Why Working in a Jail or Prison Might be Safer than You Think!
By Melisa Friel
When we interviewed Alison Perry [insert link to other article], our former director of Behavioral Services, about her experience working in jails and prisons, she mentioned something that many will find surprising: Not only do correctional facilities provide a safe working environment for mental health clinicians, but often they can be safer than many community settings.
You may be thinking that can’t possibly be right. Don’t correctional mental health clinicians have to deal with violent offenders daily? Aren’t they constantly in danger?
Well, today we explore different reasons why throughout her 15-year career as a correctional mental health clinician, Alison felt safe doing her work.
Security Staff is Steps Away
Correctional facilities need to have robust safety and security policies and procedures to protect both staff and offenders from accidents and injuries. Unlike other community settings, trained security personnel is always around. Correctional officers are typically assigned to the medical and mental health units and are available at any time, should you need any assistance or have any questions or concerns.
It's important to highlight that in correctional facilities, security is always a top priority, never an afterthought. The National Institute of Corrections states: "In a CI [Correctional industries] environment, security and personal safety remain a top priority, while ensuring production requirements and quality standards are met."
The former director of Behavioral Services at CPS Healthcare, Alison Perry, contrasts her professional experience doing home-based work to her experience working in corrections and explains why she has felt safer in correctional facilities:
"When it comes to correctional facilities, I can say they’re the safest places I've ever worked at. Prior to my experience in corrections. I used to work and do some home-based work and, looking back now, I can't believe that I went into strangers’ homes by myself. Of course, I was okay. I would never have walked into an unsafe situation but, it's such a different dynamic. "
"You don't have security staff available when you're into somebody's home. So, being in the jail and in the correctional system, you always have that support. You never have to put yourself in an unsafe or concerning situation. I think that's something really to highlight, that your safety and security comes first. "
Alison Perry, LICSW
Former CPS Director of Behavioral Services
It is also worth noting that overall, (and depending on the type of correctional institution), the number of inmates who present a genuine safety risk, and require additional security measures, tends to be small. However, when such cases pop up, there are high-security protocols that are strictly followed to ensure everyone’s safety.
Structured Environment
Another reason why correctional facilities are able provide a safe work environment is because they need to be highly structured and have sound comprehensive safety and security policies and procedures.
Interestingly, that structure not only helps create a safe work environment but also aids the process of providing mental health care. In corrections, a predictable schedule is key to plan and coordinate treatment efficiently and effectively.
Alison Perry comments: “You don’t have people showing up late to appointments because security is there to help facilitate that process”. So, with that structure that the security staff provides you have an opportunity to have daily triage meetings, which is the best practice that we found, where all the clinicians get together and discuss patients’ treatment needs.
Open Communication
A collaborative environment with open communication between Correctional Industries (CI) and the institution is integral to implementing security and personal safety procedures. CIs with the strongest security practices create a culture that understands and prioritizes the importance of security and programming to run an effective, safe, secure, and productive correctional industry program within an institution. (NIC)
Effective communication enhances safety in the workplace in many ways. Alison Perry highlights the importance of having structured communication, in this case, triage meetings on a daily basis to communicate concerns, plan and coordinate care with her team.
“During triage meetings you have the psychiatry department present. They're available to talk about any high-risk cases, any individuals on suicide watch, or anybody that we should put on our radar to follow up with. It’s so important to have that daily contact where you can hear other people's feedback and, bring something to the team as well. You can say: “Hey I need support around this”. That is such an integral part of a successful mental health system in the facility for sure.”
Open communication also means that you’re consistently receiving helpful information from other teams. For instance, when a new inmate is admitted, the intake team conducts a receiving screening to collect the necessary medical and mental health information to identify and meet any urgent needs.
Additionally, a risk assessment is also conducted upon admission to decide the most appropriate security level for each inmate. If security concerns arise, it will be noted. Then, before mental health clinicians see a new patient, they have access to key information that helps them make appropriate treatment decisions and take necessary additional security measures when needed.
Specialized Training
Correctional mental health clinicians receive special training throughout their employment on risk assessment and violence prevention. Such training allows them to confidently identify high risk factors for violent behavior, including self-harm. One of the skills you master as a correctional clinician is the ability to conduct risk assessments quickly and accurately. Alison Perry tells us:
You're always completing a risk assessment for these individuals because it is such a high-risk environment. I think that as a correctional clinician we're always performing a risk assessment in our minds, or at least we should be. No matter what setting we work in, we should do this for safety reasons. But because incarcerated individuals are so high risk, we really must think critically about risk factors. That allows us to make appropriate clinical decisions and reduce risk.
It's also important to note that these skills are not only useful in corrections but in any setting . More than ever, mental health clinicians need to have the necessary skills and knowledge to identify individuals at high risk of violence. Risk assessments allow clinicians to implement preventative interventions at the right time. Alison adds:
"I've met a lot of clinicians who have been in the mental health field for years 20 plus years and they've never worked in an acute setting such as this, so that they're not aware how to do a mental status exam or a risk assessment. You know, which feels like it should be common knowledge and common practice and it's often that they you know maybe they just haven't had to do that in their line of work before."
"As a correctional clinician, you not only get that experience but the confidence to know what you're seeing and to document it in such a way that captures the clinical picture. That skill to me is just translatable across any setting."
In the institutions CPS Healthcare partners with, mental health clinicians, like all staff, are offered comprehensive training, support and guidance so they can provide treatment safely.
If you are curious about starting a career in correctional mental health, don't hesitate to contact our Recruitment and Internship Coordinator, Aimee Stock, LICSW to learn more about our current job opportunities and internships available.
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