others in the field of corrections. “MSA training provides our staff, and those in other counties, an opportunity to learn best practices from corrections professionals across the state and gives us the opportunity to interact, brainstorm and network with them, ” said Superintendent Horgan. “I think this is crucial because it allows the Department to continue the professional development of a staff that is already highly professional.” Speaking about his particular role in the training, Superintendent Horgan succinctly summed up the heart of his workshop in one word: “Respect.” SCSD employees Cindy Wallent and Paul DeFazio presented during the training “Our role in this Sheriff’s Department is to provide care and custody for all people, treating everyone with respect and giving them the opportunity to better themselves while with us,” Horgan said. “We wanted to impress upon people that everyone in our custody is a family member. The man in the 3–4 Unit is a father, a brother, a son and the women up in the female units are mothers, daughters, and sisters. Treating everyone with respect, you get it back. But, because we do work in a litigious industry, certain areas of corrections tend to be more fertile soil for potential suits and we want people to be aware.” Other SCSD presenters for the MSA trainings were Assistant Deputy Superintendent Paul DeFazio, Lieutenant Thomas Donahue and Sergeant Jose Mojica, and Assistant Director of Custody Assessment Cindy Wallent. As a member of the MSA’s Education and Training Committee and Chair of the Training Conferences, Deputy Superintendent Smith is tasked with knitting together workshops that are pertinent to the attending participants and the appropriate professionals who will be conducting them. During her time in this capacity, Deputy Superintendent Smith has worked to ensure the incremental growth that the trainings have experienced in recent years. “The planning stages of the conferences are always hectic,” said Smith. “We have to think about quality, relevant topics and the ability to stretch funding. Luckily, we’ve had great volunteers who have helped out by donating their time as presenters the past few years, and the conferences keep getting better and better.” “I am motivated to chair the conferences because of the networking and the wonderful feeling of satisfaction when the conferences are over,” Smith continued. “We are seeing attendees participate from Parole, Probation, and local police departments these days. Not only do we learn from the presenters, but we learn from each other, which is so important as we all strive to succeed in public safety.”
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