Warden interview - Essay Example

Interview with a Warden Interview with a Warden The interview with a warden revealed many interesting up s in correctional administration. The warden interviewed has served for more than 20 years in the system; thus, he has witnessed the major changes that have occurred in correctional administration for the last 20 years. The first major change was a more holistic approach towards treatment. Before, treatment focused mainly on the physical needs of the inmates. Nowadays, the treatment includes mental health programs, teaching job skills and vocational training.

It seems that offender rehabilitation was improved to increase the offender’s chance to cope with life once he is set free. Nevertheless, the health services for inmates have also been upgraded. They have a Constitutional right to healthcare per the 8th amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. The legal system ensures that healthcare provided to inmates must be adequate and necessary to meet the community standard of care. The second major change was the increased level of accountability of corrections staff employed within the facilities.

An example of which is Prison Rape Elimination Act ( PREA) ,which is a Federal Law that signed by President Bush in 2003.The said act was promulgated after an inmate committed suicide after being raped repeatedly. Despite the repeated pleas of the inmate to address his concern, he was ignored and even told that he had to deal with such reality because he was in prison. PREA holds prison staff criminally liable if they do not address sexual assault among inmates that they are aware of. It can be said that the human rights of inmates are given more focus by the new policies in correctional administration.

Another major change is the implementation of an information system named VaCORIS. VaCORIS or Virginia Corrections Information System caused some changes on Community Corrections operations and practices. All of the inmates information are now stored in a data base for easy retrieval of information. The system costs a lot but it has made record keeping more efficient and organized. Also, inmate work programs have changed over the years since inmates can now get paid per four for doing tasks such as construction, interior finishing, roofing, masonry, electrical, plumbing, fencing, HVAC duct cleaning, civil site work etc.

To qualify for the said program, inmates have to be a Level 1 inmate within 7 yrs of release. This means a clean record - no sex convictions as well as no escape or assault charges. Parole system has also changed over time. In 1995, Virginia legislature abolished parole due to the cases of murders committed by people on parole. The parole decision function and supervision is provided to offenders who committed felonies before that date. Under the new parole abolishment law, probation supervision and post release probation supervision for sentenced offenders who have to serve 3 to 6 months of probation supervision upon release.

Also, the scope of authority of Community Corrections has widened as they became a nationally accredited agency within the Virginia Department of Corrections. The officers are mandated to investigate and prepare Pre-Sentence Reports on all convicted felons as well as perform victim impact statements, among many other things since parole was abolished. All of these changes in correctional administration have underlying reasons behind them, primarily because of lawsuits. Also, vigilant organizations such as Human Rights Watch, American Civil Liberties Union, and ACA - American Correctional Association and many others serve as a form of regulatory agency for corrections facilities.

As for the VaCORIS Information System was created out of necessity because streamlined and timely communication is crucial for the criminal justice system. Accessibility to information by various agencies such as Parole Board, Department of Correction etc. is very important. Likewise, the rest of the changes have been ushered by new legislation that produced Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act as well as Sex Offender Registry. The warden also believes that the Virginia Department of Corrections has also changed a lot for the good.

Through the years, it has continued to fulfill its vision and accomplish its mission by being guided by the department’s values. These Values are (Values, www.vadoc. state.va.us): Ethical - conforming to high professional, ethical and moral standards of conduct.  Achieving - contributing to the achievement of the Department's Vision, Mission and Goals.  Purposeful - demonstrating a commitment to the Department's purpose, the safety of the citizens of Virginia.  Balanced - balancing the needs of the individual, society and all aspects of the agency.

  Supportive - being team players and supporting one another. According to the warden, the real performance indicator of the facility is recidivism. It measures what percentage of offenders comes back into prison after having been released at an earlier period (normally within the last three years). This is supposed to measure how many offenders have been "cured" and have been able to stay out of the criminal justice system. So far, the VADOC recidivism has been low: “VADOC recidivism rate is low compared with other states.

Among the 38 states that report felon recidivism as re-imprisonment within three years of release, Virginia ties for the sixth lowest recidivism rate of 28.3%” ( vadoc.virginia .gov). Indeed, this just shows that the correctional facility has done its job in rehabilitating the lives of former inmates. Surely, the warden has lived a long life and contributed a lot towards this achievement. References Virginia Department of Corrections.Virginia Adult Re-Entry Initiative. Executive Summary. July 2010- June 2014.

Retrieved from http://www.vadoc.virginia.gov/ documents/ reentryInitiativeExecSummary.pdf. Virginia Department of Corrections, Commonwealth of Virginia. Values. Retrieved from http://www.vadoc.state.va.us/.