The Tri-County Regional Corrections Board held a regular meeting in the Polk County Justice Center on Monday morning.
RED RIVER VALLEY JUVENILE CENTER UPDATE
The board then received an update on the Red River Juvenile Center. The center has received the contingent Certificate of Occupancy, but they had to complete some updating and testing of their HVAC system and minor fire safety actions in the center’s electrical room.
“I believe we have all that information in now, then we have to submit that to the Department of Corrections, our licensing authority, so we have submitted that to them. Then, once our contractors are done working in the building, we need to go through and do a full shakedown for any screws or tools that may have been left behind. Hence, we need to do that and submit a report to the Department of Corrections while providing them with our up-to-date training records for some of our new employees,” said Executive Director Andrew Larson. “Once the Department has that, they’ll review all our submitted information, and we hope to get our license from the Commissioner of Corrections by the end of this week. That would allow us to begin accepting placements next week.”
If the department receives its licenses next week, they plan to hold a soft opening, opening only the residential side of the facility and be able to move the kids in and open the Secure Detention side of the facility by the second week of April.
2023 COMPREHENSIVE INTERIM REPORT
The board then looked over its Interim Report for 2023, where they discussed plans for their services and budget plan for the year. Staffing was a major concern in multiple departments as they had shut down a pod in the jail and delayed Juvenile Center’s reopening thanks to it. To address this, they decided to hold a larger agency approach with an updated salary plan. Another concern was their need to change their perspective of their offered core programming.
“We had Long Utilized Thinking for a Change as our prime cognitive behavioral program that we used in the jail, Juvenile Center, and Probation. One of the challenges with that, though, is the length of time that the program requires made it very difficult because of the in and out traffic with the jail and Juvenile Center particularly. People will turn over so quickly. It makes it difficult for people to fully complete the program,” Larson explained. “The other disadvantage of the program is that you have to start with a closed group, so you can’t have people coming and going throughout the program. The program we shifted to is Decision Points, another cognitive/behavioral program helping people to examine thinking errors and beliefs that have led them to problems. It’s an evidence-based program that we’ve implemented. However, the advantage of this is that it’s a shorter course in duration and put together that it allows for open enrollment, meaning people can come and go, and it doesn’t disrupt the continuity of the group. So, that is now our core cognitive behavioral program.”
CARE COORDINATION SERVICES AT NWRCC
The board welcomed Care Coordinator Mackenzie Leroux of Alluma to hear an update on the Care Coordination Services in the Corrections Center. The program has been in service since November 2022. The program works with members who need mental health services such as medication or counseling, helping inmates learn what they need in terms of mental health and help with independent living and coping skills. Leroux works with inmates to discuss their symptoms, give any proper services like psychiatry or human service program that Alluma provides, or make referrals to other sources for services she is unable to provide. Most of the cases they had seen and addressed in their time were PTSD and multiple personality disorder. They were also using officers to ensure inmates were taking their medication and not faking or cheeking it. Larson saw the program as a great success and demonstrated the need for services was greater than expected.
“One of the things I think this relationship we have with Alluma has highlighted is the great need for mental health and supportive services for the people under our care. Even with Mackenzie being officed outside of the jail as a full-time employee, there’s still a waiting list for her services, not only for her but also for other mental health counselors who meet with some of our offenders who may require some more intensive services than what Mackenzie can provide,” Larson explained. The average number of caseloads the service regularly met was 65-70 cases, with a waitlist of up to 15 people. “One of the other things that we discussed at length is the importance of initiating these services while they come into the jail, but also ensuring that when they’re released that those services continue upon their release, which is called the Warm Hand Off. It’s not enough that we start services for them while they’re in custody. What’s important is ensuring they get set up to continue those services once they’re released back into the community by continuing to work with them and making sure they stay on their medication or find safe and stable housing, so the handoff is just as important, probably more so for the long term benefit of the person, even more, important than just initiating services while they’re in custody.”
TCCC DATA PRACTICES ACT CLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE 2023
The board discussed the schedule for their Data Practices Act Classification for 2023. The departments had conducted reviews of their inventories and made some small changes to them. Only three minor changes were made to the schedule, which included an addition to their Administrative section on claims and accident reports for non-employees. Another update was to their Correctional assessments in screens completed in their Probation Department. The final change was to their inventory to include signed discharged orders from judges. All of the changes had been posted on their website for the public to see the changes that have been made and let the public make any data requests. The board approved the schedule unanimously.
MONTHLY DEPARTMENTS REPORT REVIEW
The board then began approving the monthly statistics and Statistical Reports Review of all departments for February. Executive Director Andrew Larson reported that there were currently 173 in the jail with a monthly average of 168.75, with 142 males and 26 females. There were also some remodels in the Marshall County 90-Day Jail, which may cause some of their inmates to be housed in Polk County for a while. They also had an average of nine inmates brought in by the U.S. Marshall inmates and another nine from ICE. They currently had 24 inmates under sentence, 127 awaiting trial, seven awaiting their sentences, and nine awaiting a transfer. One juvenile was housed in secure detention in a housing unit in Moorhead. Their Transition program was at full capacity, with 16 children receiving service from it, but there is a waitlist service. Their Probation Department had 55 new offenders with 84 new cases. Of the 84, 66 were felonies, with 53 files that were closed. Their chore service crews had cleared fire hydrants across the county and some cleaning at the Crookston Sports Center and packing food at the North County Food Bank.
PERSONNEL ISSUES
The board then received an update on Personnel issues from Executive Director Andrew Larson, who reported they had received many new recruits for the month, such as Kiana Matejcek, hired as a Part-Time Corrections Officer on February 21, Justin Schreier as a Part-Time Corrections Officer on March 1, and Kane Turney as a Part-Time Corrections Officer and William Carlisle as a Fulltime Corrections Officer on March 8. They also hired Serena Harron as a Part-Time Corrections Officer and Jonathan Collins as a Full-Time Corrections Officer on March 13. They also hired Paul Burthwick as a Full-Time Corrections Officer, who would start on March 20. They had also hired three Full-Time Juvenile Custody Officers, Crystal Ray, who started on March 8, Sarah Lenhart, who started on March 6, and Michael Baca, who will begin on March 20. Two Corrections Officers had passed the probationary period: Heather Maanum on January 5 and David Stewart on February 14. They had two resignations from the department, which included Full-Time Juvenile Custody Officer Michelle Deleon on March 1, and Correctional Case Aide Jeremy Enright, whose last day will be March 26. Larson was very pleased with the new personnel added for the month, especially for the Juvenile Center, as this greatly addressed their staffing problem. The board approved the report unanimously.
FEBRUARY 2023 INVOICES
The board finished the meeting by approving the invoices and bills for the county for February, which it approved unanimously.
The board will next meet on Monday, April 10, at the Tri-County Corrections Center.
