WILL THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AUGMENT PRISONER AND PAROLEE PROGRAMMING AND SUPPORT SERVICES BY UTILIZING PRISONERS AS PEER SUPPORT SPECIALISTS TO CONSERVE RESOURCES?
- Kevin L. Tower
- Feb 28
- 2 min read
#MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness #Depression #Healing #Hope #Faith #Prayer #Resilience #Survivor #LifeStory
Cognitive Behavioral Coaching can be done by peer support specialist to augment staff and conserve resources within the Michigan Department of Corrections. A common example of a peer support specialist might be akin to an AA sponsor. Another example would be someone who experiences mental illness and overcomes it, then utilizing their experience with additional training, to help their peers by becoming peer support specialist. Prisoners within the Michigan Department of Corrections, if carefully screened and trained, could provide peer support to other prisoners and parolees. Augmenting staff resources with prisoner peer support specialist could be an efficient and effective way to give prisoners and parolees greater and quicker access to programming and support services. This would be a cost and staff sparing move. No current jobs within the MDOC would be lost due to this program.
How this might work, is by converting a temporary facility into a peer support center. The prisoner population would be downsized at the facility. Then converting a building currently used for housing into a peer support center, or prisoner/parolee success peer support center. Then downsizing the number of prisoners housed at the facility by half. This would provide honor housing units to prisoners who work as peer support specialist or who would be in training to become one.
The peer support center, would utilize videoconferencing or video chat software to communicate with any prisoner or parolee in the State of Michigan. Prisoners would utilize tablets to communicate with the peer support center. Parolees would be provided a phone or tablet depending on the services needed to communicate with the peer support center.
The prisoners who work as peer support specialist would be carefully screened, trained and supervised by MDOC staff. The services the peer support center could offer coaching and tutoring in are: 1) violence prevention, 2) sexual abuse prevention, 3) domestic violence prevention, 4) substance abuse prevention, 5) life skills management, and 6) mental health support.
The prisoner/parolee success peer support center would help set a National Standard in augmenting correctional staff. There are currently, staff shortages within the Michigan Department of Corrections and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Converting an existing temporary facility to a prisoner/parolee success peer support center, would reduce the staff necessary to operate the facility and reward the prisoners who work as peer support specialist by giving them honor housing.
The Michigan Department of Corrections has been working to set National trends in Corrections and has already set a standard in requiring staff to wear body cams. The MDOC will have to consider whether they are going to set the standard by developing a prisoner/parolee success peer support center.
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