Over the next few days Corrections.com editor Jim Montalto will be writing from the ACA's 136th Congress of Correction being held in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Tuesday, August 15th

Toothpaste, a toothbrush,  a barrier ointment to help heal skin irritation, one orange and two blue squishy balls, an aqua couch-shaped squishy thing, magnets, a free bible, a magnetic note holder, a large orange note block and a small oval container of Edy's Dibs ice cream were today's takeaway items. The squishy toys were from risk management and mental health companies, naturally.  The free bibles were from a New York City organization that gives the books away to facilities nationwide. "Please take a bible, and also judge our bible tower building design," a representative enthusiastically suggests as I pass his display. It was quiet near the religious/volunteerism area, so to kill some time the bible guys built spiraling towers with their book surplus.

While impressed, I skip comment and headed to the half-built dome that was a few booths away. Domes International is busy pitching Florida and other states, the vendor tells me as he shows me what the white bubble design is made from. He says the material is virtually indestructible and airtight. It can't be burned or sawed through. It costs less and is quicker to build than conventional facilities or pods.  Noting that our voices are continually echoing around the sloped walls, I noted that it also offers a wonderful acoustical setting. No takeaways from the dome guy, but for those looking for a quick, inexpensive solution to overcrowded facilities, Domes International could have something to offer.

"Prison Research: Wisdom from the Trenches" starts the day's workshops. Dr. Jim Thomas, a professor at Northern Illinois University discusses the times he was at odds with his local prison facilities because they wouldn't provide information or help with his prison research. But times and his perception of corrections have changed. He says he re-examined his expectations and the way he was communicating with facilities.

As he improved his communication, he realized the DOCs were willing to cooperate with him. Other speakers, two from the North Carolina DOC, supported the professor's comments saying they want to provide information about their facilities. They realize research can only help them improve, but they need thorough communication and advanced notice about what researchers, students and journalists need. More DOCs are opening their doors to the media and the public, and this forum's panel hopes more continue to do so. It only makes sense. If DOCs want to promote the good they do, they should be more inviting. Even a negative experience that would normally get major media attention can be overshadowed if the public also has a chance to see the positives accomplished by programs and practitioners.

A tour of Charlotte's Mecklenburg central detention center aptly followed the research workshop. Our light-hearted, joking group of visitors became more and more somber as they progressed through the very quiet and very clean facility. Sergeant Clarkson took us to the basement where new offenders were being processed. I had never been in a correctional facility and I didn't know what to expect, but a sense of seriousness and at times, complete dread overtook me. I didn't know what to do when I saw the center's newest residents. Do I look at those being processed? Do I ignore them? The offenders didn't seem to care either way. Some seemed to be in a drug-induced daze. Others took being fingerprinted and processed as just another part of their day. Still others joked around. Their reactions confused me. I didn't see the fear, sorrow or remorse I thought I'd feel if I were in their position.

Most of the pods were in lockdown, so few inmates were out of their cells, except the ones that didn't have a cell because of overcrowding Mecklenburg was beginning to experience.  Lockdown occurs after each meal to provide time to clean the area. As we entered one pod, heads popped to the vertical slice of window in each door.  It was hard to concentrate on Sergeant Clarkson's description of the pod when it felt like 60 eyes were focused on you. One inmate with a severely crazed look in his eyes kept pressing his head to his window. Despite the open space, every time I noticed his stare I felt the pods giant cream concrete walls close in a bit more. Despite the presence of three officers, I was truly glad that this pod and its inmates were in lockdown.

On the ride home, a prison system official from Singapore told me she manages five facilities each holding about 3,000 inmates. It was hard to imagine the difficulties her officers faced each day after seeing what this center's officers had to deal with from their 1,800 offenders. But one thing was for sure, the takeaway I'll remember most from this conference is today's experience at Mecklenburg.

Monday, August 14th

It's almost noon here and the exhibit floor is humming with vendors, some wanting to be noticed, others so used to the crowd and event that it seems like another day at the office. The Norix guys confidently show off their nearly-indestructible furniture. Across the way MHM Services discusses its outsourcing mental health solution, as Modeling Solutions talks about its risk assessment strategy.  It's almost as if the vendors are positioned according to corrections (or perhaps offender) need. If inmates can't understand the furniture they're trying to destroy won't ever break, maybe the mental health folks at MHM can help. 

Heery International, sponsor of the event lanyard, and correctional facility architecture giant, gives out little yellow trucks by their somewhat understated booth.

For the most part there is a congenial feel in the air. Maybe it stems from the comfort people feel when they're with one of their own. After all, everyone here is attached in some way. They're either trying to alleviate the stress and difficulty that comes from working in the corrections industry or they're searching for solutions to improve the lives of the people who make their jobs challenging in the first place.  It's this idea that seems to wear through the smiles of these professionals once the light hearted-conversation ends and discussion about real life problems and solutions begin.

Here, a general appreciation and understanding exists among attendees, vendors and other visitors that the entire conference is centered on solutions to care for and control some of the most difficult people alive.

One corrections officer told me her job is relatively stress-free “unless the inmates decide to make your life difficult, which can happen at any time and any day. Then it's the most stressful job you've ever seen, and you're never going to know when that will happen.” Maybe she was trying to be nice about the stress-free part.

On my escalator ride down to the enormous exhibit hall, I pass baseball legend Pete Rose. As I caught his eye, I wonder if I'm the only one here who thinks it's ironic that Pete Rose is at an event for the corrections industry.  

Upstairs, workshops abound. Each one hits home that corrections is a difficult industry, but as a group these practitioners have worked hard at improving it for their inmates, their practitioners and for their communities. Although, not all were like as upbeat. Some plainly spoke about how hard and very unpredictable the profession can be. 

During a workshop called “Treating the Untreatable and the Undesirables of the Correctional,” moderator Dr. James Carter spares no expense describing ghastly acts that inmates, who seem to exhibit normal behavior, have inflicted upon themselves.

He speaks of borderline personality offenders who are causing grief and confusion among mental health practitioners these days because no one really seems to know what to do with them.  Carter blames managed care for forcing a cheap solution in a field where none can really exist if mentally unstable people are to be helped.

Good news was abundant too.

George Sweat, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, states that his programs helped reduce the number of juvenile offenders. When current trends point to building bigger correctional institutions, his department opted for smaller facilities closer to communities, so juveniles could be near family. They've improved risk and needs assessment programs and their treatment programs too. Sweat says the biggest challenge now for these kids is providing the proper mental health support to those who need it.

Most in the audience nodded in agreement. And they weren't the only ones discussing this issue. The words “mental health needs” echoed through the convention center halls as I passed workshop after workshop.