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| Health care and sun highlight winter event |
| By Sarah Etter, News Reporter |
| Published: 02/05/2007 |
The recent American Correctional Association conference showcased a new focus on health care, which included the debut of a certified nurse program. Many attendees reported that the sweet sunshine of Tampa, Florida made the trek to the conference even more worthwhile than previous years. Corrections.com spoke with Ric Lanham of the “60 Days and You're Out” program, Eileen Baker, a deaf and hard of hearing consultant, and RapiScan Systems advertising and exhibitions manager Andrea Forconi for the scoop on the event.
Corrections.com: How many years have you been attending ACA conferences? Lanham: We started going in August of 2004. We've done three summer conferences and two winter conferences. We initially wanted to see what kind of comprehensive programs there were for inmates trying to re-enter society in relation to life skills and employment readiness. Since there wasn't anything, we were able to fill that slot. Baker: This is my fifth year. I keep going back for the opportunity to network with fabulous people involved in corrections and the chance to share some of my work. I also go to learn a lot of the best practices for corrections. Forconi: We have been attending for more than ten years. In the past couple of shows I've attended, this show by far was the best one we've been to as far as lead generation and everything else, including attendance. It was really amazing, I couldn't believe it. CC: What did you like the best? Lanham: This year, I liked the layout of the hall. It enabled us to talk to all of the people we really wanted to talk to about our programs. This was our most productive of all the conferences we've attended. I can't say that was because of the size of the crowd; it just might have been that we've been there enough to know what we needed to do on the front-end. This one was just great for us. Baker: I really enjoyed being able to sit in on the session with the Acting Surgeon General who spoke about a call to action on health care and about health care literacy. I felt that was such an important topic and that's an area I will do further research on. Forconi: The conference was better this year because it was in a warm climate! There were people from all over the United States and last year, there weren't as many people. This brought a lot of people to the show, for a warmer climate especially for people from Colorado, for example. It was definitely a better opportunity than in the past. It's just great for us to meet with wardens and decision makers in the corrections industry that we wouldn't normally see on a regular basis. CC: Anything you would like to see changed? Lanham: Ninety-five percent of the people at the conference had to do with food service, locks, chains, that kind of thing. It was all stuff to make people comfortable during incarceration and very little is geared towards preparing people to leave. This is costing us $182 billion a year in recidivism, so I would like to see more focus on rehabilitation. Baker: I really have no complaints about the conference this year! The ACA is the top non-profit organization in the U.S. that addresses corrections from a perspective of first-time attendees all the way to the more sessions participants. They recognize people will be taking advantage of their sessions and come in with a variety of experiences. That organization is so embracing to everyone in corrections and is so eager to share their experiences with everyone. There is also an opportunity to go to the vendors and I think that aspect helps people to learn about some of the private, state and government involved in corrections. You get a nice balance of professional presentations addressing issues and taking a look at private, state and federal industries better addressing corrections from a business perspective with books, food services and anything you can imagine. It's a great balance. Forconi: Day two is usually pretty dead for us. There were prize drawings every hour, but I think the second day should have been beefed up a little. That would be the only change to me. It was really well organized. The ACA is always really helpful and everything was the way it should have been. It was just a good venue, and a good show. I can't really say anything negative. CC: Did any of the events really stand out? What did you leave with? Lanham: When you attend a conference, go with a mindset for the future. I don't mean that in relations to future conferences. There is such an old mind set of lock em up and leave em in corrections, but the trend is starting to shift and as it does re-entry and transition will be crucial. Go to these conferences with a mindset of how best to serve your staff, your inmates and your community so offenders don't come back to your facility. Baker: I taught a session about deaf and hard of hearing inmates. I always find that my sessions are very well attended and I meet a tremendous amount of people that are really looking to change the delivery of programs and services for special needs offenders. That's my area of expertise in terms of having people better understand Americans with disability Act and how to educate them. This year's session was very interesting because I addressed chaplains for the first time. That was new for them; it was a chance to speak to individuals who you might not think their roles and responsibilities might not fall in certain areas but in fact, they do overlap. It helps people rethink things. Forconi: This is definitely a worthwhile conference. The warm weather sealed the deal though! I would recommend this conference to others and I have. |
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