The Oregon DOC behavioral services department takes on the challenge of managing “untreatable in-betweens” and succeeds.

Classifying inmates based on their behavior and offense for the most part may seem fairly straightforward. The violent criminal prone to fighting with fellow inmates should be taken to maximum security or solitary confinement. On the other hand, the guy who hoots like an owl, eats his shoes and claims that the Queen of England is his savior surely has a one-way ticket to the nearest mental facility.

But what about the guy who is big and dangerous, is infirmed and needs constant access to medical care, might be developmentally disabled, and is in protective custody? Lonny Webb, behavior services and risk assessment program coordinator for the Oregon DOC, has been searching for a way to appropriately place these offenders who don't quite fall into any one definitive category.

“Corrections likes to have particular segments for certain types of offenders, but what about the ones who fall between the cracks?” Webb asks.

Like other behavioral service departments, Webb examines factors like personality, criminal history, substance abuse, state of health, the most recent crime committed, and an offender's environment including the type of inmates he will live with, to determine inmate behavior. He has enhanced this process creating an innovative risk assessment and management strategy that can be used by every department that might be in contact with these “in-between” offenders.

“There are different types of assessments that have already been performed on the mentally ill to predict future violence, and these studies have been standardized. Now, we're doing investigations based on these assessments upon inmate intake and during an inmate's stay to determine not only how dangerous they are but also to find the best way to handle them,” he explains.

Webb says ORDOC facilities, specifically his supermax, hold many mentally ill inmates who have severe behavioral problems, like indulging in self mutilation. This erratic behavior can create an out-of-control atmosphere that disturbs and distracts inmates and officials.

“But, states in general aren't offering money for more programs to deal with these types,” he says. “Although, one idea is to build more prisons; this doesn't work because it doesn't alleviate the problem of managing these inmates.”

“We just don't have enough special housing for all the people that present a high risk from a security management perspective either, adds Arthur Tolan, ORDOC's corrections treatment services administrator. “If you try to address this issue with housing, you can never find enough secure cells to deal with all those who pose a security threat. So, what can you?”

Tolan's answer is using the right risk assessment tools to create an offender management plan. This begins with an mental health evaluation for new inmates to find those who suffer from mental disorders or serve as a threat to others. Webb then creates a risk profile by looking at nine different characteristics that affect behavior, some of which include: developmental disability, history of sex offense, physical size, the ability or willingness to fight, and overall aggressiveness. He also performs a vulnerability risk appraisal. This helps him decide which offenders might be a target for violence, a big concern and focus since the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003.

“The important part that we're doing, which I have not heard of others doing, is that these assessments aren't the end of our contact with the inmate,” Tolan explains.

“We're actually coordinating with various sections of the prison,” adds Webb. “Normally, the mental health department would do an assessment, hand it off and then leave. Through our method, we identify who's vulnerable and then we teach staff what to do with certain offenders once they notice if a guy's vulnerable or if he's exhibiting certain aggressive traits.”

For a more vulnerable inmate, for example, Webb might recommend moving his cell closer to staff, making him less accessible to predators. He would also recommend certain programs, or classes that can increase the inmate's ability to help him observe other offenders around him and provide the skills to make him less vulnerable.

“We will then ask corrections counselors, religious staff, security, and officials in other sections around the prisons to participate in this plan to help manage this case. The idea is that if everyone pitched in a little we could all handle this inmate,” says Tolan.

Tolan and Webb have found that their risk assessment plan not only addresses the vulnerable and the aggressors, but also a risk group that makes corrections particularly nervous - those inclined to harm themselves. They have some data and recommendations on how to protect this group, and they are currently researching how facilities can help decrease the risk of suicide.

“Typical statistics for people considering suicide include those who are white males, age 45 to 50, and who have recently experienced divorce, or a death of a loved one,” Tolan explains. “In prison, this is different. It's not the old guy. It's the young one who has a five to ten year sentence, who is mentally ill and is in maximum custody.”

Their research also showed that moving these offenders often increases the chance of them hurting or killing themselves. So, they spoke with officials about making the necessary changes in their housing, programs and routines.

“Taking this research and communicating it facility-wide has already benefited us. Inmate time in intensive management units has decreased dramatically. It usually costs us thousands of dollars a month in medical expenses for offenders who hurt themselves, but this has decreased. In terms of suicide behavior, in the last year we have seen a 35 to 45 percent decrease in attempts. This is outstanding considering how costly it can be to deal with them,” says Tolan.

“The long term effect of using this planned approach is our ability to manage an increasingly difficult population with about the same resources,” Webb adds.

Both say their strategy's success depends on the active participation of every department, from health and religious services to counselors and workforce development. This is crucial because all those interacting with these inmates will know how to observe them and will have the proper tools to best manage them.

“Having this plan successfully work in our facility really is a message of optimism,” Webb says. “We're given any amount of variables on an individual and we have been able to come up with answers on dealing with them. Often we've been told there's nothing we can do with people like this, but we've been able to find ways.”

“And there's no better payoff then to have staff come up to us and say ‘this guy is really doing well.' Once people start seeing these kind of results, they're sold that this works,” says Tolan.

Bottom Line: A risk assessment management plan that is applied and communicated to other departments can be a successful strategy in dealing with unmanageable offenders or those that don't fit into one specific category.

Contact Lonny Webb, at the ORDOC's Behavior Services and Risk Assessment Counseling and Treatment Services for more information, 503.385.7019