ISSUES AND PRACTICES.pdf - The Counseling Team International

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We compared the number of stress-related retirements officers and deputies took after criticalincidents for a 10-year period before the contract and found they cost the county $20 million inunfunded liability to the county retirement system [see the full explanation in chapter 7]. Sixyears after the [stress] program was in place, there were none. We estimated that the programsaved the department $13 million by avoiding the unfunded liability fee increases.--Deputy Chief James Nunn, San Bernardino Sheriff's DepartmentKey PointsChapter 1Why Establish--or Expand— a Stress Program for CorrectionalOfficers?Addressing Correctional Officer Stress is intended to help correctional administratorsdevelop an effective program for preventing and treating correctional officer stress.This publication describes a variety of approaches to relieving officer stress thatcorrectional administrators can implement.A stress program can--1. Save correctional administrators money by reducing the need to pay overtime to cover forofficers who take sick time or quit because of job-related stress.2. Improve officer performance by enhancing staff morale.3. Increase institutional safety by reducing officer distractions due to stress.A stress program can also improve relations with the union, help officers get back towork sooner after critical incidents, and show the department cares about its employees.The report presents seven case studies of well-established and replicable stress programs.This chapter identifies the audiences for whom Addressing Correctional Officer Stress hasbeen written and explains the publication's purposes and content. The chapter then reviews thereasons many correctional administrators recommend setting up or expanding a stress programfor correctional officers.Audiences, Purposes, and Content of AddressingCorrectional Officer StressThis report has been written primarily for--State department of corrections commissioners.Facility superintendents or wardens.Sheriffs and jail administrators.Correctional department human resources and training directors.
Correctional officer union officials, employee assistance program (EAP) administrators,correctional chaplains, and mental health professionals may also find this publication useful.[1]Addressing Correctional Officer Stress is intended primarily to--Motivate correctional administrators to develop an effective program for preventing andtreating correctional officer stress.Suggest the options correctional administrators have for structuring the program.Why a Stress Program Can Benefit Correctional AdministratorsWest Virginia Department of Corrections Commissioner Bill Davis locked down the MountOlive Correctional Center last month for 8 days to alleviate stress on overworked staff. . . ."We've had a significant turnover rate there since we opened the prison in 1995. The prisonadministration was requiring COs to be frozen over [work two shifts in a row]. . . . [The closing]was in the interest of their sanity. . . . " The commissioner also made clear to officers thatovertime at the facility was strictly voluntary.[2]Research studies and firsthand accounts from correctional officers have made clear thatemployment as a correctional officer can be stressful--sometimes extremely stressful. Chapter 2documents the many sources of stress[3] for correctional officers (such as the mandatoryovertime that existed in West Virginia, highlighted above), and the effects of stress can beserious and widespread. As discussed below and summarized in the box "Benefits a StressProgram Can Bring to Correctional Administrators," a program that helps prevent and relievestress can have valuable benefits for correctional administrators.Financial savingsStress programs can save administrators money by reducing staff sick time. Researchers havelong reported that correctional officers take excessive sick leave as a means of coping with stresson the job.[4] One lieutenant estimated that 20 percent of his officers who call in sick are burnedout. A captain judged that 90 percent of officers abuse their sick time in this manner.Administrators have to pay overtime to other officers to cover for personnel who take sick time.As long ago as 1975, California spent $1.86 million in overtime pay to cover posts for officerson sick leave.[5] A stress program can reduce sick time.A former Peer Stress Program officer, now retired but still volunteering, drove me to a jail anddragged out the scheduling sheet for all five of our jails and all 700 employees and showed methat only 2 were on stress leave--the first time the number had been that low in years.--Sheriff Dan Noelle, Multnomah County (Oregon) Sheriff's DepartmentMany administrators also report that officers offered stress services after a critical incident orpersonal crisis come back to work more quickly than if they had not been helped, furtherreducing the need for overtime to cover their absences.
Page 1 and 2: ISSUES AND PRACTICESAuthor: Peter F
Page 3 and 4: The various program options present
Page 5 and 6: Program overviewCollaboration with
Page 7 and 8: An unproven interventionPotential b
Page 9 and 10: Executive SummaryAddressing Correct
Page 11: One officer said, "The public hasn'
Page 15 and 16: Doing the job carefully in records
Page 17 and 18: 2. "Commissioner Locks Down Prison
Page 19 and 20: Chapter 2The Extent and Sources of
Page 21 and 22: In many prisons and jails, there ar
Page 23 and 24: promising not to create trouble or
Page 25 and 26: 6. Martinez, A.R., "Corrections Off
Page 27 and 28: How to Cope with Job Burnout, New Y
Page 29 and 30: e. Kamerman, J., "Corrections Offic
Page 31 and 32: Family Service Society serves only
Page 33 and 34: Society also provides inservice tra
Page 35 and 36: Family Service Society refers emplo
Page 37 and 38: Staff more likely to be viewed by o
Page 39 and 40: Unit team responsibilitiesTypically
Page 41 and 42: officers were involved. We took tur
Page 43 and 44: In 1998, the New York State Departm
Page 45 and 46: An officer and a lieutenant, both o
Page 47 and 48: Bruce W. BakerAssistant Commissione
Page 49 and 50: Technical assistance and training t
Page 51 and 52: Chapter 4Program Staffing, Training
Page 53 and 54: Most new clinicians fill in their g
Page 55 and 56: wanted the best. In addition, the p
Page 57 and 58: Each New York State Department of C
Page 59 and 60: DOCs and sheriff's departments can
Page 61 and 62: Counseling Team] that it's OK to sa
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Outreach to line officers is essent
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The program permits team members to
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Exhibit 5-1 Union MemorandumAccordi
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The Counseling Team and Rhode Islan
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grant ended in December 1998, Sheri
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Snacks, lunch, and child care were
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As with wardens, seeing is believin
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1. For further information about th
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department. However, the rules of c
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John Near, the South Carolina DOC's
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While there is no evidence that deb
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Organizational changes departments
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* Appelbaum, P.S., and T.G. Gutheil
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Telephone hotline, providing 24-hou
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Chapter 7Evaluation, Funding, and T
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the regional teams and facility adm
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A psychologist hired under the gran
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Assuming four of the five unit memb
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consultation.
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the survey that will follow." The r
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