Update: July 17, 2008
An essay on "Institutional Racism and Indifferent Treatment in the Criminal Justice System and the Illinois Department of Corrections" coming soon.
The Sheridan Project: Sheridan Correctional Center
Illinois Correctional Officers’ Employment Security and Restorative Justice
Essay by Fred L Nance Jr.
July 7, 2008
I, Fred L Nance Jr., was incarcerated in January of 1992. At the end of my incarceration in 1994, I was housed in the East Moline correctional center. This correctional center housed males only. The building I was housed in also housed the visiting room for all inmates. One weekend day, while exiting this building, I saw a young black woman coming up the walkway, approaching the stairway with 2 small black children. Apparently, they were going to visit an inmate.
There were 2 white correctional officers standing at the entrance to the building. As the young black woman approached the entrance to the building, one correctional officer stated to the other in a loud tone “I know my kids will have a job because these children visiting their daddy will be taking their place one day.” The young black woman heard this remark and her face and body language displayed outraged, as she grabbed the little black children and pulled them closer to her. The behavior illustrated and demonstrated by these correctional officers at East Moline mirrors the behavior of the correctional officers at Sheridan Correctional Center (Sheridan) in 2008.
When I became a supervisor for WestCare Foundation, Inc. at Sheridan Correctional Center, my workdays were Tuesday through Saturday. One Saturday I had lunch with a white Chaplin who worked at Sheridan. This Chaplin gave me a brief overview of how and why Illinois prisons were built on farmlands. For the purposes of this essay on job security, I will elaborate only on this part.
The Chaplin stated Illinois farmers were offered a chance to sell or lease their land to the State of Illinois for profits that far exceeded what the land was worth. Illinois farmers were informed they could also have employment watching and caring for inmates like they watched and cared for their livestock. Illinois farmers were told it would be much easier watching inmates than farming. Illinois farmers were told not only could they have “lifetime” employment, but that their children’s children would have “lifetime” employment also. Illinois farmers were told and it is true that they would have life and health insurance that they could not afford to have working farmland because the State would pay for it. Of course, you know there are no “black” farmers in Illinois.
To guarantee this nepotistic employment, entities like the union AFSCME Local 31was taken to task. It is mandatory for all correctional officers, except those exempt because of job classification, to join AFSCME Local 31. AFSCME Local 31 defends any and all charges/complaints against correctional officers to protect this employment, no matter if they are guilty or not and no matter the cost to Illinois taxpayers. This is definitively job security, for the immediate family, relatives and friends of those who owned farmland where the Illinois government decided to build its prison systems.
WestCare Foundation, Inc. is a human/social service agency based in Las Vegas Nevada. This company acquired the Illinois contract to provide addiction counseling services at Sheridan. This company partnered with Amity Foundation, Inc. to provide a curriculum for these counseling services. Amity also comes from the Western geographical area of our country. Amity’s drug and alcohol curriculum addresses this addiction but it does not address restorative justice. Drug and alcohol addiction is only a small part of the problem of criminal thinking and behaving.
Restorative Justice is commonly known as a theory of criminal justice that focuses on crime as an act against another individual or community rather than the state. The victim plays a major role in the process and may receive some type of restitution from the offender. Today, however, "Restorative justice is a broad term which encompasses a growing social movement to institutionalize peaceful approaches to harm, problem-solving and violations of legal and human rights. These range from international peacemaking tribunals such as the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission to innovations within the criminal justice system, schools, social services and communities. Rather than privileging the law, professionals and the state, restorative resolutions engage those who are harmed, wrongdoers and their affected communities in search of solutions that promote repair, reconciliation and the rebuilding of relationships. Restorative justice seeks to build partnerships to reestablish mutual responsibility for constructive responses to wrongdoing within our communities. Restorative approaches seek a balanced approach to the needs of the victim, wrongdoer and community through processes that preserve the safety and dignity of all. Illinois has adopted restorative justice in their juvenile justice system. This is the first thing a person must understand who practices criminal thinking and behaving.
There is no “real” restorative justice in the Amity curriculum. The curriculum is about inmates getting in touch with their feelings and how those feelings affect their relationships. This curriculum is basically created by criminals for criminals. What do you think it will be about? With this mindset, the inmate is led to believe it is all about them and not their victim. Victim empathy should come first. Victim empathy cannot be last, because the victim was last in the assault or crime. If there is no victim empathy first, there is no restorative justice. In addition, this curriculum lends itself to good data for program longevity. If a person’s negative behavior is not challenged, the person will have the tendency to give a “good” report to the system that condones and supports the behavior. This is how the “Sheridan Project” data is manipulated.
A “real” addictions counselor would constantly have problems with an inmate in lifestyle change if the inmate thinks it is all about them. The selfish attitudes that led to criminal thinking and behaving remain because there is no restorative justice. The reason some counselors at Sheridan may not have problems with inmates is because they are not “real” counselors. They may have some “book” sense about addictions but they have no experiences with “real” addicts. This is going to be common because of ones cultural identity. This is not a bad thing. One only knows what one knows. If one has not been exposed to a cultural issue, they will not know the cultural issue. Regarding criminal thinking and behaving, you know it best if you have lived it.
While I was at Sheridan and under the WestCare regime, the counselors being hired are what they call “career” change employees. These employees have no clue to what “real” addiction counseling is all about. WestCare hires the people mentioned above in the “job security” section of this essay. They put them with the inmates. Then they train them in the Amity curriculum. Many of the “new” employees are scared out of their minds. Therefore, the inmates act out in ways where their selfishness continues to promote their criminal thinking and behaving.
If the Amity curriculum does not have restorative justice, when does restoration appear? If WestCare contractual obligations with the State of Illinois are to provide counseling with professional addiction counselors how does this happen if they are not hiring professional counselors?
The Second Chance Act of 2007 (The Act) solves the WestCare employment problem, but they fail to utilize it. It also solves IDOC’s problem with giving clearance to professional addictions counselors. The Act was signed into law on April 9, 2008 by President George W. Bush. It is a piece of legislation that should be enforced and implemented. You do not have to vote on it. It is there. The Act is a modest, commonsense response to the increasing number of people who return to their communities from prison and jail. The Act ensures the transition people make from prison or jail to the community is safe and successful. The Act produces people like me, who have made a safe and successful transition from a life of criminal thinking and behaving to achievements that far exceed the norms of restorative justice and victim empathy. The Act provides a solution to the reduction in recidivism.
Many of the professional counselors in substance abuse and alcohol are previous addicts, who may have been incarcerated or have members of their families who were addicted to drugs, alcohol or incarcerated. The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) does not give clearance to those professional counselors. This may be WestCare’s dilemma. WestCare’s hands could be tied by the administration of IDOC. This in no way negates WestCare from having a curriculum that reflects restorative justice and victim empathy. If they claim to have it, the curriculum should illustrate and demonstrate “clear” evidence of it. This “clear” evidence should also be illustrated and demonstrated in inmate instruction by the counselors.
On May 19, 2008 at St. Leonard’s House honoring some recent parolees from his Sheridan Project, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich announced historic reductions in repeat crimes by ex-offenders and a slower rate of growth in the state's prison population. Joined by law enforcement officials, community leaders, faith-based leaders and state officials, Governor Blagojevich announced that statewide reforms have led to historic reductions in crimes by former offenders and significant savings for taxpayers. An intensive effort launched by the Governor in fiscal year 2004 to provide incarcerated offenders and parolees with access to education, job training, substance abuse treatment and counseling has led to the lowest conviction rate among parolees in state history, a 23% reduction in arrests among the general parolee population, and a 40% reduction in repeat incarceration among parolees with substance abuse histories who graduated from the Sheridan Drug and Reentry Program (The Sheridan Project). The drop in recidivism has saved the State an estimated $64 million in incarceration costs since 2004. The data to produce these numbers may have been manipulated.
In addition, IDOC Director Roger E. Walker Jr. stated “I was very proud to have my department helping to lead this process. Until we began to implement the Governor's plan, we were only experiencing increases in prison admissions and recidivism….” Deanne Benos, Assistant Director of IDOC, offered this statement “Ultimately, this is an issue about public safety and communities. We have made tremendous progress in driving down recidivism rates among our parole population in recent years….” With the notion of job security as mentioned above, what makes Governor Blagojevich, Mr. Walker and Ms. Benos believe IDOC personnel will buy into reducing recidivism? It is not going to happen. Not with the present system IDOC has in place, as illustrated in my other writings. Reducing recidivism will mean a loss in employment. The people who auctioned off their land for job security are not trying to reduce recidivism.
If Governor Blagojevich, IDOC Director Walker and IDOC Assistant Director Ms. Benos statements are true, then why did they condone and enforce Warden Michael Rothwell’s locking me out of Sheridan Correctional Center? Why are they condoning and enforcing WestCare Foundation, Inc. decision to terminate my employment because of this lockout, as WestCare has stated in their termination letter to me? It took 4 requests for me to become a supervisor with WestCare. I filed many grievances with WestCare about this supervisory issue, which were ignored. There is no staff working with WestCare at Sheridan Correctional Center who has the academic standing I have. There is no staff working with WestCare at Sheridan Correctional Center who has the experiences I have academically, professionally and socially. It is my belief WestCare terminated my services with this 3rd illegal lockout to avoid having to promote me to a higher status within the system, along with tenets of race, age and sex disparities and indifferent treatment by both IDOC and WestCare.
I am an expert, practicing restorative justice and victim empathy daily. I was incarcerated in January of 1992 for drug related criminal activity. I did not have a G.E.D. when I was incarcerated. By the time I was released in December of 1994 I had started my Bachelor degree program at Roosevelt University. In September of 1997 I received my Bachelor degree from Roosevelt University in Social Science. In September of 1999 I received my Master degree from Roosevelt University in Community Counseling. I am presently a PhD candidate at Walden University. I will receive my PhD in Human Services with a focus on Social Policy Analysis and Planning in the fall of 2008. I have been increasing my academic standing for the last 16 years. My Curriculum Vitae illustrates and demonstrates my achievements academically, socially and empathetically. Do I meet the criteria to which Governor Blagojevich, Roger Walker and Deanne Benos offer as successful reentry and reduction in recidivism? I am the Second Chance Act of 2007. If WestCare and Amity are promoting restorative justice and victim empathy, where is mine?
On another note but which may have similarities to the subject matter here: The Illinois prison systems or “captivity chambers” are not built in communities where crime occurs. For example, there are many vacant lots in the city of Chicago where a prison system may stimulate the economy of that area and would act as a “revitalization stimulus” to offset criminal thinking and behaving. One such area is the Honorable Congressman Danny K. Davis’ 7th Congressional District, where the statistics suggest a majority of inmates being released on parole from the Illinois Department of Corrections are being paroled to the 7th Congressional District.
This is another story in the “naked” city. I will write later about this dilemma.
