Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction QStP Team Projects - Visitation Projects
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VISITING CONNECTION
North Central Correctional Institution (2000)
"Gold" level team - 2000 TEPS Showcase. Winner of Governor’s Gold Cup Award at 2000 Team Excellence in the Public Sector (TEPS) Showcase. In an effort to make the inmate visiting experience at North Central Correctional Institution a more enjoyable and/or less stressful experience for the customers identified by the team, the Visiting Connection team developed a process to streamline the visiting process on the busiest days of the week while not compromising the safety and security of the institution, inmates or staff. Team members: Ryan Bacon (team co-leader), Eugene Davis (team co-leader), Gary Mount, Linda Smith, Jodi Fogle, Nancy Tewell, Ron Edwards, Tom Forrest, James Dean, Brian Whitten, Roberta Johnson Bonner (Facilitator), Arlette Brown (Facilitator). For more information contact Roberta Johnson Bonner (740) 387-7040.
R.E.A.D. TEAM
Northeast Prerelease Center (2000)
"Bronze" level team - 2000 TEPS Showcase. At Northeast Pre-Release Center, the visitation hall reading room had suffered in the past from under-utilization. To maximize the untapped value of the reading room, the R.E.A.D. (Reading Empowers America’s Dream) Team surveyed its customers and focused on correcting the existing problems with the reading room. Team members: Valerie Aden, Felice Douglas, William Faber, Katrina Fisher, Kurt Lehr, Diane McGuire, Carl McWilliams, Donna Pletcher, Michelle Viets, Christopher Williams, Ted Williams, Brett Perdue (facilitator). For more information contact William Faber (216) 771-6460.
V.I.P. TEAM
Chillicothe Correctional Institution (2000)
The Visiting Improvement Plan (V.I.P) team was created to evaluate, review and analyze the current visiting policies procedures and processes at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution due to the numerous complaints from inmates and their visitors. After thorough review of the current process, the team recommended several changes that have increased both inmate and visitor satisfaction with the visiting process. Team members: Brian Wittrup (team leader), Charlie Damron, Paul Arledge, Randy Beverly, Jeannie Stewart, Gary Clever, Judy Immell (facilitator). For more information contact Brian Wittrup (740) 773-2616.
VISITING ISSUES AND CONCERNS TEAM
Ross Correctional Institution (1998)
The team’s mission is to decrease the number of visiting issue complaints by improving the process. As a result of the team’s work the time to process visitors has decreased, and an increase in visiting room security and a clearer understanding of the procedures has been realized. Jon Pence, Leader 740-774-7050.
VISITING IMPROVEMENT PROCESS TEAM
Montgomery Education and Pre-Release Center (1997)
The committee believed that inmate visiting was an integral part of the rehabilitative process. The team benchmarked other minimum security institutions and gathered data regarding their visiting policies and procedures. The new visiting procedure extended visiting hours to six hours and rearranged the layout of the visiting area. As a result of these and other changes, the number of visits and visitors increased significantly. Michael Mockabee, Leader 937-262-9853.
INVITER’S CLUB TEAM
Franklin Pre-Release Center (1997)
FPRC team mission was to bring the institution’s visitation policy in compliance with the department’s policy with a view toward increasing the number of visits for inmates while maintaining a safe environment. This resulted in shorten visiting periods on the weekend, requiring visitors to make the reservations and strictly counting no-shows as visits. This new process resulted in more inmates having visits, accurate registration of visits and enhanced security screening. Denise Gray, QStP Coordinator 614-445-8600.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS TEAM
Warren Correctional Institution (1997)
The Close Encounter Team was formed to decrease the amount of contraband and drugs entering Warren Correctional Institution through the visiting room. As a result of the team’s effort they proposed a non-contact visiting area within the existing visiting room. This area would be utilized by offenders meeting the following criteria (a) offenders currently housed in segregation or (b) offenders who have violated rules of visitation or drug regulations within the past six months. Kenny Sexton, Leader 513-932-3388.
VIPERS
Marion Correctional Institution (1996)
The QStP Steering Committee at MCI named the team to review several issued associated with the visiting room. The issues included visits being terminated early due to overcrowding, CO’s being held over to keep the visiting room open late, a reduction in the number of visiting days, an increase in population, size of the visiting room and length of visits. Staff, visitors and inmates were surveyed for information regarding security and quality of visits. From the team’s analysis and the obtaining of new furniture, the visiting room has been enhanced. The team continues to use the improvement process to address issues related to Visiting. Bob Ferguson, Leader 740-382-5781.
INMATE VISITING PROCEDURES TEAM
Lebanon Correctional Institution (1996)
Concerns were raised at LeCI regarding several facets of visiting procedures. Processing, room capacity and a reservation system were all being discussed. Through a series of interviews with staff and inmates the team determined that three problems existed. They began to tackle, visitor’s long waits, delays in locating inmates and the termination of 3.5% of visits due to overcrowding. Using the quality improvement process the team developed solutions that included a reservation system. They plan to monitor their progress at three, six and twelve months. David Hoffman, Leader 513-932-1211.