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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRISON BOARD MINUTES July 2022 FRANKLIN COUNTY PRISON BOARD MINUTES Franklin County Administration Building July 12, 2022 Present: John Flannery, Commissioner Bob Ziobrowski, Commissioner Hon. Shawn Meyers, President Judge Dave Keller, Commissioner Harold Wissinger, Controller Bill Bechtold, Warden Doug Wilburne, Probation Chief Mark Singer, Court Administrator Geoffrey Willet, Probation Deputy Chief Ellen Eckert, Pre-Release Supervisor Jeffrey Scott, FCJ Deputy Warden Glenda Helman, Grants Director Michelle Weller, FCJ Deputy Warden Heather Franzoni, FCJ Deputy Warden Dan Brown, Grants Coordinator Tony Bowman, House of Hope I. The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Flannery at 8:30 AM. He reported that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections sent a letter to the Prison Board regarding the outcome of the jail’s state inspection. All standards were met or exceeded and the next inspection is scheduled for 2024. II Public Comment A. Tony Bowman made public comment to file a verbal complaint regarding the county’s relationship with the House of Hope (HOH). He stated that Adult Probation (APO) and Franklin/Fulton Single County Authority (SCA) are unfavorably biased against HOH. He said that he sent a letter in April to these county agencies and to county administration regarding the removal of HOH residents due to bed bugs. He said that HOH was accused of not taking action but they have proof that they did. He reported that $1500 was spent on bed bug treatments and no activity was found. Mr. Bowman stated that he has not met with APO since 2020 and has not received a response back to the letter sent in April. He said that Franklin Together was previously to supervise the HOH program but have removed support. He alleged that Franklin Together members threw away business paperwork when they came in to declutter the house. He also questioned a change made in the process that Franklin Together was to make payments to HOH. After Franklin Together removed the program, APO then sent notice that HOH would no longer be used as a home plan option for offenders on supervision. He said that even without the involvement of Franklin Together, Director Bernadette Bowman is able to provide programming to residents. Commissioner Flannery thanked Mr. Bowman for coming to express his concerns. He said that HOH would be provided a formal response from the agencies involved. III. Minutes for the May 2022 and June 2022 meeting were discussed. A. Commissioner Ziobrowski moved to accept the minutes, Controller Wissinger seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved. IV. Warden’s Report A. There were 157 commitments and 138 discharges in June. B. The average daily population was 291 with an average of 234 males and 57 females. C. The recidivism rate was 45% when looking at all new commitments and the recidivism rate was 35% when looking at those being held for trial only. D. At a snapshot view at the beginning of July there were 108 sentenced and 178 unsentenced inmates. There were 13 inmates on Approved Temporary Absence status. Twenty-nine were pending transfer to other facilities, with 27 of those pending transfer to SCI. E. There was $7,406 collected in total revenue for June. F. The average length of stay (ALOS) for those discharged in June was 92 days. G. There was one inmate housed in Centre. H. A breakdown of the demographic statistics for June indicated that males made up 75% of the population, 72% of the population were white, 39% of the population were between the ages of 26-39, 68% were single, 4% were military veterans and 85% had at least their high school diploma or GED. I. PrimeCare’s medical report was presented. There were 1079 sick calls. There were 18 outside medical appointments and eight trips to the ER. There were 781 mental health contacts. There were 47 inmates on suicide watch. Two inmates required 1:1 observation. There were two inmates at Torrance State Hospital. There were 10 participants in the Sex Offender’s Treatment Program. There were 50 in the Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) program. There were 186 on the MH caseload and an additional 48 with SMI diagnoses. There were 46 commitments placed on detox protocol. There were four pregnant inmates. Fifteen inmates were given the COVID vaccine. J. May 2022’s expenditures were discussed. K. Commissioner Keller moved to accept the Warden’s report, Controller Wissinger seconded the motion and the report was unanimously approved. V. Intermediate Punishment report A. The Community Release department received 47 intakes and had 44 releases. B. There were seven inmates placed in jobs. Commissioner Flannery asked about the low number of inmates on Work Release and Pre-Release Director Eckert answered that it was due to lower population numbers and due to the criteria from the jail regarding inmates’ eligibility for the program. C. There were 1457 hours of community service completed. D. The Pre-Trial Release program had 60 offenders. E. The Drug and Alcohol RIP/DCIP program had 71 offenders. There were nine successful discharges and one unsuccessful discharge. F. The Sexual Offender Program had 44. G. There were 30 offenders on the Mental Health caseload. H. The Electronic Monitoring Program had 20 offenders. I. There were 137 jail days saved by using the alternative sanctions of electronic monitoring (453 days), DCIP/D&A RIP (1522 days), intensive supervision (164 days) and pre-trial release (1972 days). J. There were 25 offenders detained in June and 17 given alternative sanctions. K. The Community Release Department collected $16,361 and the Probation Department collected $242,968. VI. Old Business A. Warden Bechtold provided a pandemic update. There is currently one staff member out on pandemic precautions and no inmates that are COVID positive. B. Warden Bechtold reported that staffing levels continue to be an issue and there are currently 14 vacancies. VII. New Business A. Warden Bechtold said that in addition to the jail receiving 100% compliance on its state inspection, PrimeCare Medical also received 100% compliance on their National Commission on Correctional Healthcare audit. B. Court Administrator Singer reported that President Judge Meyers wanted the board to know that Call of List proceedings at the jail have resumed in person. VIII. The next meeting is scheduled for August 9, 2022 at 8:30AM at the Franklin County Jail. Commissioner Flannery ended the meeting. Controller Wissinger moved to end the meeting, Commissioner Ziobrowski seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned.