MIDDLESEX COUNTY PRISON COORDINATING COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER

MCPCC met on January 10, 2007 in West Newton. Those present were Bill Bergquist, Tom Crowther, Mary Ann Donaldson, Toby Frost, Marjorie Moerschner, Lynne Sullivan, Carol Winton, Elizabeth Woodbridge and our speaker, Sean McAdam. Sean McAdam is Deputy Superintendent and Human Services Director at the Billerica House of Correction, in charge of the broad category of program services at the prison. He has been a member of the prison staff for 17 years, starting as a case worker. He has held a number of positions in the prison since then. including working with Jim Cain, former Director of Human Services, whom he regards as a mentor.

The new building officially opened on June 14 2006. Billerica HOC is really a state of the art facility now, with many components. Sean wants to make sure that communication is working well among them all.

The new high security facility has 504 beds divided among 4 pods. Pod D, with 126 beds and 6 counselors is where men who have just been admitted to the prison are assessed and classified. The assessment period lasts about 4 weeks. Prisoners are visited individually and interviewed by assessment specialists using a new Canadian "tool" which seeks to identify 8 issues affecting behavior, such as mental health, family problems, and substance abuse. This new method gets much more information and appears to identify more problems more accurately than the previous system. There is also a full educational evaluation. 4 weeks of HIV education are given during this time. Behavior and ability to adjust during this assessment period are observed and noted. Classification hearings then take place and may involve 7 or 8 staff people who have had contact with the inmate during this time.

Longer term men then go into Pod C. and will be assigned to work units such as cleaning or trash collection. They have access to the many programs offered by the prison: education, substance abuse etc., and to programs given by volunteers, like Carol Peters' Emotional Awareness courses.

Men with serious substance abuse and/or violence issues are assigned to Pod B for a transition period and then into Pod A, which is an intensive 90 day program run by STEP to treat substance abuse and violence problems. STEP runs programs from 9AM to 9PM weekdays and until 3 PM Saturdays. The Saturday program includes art therapy.

As men prepare for reentry they move to minimum security housing, perhaps the community work projects dormitory or the work release house. A few will be sent home to be monitored by electronic bracelets.

The men eat in the pods where they are living. Their day starts early with breakfast served at 5:30 AM. A nurse brings needed medications to the pods. About half of the prison population is on some sort of medication.

75 to 80% of inmates have some degree of trouble with substance abuse.

Sean feels that 6 months is necessary to effect behavioral changes and mind set, and that treatment which is too short or too unfocused can do more harm than good. The average sentence at Billerica is 16 months. Some sentences are only 30 days.

There is a stabilization program in the new facility which is not part of the prison per se. It has its own staff, and beds for inmates from eastern Massachusetts prisons. All prisons are now getting many mentally ill inmates who really have no other place to go. Once stabilized most men will return to their original facility, but severely ill or suicidal men are sent to overcrowded Bridgewater for evaluation. The stabilization unit has cut down on the numbers of men who need to be sent there.

The old building, built in the 1920s, houses about 80 Billerica inmates as well as men in protective custody and pre-trial men from the Cambridge Jail, which has limited capacity. Since pretrial men have not been assessed, they are considered high-risk and must be kept segregated.

The number of pre-trial men at Billerica is increasing, and the Cambridge Jail will close in a few months. No one knows whether it will be repaired or whether a new facility will be built elsewhere, which seems a much better option. Either way the closing will create additional population at Billerica.

A psychiatrist visits the prison 12 hours a week; his hours will soon be increasing. There is now a 60 day wait to see him.

A new pilot program provides money for Middlesex and a few other counties to hire new full-time professional case managers who will track the progress each inmate from the day he is incarcerated until the day he is released. Since benefits are not included, it has been rather difficult to hire qualified people, but the prison has been able to hire 5 new case managers so far.

The prison now has a Victim Impact program. Trained victim volunteers speak to inmates about the impact crime has had on them and their community. This is a step to restorative justice.

The recidivism rate has recently improved somewhat and is now less than 39%.

Many, many thanks to Sean McAdam for speaking to us!

NEXT MEETING: FEBRUARY 7 at 7PM, a business meeting.

Lee Gartenberg will meet with us in MARCH.

SECOND CHURCH IN NEWTON, 60 HIGHLAND STREET, WEST NEWTON