Latest News

CIT Supervisor Course convenes at Ohio State Reformatory

Thu, 08 Nov 2018 15:18:00 GMT

The third CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) Supervisor course was held at the iconic Ohio State Reformatory site. Accomplished CIT Instructors, Natalie Magee (OSP) and C/O Nicole Herring (RiCI) facilitated the training. Those attending the training included supervisors from Mansfield, Allen, Marion, Toledo, Ohio Reformatory for Women and Richland.

Over the course of the past three years, hundreds of ODRC employees have completed the 40 hour CIT training course. This one-day training session is a summation of the week-long training course.

An emphasis of the training was the “why” of CIT and available resources. Specifically, the importance of communication, de-escalation, diversity. In addition, related topics were detailed such as PTSD and suicide prevention. The training also included scenario based incidents.

Staff participating in CIT training are educated on issues often encountered with the mentally ill within institutions. A major tenant of training is to attain a better understanding of mental illness and ways to divert crisis through de-escalating situations that could become quickly volatile if not handled appropriately.

DRC Unite at Historic OSR for CIT Training

Thu, 13 Sep 2018 14:54:38 GMT

A series of CIT re-certification classes took place at Historic Ohio State Reformatory. An emphasis of the training was honing active listening skills. Staff from multiple prisons participated in these trainings.

A highlight of these trainings are the scenario based sessions, this experience is invaluable to students towards sharpening skills to adequately address individuals who suffer from mental illness in high stress situations.

Other facets of the training included report writing, and a review of de-escalation techniques and appropriate steps towards behavior change.

The students were appreciative to the guest speakers from the ASSIST program and local support agencies that gave their accounts of experiences as a CIT trained professional.

SRT teams come together for Yard Clearing Exercise

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 16:27:22 GMT

A collaboration of multiple SRT teams from eight ODRC facilities came together to complete a series of yard clearing exercises. The institutions represented included Richland, Mansfield, Allen, Toledo, Marion, the Ohio Reformatory for Women (Northwest Regional based facilities), Lorain and Grafton. This special operations based training was conducted on the grounds of historic Ohio State Reformatory. A number of staff representing the eight participating institutions were on site to observe the training. The feedback from the participants was very positive and there are plans to conduct similar simulations in the future.

The OSR Four

Tue, 06 Mar 2018 15:23:03 GMT

A documentary was created by the ODRC Communications office, “Back Inside OSR”. The video revisits the former facility (now historic site) and details facets of prison operations during a past era in Ohio Corrections.

Along with Director Mohr, four former Ohio State Reformatory employees participated in the production of the video. The contributing employees share over 122 years of experience within the ODRC.

In an initiative to recapture the penitentiary’s history and gain some perspective to the prison environment of the times, Carla Benard (RiCI), Michelle Bethea (ManCI), Donald Seymour (ManCI), and Tim Milligan (ManCI) provided accounts of their past experiences at OSR. The compelling stories that they chronicled throughout the feature illuminated the progression of corrections over the past three decades.

The Ohio State Reformatory closed it’s doors on New Year’s Eve 1990.

CIT Graduate List Continues to Grow

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 14:04:16 GMT

RiCI hosted the most recent session of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training for DRC employees. This is the third session of CIT training that was conducted in the Mansfield area. Approximately 30 staff from ManCI, GCI and RiCI participated in this recent training.

As always, interactive activities were a significant component of the training, which included scenario based exercises that took place at the Historic Ohio State Reformatory site. Actors from the Mansfield Renaissance Theatre participated as actors in the scenarios. Staff participating in the CIT training were educated on issues often encountered with the mentally ill within institutions. A staple of this training is teaching the participants to grasp a better understanding of mental illness and effective, safe ways to divert crisis through de-escalating situations that could become quickly volatile if not handled appropriately.