Southern Illinois ATC

The Southern Illinois Adult Transition Center (SIATC) is located near Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). The mission of the SIATC is to make maximum use of community resources in the reintegration of center inmates, while offering protection to the community and making inmate contributions to the community in the form of public service projects.

The center is designated a Level 8 facility, "transition security," because it provides community-based programming as part of the IDOC continuum of treatment for incarcerated felons. ATC placement is the last program structure before an inmate makes the final transition into the free community, and it is critical that he learn life skills that will assist in his reintegration. In addition to employment placement, an inmate learns to use community resources for education, counseling services and recreation and to generally become self-sufficient.

The center has a maximum population of 60 resident inmates and employs 20 staff. Staff and inmates have cultivated excellent relationships with local employers who offer employment opportunities. The employment goals are to improve an inmate's job seeking skills, develop placement opportunities and provide follow-up services to employed inmates.

Many resident are referred to Southern Illinois Regional Social Services to assist in addressing substance abuse problems. The SIATC maintains important relationships with law enforcement and social services agencies, SIUC and other community groups for the mutual benefit of the center and the community.

Highlights

One of the highlights of center programming is the large number of public service projects residents perform in the local community. During FY 2003, center inmates assisted with the unloading and reloading of supplies and other tasks during 22 Red Cross Blood Drives at many community locations including Schnuck's, St. Francis Xavier Church, First United Methodist Church and additional SIUC program sites.

SIATC resident inmates assisted with setup and takedown tasks related to the Attucks Community Celebration "Spirit of Attucks," the Carbondale Community Annual "Pigout" activities, the Murphysboro World BBQ Championship, the Murphysboro Apple Festival and the Eurma Hayes Center Annual Girl Scout Cookie Drive. They also assisted the Carbondale Parole Office by providing lawn care services and detailing their vehicles, Annual Eurma Hayes Center Family Community Dinner, the New Zion Church Mother's Day Banquet, the Annual Black History Musical, the University Baptist Church World Hunger Yard Sale and the Martin Luther King Breakfast held at the SIUC Grinnell Hall.

Center inmates provided assistance to the Carbondale Community Arts Council in a tent raising for "Heartland Chautauqua," a community entertainment event. The Jackson County Historical Society requested eight SIATC inmates to help restore the gravesites of Civil War Veterans.

The Touch of Nature Spectrum Wilderness Program, which is an "outreach" program provided by SIUC, requested SIATC inmates to speak to at-risk youths about their experiences dealing with the American justice system. SIATC resident inmates spoke on 11 occasions and made such an impression on the students and staff that they requested the inmates be invited to attend the graduation and dinner.

Reducing Recidivism

The SIATC houses male pre-release inmates. All programs are designed to meet the needs of the inmate at this stage of incarceration. During FY 2003, the seven-week, substance abuse curriculum for offenders, A Design for Living, was attended by 28 center inmates. In addition, comprehensive anger management training sessions were given to 47 inmates averaging six inmates a week for a six-week period.

SIATC coordinates with SIUC to provide internship opportunities. The interns assist with the presentation of PreStart modules and various life skills classes from a new refreshed perspective that is more relevant to an inmate's life experiences and individual needs.

Southern Illinois Adult Transition Center also coordinates with SIUC Rehabilitation Institute to provide employability development services to resident of the center. The SIUC Employability Development Program provides comprehensive services to the offenders. This is accomplished with the reintegration process that includes intake and assessment, counseling and development, placement, retention and transition plan service.

The Employability Development Program helps residents with various community service networks. These networks are established to assist in the reduction of dependency by achieving economic self-support and maintaining self-sufficiency. These linkages include, but are not limited to, the Illinois Employment and Training Centers, local educational agency providers, public health departments, the Social Security Administration and the Office of Rehabilitation Services.

Seventy-one resident inmates, 66 percent of the population, participated in the GED/ABE services provided in cooperation with the local educational agency for adult education. These services are coordinated with the SIUC Employability Development Program. The Carbondale High School Ð Operation Rebound provided books, materials, teachers and tutors for the resident inmates of SIATC.

Resident inmates are required to maintain 35 hours per week of programming. Resident inmates are expected to regularly attend work, school or volunteer community service activities. This requirement must be met and maintained as they progress through the level system. The Employability Development Program works closely with SIATC staff to ensure that residents meet program requirement. The employment rate for SIATC residents is consistently greater than 90 percent. The intent is to maximize reintegration and transition in to full community life by providing as many normal interactions within the community as possible.

Being employed allows integration back into society and enables inmates to provide support payments to their families, to be responsible for their own medical bills and to pay any outstanding debts.

Security Initiatives

Important security initiatives that were continued and intensified within the past year were related to improved drug interdiction. Due to the need to more closely monitor contraband that might be introduced to the facility, the center continues to focus on pro-action rather than on reaction.

SIATC continues to maintain zero-tolerance for substance abuse through the following procedures: Unpredictable urinalysis testing; increased strip searches and effective pat-down searches; increased K-9 unit searches; increased spot checks at program sites, leave sites and independent release time (IRT) sites; increased perimeter searches and unpredictable rounds by staff to supplement security counts; the focus on unusual and less obvious inmate behavior; assurance that orientation includes the clear message that there is zero tolerance for substance abuse at the SIATC; unpredictable staff movement within and outside the facility to better monitor inmate behavior; and stricter guidelines on IRT and leave movement. The result of this on-going intensified security has been a lower percent of incidents and fewer positive test results.

SIATC staff has had the opportunity to work more closely with other correctional facilities within District 4. The Menard Correctional Center staff has provided extra security when an inmateÕs pre-release status has been revoked. SIATC staff has received hands-on experience in preparing violators for transport.

The Pinckneyville Correctional Center allows the SIATC to use its maintenance craft personnel to provide equipment maintenance. They also provide annual cycle training to SIATC staff.

New Technology and Automated Enhancements

Over the past year, center staff has continued to develop working skills on the computer LAN system. The ability to use the system effectively has increased the efficiency and productivity of SIATC employees by providing them access to the drug intervention, institutional graphics, key and lock, vehicle maintenance programs and other client/server applications available on the IDOC system. Employee knowledge has increased in the areas of storing and retrieving forms and documents. They are better able to communicate via Outlook with center employees and other IDOC personnel.

Photo ID equipment was installed at SIATC during FY 2003 and training was provided to the designated Photo ID coordinator. Staff and inmate IDs can now be taken and updated at the facility.

Conclusion

FY 2003 was a challenging year for everyone with several key staff taking advantage of the Early Retirement Incentive. The center is fortunate to have a solid core of professional staff and many veteran employees who have made this transition well. They have demonstrated their ability to maintain a positive attitude and professional standards while working tirelessly to get the job done. The skills and experience of the SIATC staff have allowed the center to continue to function at a peak level while maintaining the safety and security of the facility.