Directions January 2000

              Update on the Quality of Work Life Survey
ADC Hosts the 2000 Winter Conference
TERRY L. STEWART - DIRECTOR JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2000
The Arizona Department of
Corrections was the honored host this
year for the 2000 Winter Conference
sponsored by the American Correc-tional
Association and the American
Correctional Health Services Asso-ciation.
The conference ran from
January 10-12 where workshops were
moderated by professionals in the
correctional industry nationwide.
The title of the conference
was ATreatment: It=s Everybody=s
Business.@ Keynote speakers included
former First Lady Barbara Bush and
recording artist Tony Orlando, who
both offered substantive information
and worthy solutions for relevant is-sues
facing the corrections industry.
Some of our very own from
the Arizona Department of Correc-tions
led workshops in the confer-ence.
Director Terry L. Stewart
moderated a workshop on staff
safety, where Deputy Director Char-les
L. Ryan spoke about practices
and programs directed at enhancing
staff safety. On Tuesday Carl Nink,
the Assistant Director of Administra-tive
Operations moderated a work-shop
about how to make the technol-ogy
environment in corrections a
safer place. Mr. Ryan spoke at this
workshop where he supplied informa-tion
about how technology can en-hance
operations practices in manag-ing
inmates.
ASafety of corrections em-ployees
is the most significant issue
of corrections today, particularly
given the violent and assaultive na-ture
of inmate population confined
across this nation, said Mr. Ryan. AIn
order to safely and effectively control
convicted felons we need to ensure
all staff, regardless of classification,
to be properly equipped to respond to
any given situation in a prison envi-ronment.@
Prison Operations paid for
300 individuals to attend the confer-ence;
of those, 175 were correctional
officers from across the state.
Members of the corrections
community from across the country
contributed personal knowledge and
experience. This healthy exchange of
ideas will work as a tool in enhancing
the corrections community=s common
goal towards public protection.
(see pages 4-5 for photos of conference.)
Work is still progressing on the final report that will be presented to Director Terry Stewart. Un-fortunately,
this report and the required analyses have taken more time than expected. After the Di-rector
has reviewed the report, an executive summary will be used to develop the special edition of
Directions that will be sent out to all employees. Your patience as staff work to complete this exten-sive
report is appreciated. To give you an idea of some of the information that was derived from the
survey, we have included the following employee responses:
· The least favorable responses were re-ceived
regarding support from the organi-zation
(25%), the physical environment at
the workplace (32%), safety and security in
the workplace with regard to offices and
personal property (40%), and teamwork/
teambuilding (42%).
· Overall, 54.6% of survey responses expressed
a favorable opinion or impression of a work-related
area such as quality of supervision,
safety and security in the workplace, etc. The
most favorable responses were received in
the areas of managing inmates (72%), work/
personal life balance (68%), relationships
with co-workers (66%), quality of supervision
(63%), and psychological environment (61%).
A new CORP Bill has
passed its first step in the
Legislature and is
awaiting further action.
(See page 3 for more
details).
Web site:
http://www.adc.state.az.us:81
Printed by
Arizona Correctional Industries
Questions and comments
may be submitted to
Virginia Strankman,
Publications Editor
Media & Public Relations Office,
1601 W. Jefferson
Mail Code 441,
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone (602) 542-3133
“Directions”
is an official publication of the
Arizona Department of Corrections
Terry L. Stewart, Director
Michael A. Arra,
Public Affairs Administrator
Camilla Strongin,
Public Information Officer
by Terry L. Stewart
DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE
I am continually impressed with the amount of commu-nity
involvement, civic awareness and just plain com-passion
our employees demonstrate every day of the
year. Sometimes it=s a bake sale for the Torch Run or a
softball tournament for SECC; other times it=s giving
blood or running a charity golf tournament to feed the
hungry. Our employees are known as community lead-ers
in rising to the challenge of making Arizona a better
place to live.
One of those challenges is the struggle to minimize or
eliminate the Abrown cloud@ of air pollution that covers
many portions of our state throughout the year. Because
of your efforts, we are in the final stages of a long drive
to clean up our air and to receive a more favorable air
quality status from the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). The good news is, we had a highly suc-cessful
summer season with no ozone violations, thanks
largely to your conscientious efforts to implement the
Governor=s AOperation Ozone@ program procedures. Ex-cept
for one substandard reading at a single monitoring
station in December, Arizona has not had any ozone or
carbon monoxide EPA violations in the last three years.
An improved EPA air quality rating will help us avoid
federal sanctions and some onerous air quality require-ments.
However, our work is not done. The ozone, carbon
monoxide and particulate problems are still nipping at
our heels. That is why I am writing this articleCto spe-cifically
encourage each of you to continue finding
ways to be a part of the pollution solution. A number of
our existing programs are clearly considered employee
benefits. Many of you have commented that you enjoy
working with flexible hours, adjusted hours or com-pressed
work weeks. Others have spoken highly of tele-commuting,
the convenience of Ride Share parking or
the savings and camaraderie of joining a Vanpool. If
you want to participate in these programs, ask your su-pervisor
about how you can take part.
Some of the other travel reduction options require some
work on our part. Riding a bus or joining a car pool may
require some planning, sacrifice or compromises. But,
don=t let the fear of trying something new stop you. Ask
a friend to join you in riding to work, get in the HOV
lane and bypass the freeway gridlock. Maybe you
should pick up a bus book and see how close that bus
really does come to your house. Many of you who share
the ride have indicated that the minor inconveniences
are more than outweighed by the reduced stress, cost
savings, friendships made, or other unexpected benefits.
In this case, every penny saved is truly a penny earned
and those pennies are also tax free.
I will continue to search for new and even more effec-tive
options for all of us to help clean our air, which
should also contribute to a better quality of life for each
of you. You have already done so much to help the peo-ple
of this state. I want to say thank you in advance for
the work you continue to do in helping to free up the
federal Aclean air@ money for much needed projects
throughout the State. I also know I speak for many thou-sands
of Arizonans who benefit from a cleaner, health-ier
environment and have you to thank for making Ari-zona
a better place to live.
CORRECTIONS OFFICER RETIREMENT PLAN
20 YEAR RETIREMENT BILLS (HB 2237)
Senator Jack Brown, Representa-tive
Jake Flake, and Director Stewart visited
ASPC-Winslow’s Apache Unit on Friday,
February 11. The purpose of the visit was to
inform ADC employees of Senator Brown
and Representative Flake’s intentions of
expanding the Apache unit, and to discuss
employee concerns regarding House Bill
2486 (Apache prison; expansion; privatiza-tion),
which would expand and potentially
privatize the 334 bed Apache unit.
Director Stewart provided em-ployees
with background information relat-ing
to past and present proposals to expand
the unit, and Senator Brown and Represen-tative
Flake commented on the economic
benefits to the surrounding communities
associated with doubling the capacity of
the facility. As for the potential for the pri-vatization
of the Apache unit, both Senator
Brown and Representative Flake expressed
that the potential privatization of the facility
originated when it appeared that the state
did not have sufficient funding to expand in
the near future. Privatization was an option,
but expansion was the ultimate goal.
At the conclusion of the meeting,
Senator Brown and Representative Flake
informed employees that due to the number
of employee letters and e-mail that they
have received, along with concerns expressed
during the meeting, that they would withdraw
House Bill 2486, and would not pursue the
privatization of the Apache unit.
Although the privatization of the
Apache unit has been ruled out, the House
Appropriations Subcommittee for Criminal
Justice and Transportation made a motion on
Monday, February 7, 2000, requiring ADC to
submit a report to the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee by April 15, 2000. The
report must include a plan and a timeline to
issue and evaluate a Request for Proposal
(RFP) to determine private sector interest in
the private operation of ASPC-Perryville.
Director and Elected Officials Visit ASPC-Winslow’s Apache Unit
Representative Mike Gardner has introduced a bill which would reduce the normal retirement date in CORP to 20 years. House Bill
2237 passed out of the House Government Operations Committee unanimously, and awaits further action in the House of Representatives. The
fact sheet below provides detailed information relating to the impact and provisions of House bill 2237.
· Corrections Officer Retirement Plan (CORP) was created because the Legislature in 1986 recognized corrections officers needed a
special plan to recruit and retain the caliber of employee needed for this physically demanding position. At that time all corrections
officers and employees now in CORP were covered by the Arizona State Retirement Plan. There was specific legislative intent to
differentiate this plan from the existing state retirement plan.
· Now after more than 13 years of experience there exists a need to improve the plan from its current 25 year retirement requirement
to a 20 year plan.
Facts About the Arizona Department of Corrections Recruitment and Retention
· The Department is authorized 6,417 corrections officer positions.
· Current cost to train a cadet is $9,506 per cadet (including RUSH).
· CO Loss Rates for the last three years have been:
• 1997-24.2% (1,067 Officers)
• 1998-27.2% (1,178 Officers)
• 1999-23.1% (1,121 Officers)
· For every 100 additional officers we retain, the Department will save $950,606.
· In 1999, the loss of 1,121 officers at an average training cost of $9,506 per cadet cost the State of Arizona and the Department of
Corrections $10,656,293.
Facts About House Bill 2237 CORP; Normal Retirement Date
· Correctional Officers can retire after 20 years with a pension equal to 2.5% for each year of service-which equals 50% of their av-erage
salary.
· The pension will continue to increase by 2% annually from years 20 to 24.9. However, at 25 years of service, the pension for years
20 through 24.9 is recalculated at 2.5% annually.
· CORP employee contributions drop from 8.5% to 7.65%.
Recognition is one of the most direct
ways to reinforce an agency=s mis-sion
and objectives and retain its top
performers. Each quarter, the Ari-zona
Department of Corrections pub-licly
acknowledges the special contri-butions
of its employees by giving
awards based on different levels of
performance and excellence. Direc-tor
Terry Stewart presented these
awards at the Fourth Quarterly Ad-ministrator=
s Meeting held at the
Sheraton Mesa Hotel in Mesa.
The employees featured in this
month=s edition of Directions re-ceived
the Department=s Lifesaving
Award “in recognition of an act that
results in the saving or preservation
of a human life that other otherwise
would have expired without direct
action by the respondent.”
In an incident last October, it took
just a matter of seconds for Correc-tional
Officer Jon M. Camacho,
ASPC-Yuma, Dakota Unit to react to
a deadly assault by an inmate who
had produced a nine-inch long, steel
homemade weapon from his shoe,
and began stabbing another inmate
repeatedly on the head, neck, chest,
and back. Officer Camacho had to
maneuver his way through a dining
hall full of inmates in order to dis-rupt
the assault. By the time relief
officers arrived, Officer Camacho
had separated both inmates by us-ing
nothing more than his presence,
verbal directions, and OC spray,
which forced the assailant to drop
his weapon. Even though the vic-tim
received 24 puncture wounds
and a collapsed lung in the attack,
the actions of Officer Camacho
were the essential factors in the
preservation of an inmate=s life.
While working weekend visitation,
Correctional Officer Efren L.
Huerta, ASPC-Yuma, Dakota Unit,
noticed an eight month old infant
begin to cough and choke. The
child=s mother was screaming and
holding the child close to her chest.
The officer took the child, who was
now turning blue and began check-ing
her mouth, but he could not see
what was stuck in her throat.
Promptly, Officer Huerta began the
Basic Life Support steps by placing
the infant=s head down, and begin-ning
back thrusts. He was success-ful
in clearing the airway by remov-ing
a piece of plastic from her
mouth.
Because of this officer=s use of his
training, and quick thinking, he was
able to restore breathing and save
the life of an inmate=s child.
Last July, an inmate was being re-turned
from St. Mary=s Hospital and
was in the prison=s sallyport area
when severe bleeding began from a
wound on his ankle. Correctional
Officer Joseph McDaniels, ASPC-Florence,
North Unit, immediately
began to assist by putting on gloves
and applying pressure to help re-duce
the bleeding. By the time the
inmate reached the Central Unit
health facility, his blood pressure
had dropped dangerously low. Of-ficer
McDaniels continued to assist
while the inmate was being exam-ined
at the health unit, during trans-port
on a helicopter back to the hos-pital,
and while at the hospital. The
inmate later needed four units of
blood because of his significant
blood loss, but did survive. He was
so moved by Officer McDaniels
efforts to help him in his distress,
that he wrote a letter to the Deputy
Warden stating that the only reason
he is alive today is because of the
officer=s professionalism.
Recognition is Key to Department=s Success
CO Jon M. Camacho
CO Efren L. Huerta
CO Joseph McDaniels
About a week before Census DayBApril 1,
2000Bmost households will receive a questionnaire
by mail. Census takers will deliver forms to the re-maining
households. The Census 2000 question-naire
will be easy to read and simple to fill out. It
will ask only about seven subjects: name, sex, age,
relationship, Hispanic origin, race and housing ten-ure
(whether you rent or own).
Responding is very important because. . .
i Census numbers can help your community
work out public improvement strategies.
i When natural disasters occur, the census
tells rescuers how many people need help.
i Census numbers help determine the distri-bution
of federal and state funds.
i Because census numbers help industry re-duce
financial risk and locate potential mar-kets,
businesses are able to produce the
products you want.
THE LAW PROTECTS YOUR ANSWERS. . . By
law, the Census Bureau cannot share your answers
with the IRS, FBI, Welfare, ImmigrationBor any
other government agency.
Fill out and turn in your census forms on April 1,
and don=t forget to inform family, neighbors and
friends about the importance of Census 2000. The
Census Form 2000 will be the shortest form in 180
years.
United States Census 2000: You count, so be counted.
The REM Pillar Group (Retain, Eliminate and Modify)
originated during the 1997 ADC Executive Team Re-treat.
The REM Group, comprised of two committees
of area experts, met and discussed suggestions submit-ted
from throughout the ADC regarding specific inef-fective
or unnecessary reports and meetings. The objec-tive
of the REM group=s endeavor focused on the devel-opment
of more effective, yet fewer, reports and/or
meetings.
During the work group meetings, it became obvious
that:
¨ Only the areas affected by the suggested modifica-tions
to specific reports or meetings needed to re-view
the material for final recommendation to the
Deputy Directors and Director.
¨ The areas affected were very homogeneous in their
recognition of concerns and as a result, input could
be gathered by a small group representing the
whole (smaller number of people pulled together
for analysis with wider group reviewing product).
¨ The areas generating specific reports already had
in place the processes to finalize the action ap-proved
by the Director.
¨ Once the Director approved the final action on
each report/meeting, submitted from each LEAD
area, Policy and Research was notified by the
LEAD area to ensure that any changes required in
written instruction/orders were quickly adopted.
Recommendations were completed and forwarded to the
Executive Staff and Extended Executive Staff in August
1998 regarding the elimination and modification of sev-eral
reports and meetings. The REM group suggested
elimination of the following reports: Employee Disci-pline
(generated by Prison Operations), Non-Contact
Visitation Report, Fire Fighter Application Form, Fire
Fighter Training form, Annual Fire Profile Report, De-fective
Equipment Report, Fire Center Response, Fire
Safety Prevention - Protective suggestion, Fire Evacua-tion
Practice Summary, and the EEO Liaison Report.
Modifications were recommended for the following re-ports:
Use of Force, Deputy Warden Monthly Reports,
Institutional Tour Reports, On-Site Duty Officer Re-port,
Calendar of Events, Monthly Statistical Report,
Intel Weekly Report, Daily Chemical/Hazardous Mate-rial
Log, Fire Incident Witness, Hydrant Report, Free
Equipment Usage Form, and the Cellular Telephone Re-port.
It was also suggested that the Warden/
Correctional Officer Meetings be modified to be held
quarterly rather than monthly. Each Assistant Director
was responsible to make the final recommendation
through the Deputy Director to the Director.
The Objective of Pillar Group is to “Retain, Eliminate and Modify”
By Assistant Director Nancy Hughes
attended the ceremonies.
More than 30 ASPC-Douglas
employees
provided security
during the 18 hours
in which the reli-quary
was vener-ated.
Warden
Charles Flanagan
was honored with
the privilege of be-ing
one of six reli-quary
bearers for
the relics.
A receptacle or
reliquary containing the
remains of the 19th Cen-tury
Carmelite Sister, St.
Therese de Lisieux arrived
at ASPC-Douglas re-cently.
The reliquary has
been on a world tour since
1995 and arrived in the
United States last October.
The reliquary has been to
89 American cities.
ASPC-Douglas is the only
prison in the country that
the reliquary has toured.
The van carrying
the reliquary drove around
the prison allowing in-mates
the opportunity to
pay homage as it passed
by. Before leaving the fa-cility,
the van stopped so
that staff who had gathered
could touch and pray be-fore
the reliquary.
ASPC-Douglas
staff, along with other lo-cal
law enforcement agen-cies,
were instrumental in
making all preparations for
the crowd of devotees that
Relic Tour Visits ASPC-Douglas
Once again the Arizona Department of Corrections employees
have demonstrated their true generosity and spirit by raising more
than $352,000 for the 1999 State Employees Charitable Cam-paign.
It was an honor and privilege to be the agency coordinator
of SECC. It is truly inspiring to see what state employees can do
through their hard work, dedication and generosity.
The success of any combined campaign is dependent upon the
efforts of many individuals. Our Department has many employees
who deserve to be mentioned for their generous donations and
volunteer actions that produced such an impressive outcome.
Specifically, I would like to mention the following Local Area Coor-dinators
who effectively coordinated fund-raising activities for their
complexes and offices:
Veronica Abrigo, Cheryl Bennett, Carolann Bolick, Annette
Close, Scott Cusack, Sally Delbridge, Herb Haley, John
Hayes,
Josie Hinderberger, Alicia Hinds, Tim Lawrence, Trisha
Lemon, Coral Martinez, Shelly Metzger, Shaka Okougbo,
Karen Pulley,
Christina Reese, Inez Ross, Jackie Rubble, Jack Schwartz,
Shane
Skinner, Nancy Turco, Terri White, and Pam Webster.
The strength of this fund-raising campaign originates in the com-passion
and drive of people who sup- port
it each year -- including some of whom may
work behind the scenes and never re-ceive
any recognition. I would like to
Internal Communications