CRJS450-IP2
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CRJS450-IP2 The vocational aspects of the prison are essential to ensuring the prison population is provided with the necessary skills to make positive changes in their lives instead of continuing to engage in criminal behavior. In order to provide the inmate with the necessary rehabilitative services and programs the prison will need to develop safety measures to limit the risk to the prison inmates as well as o the prison staff. Inmates should be proved with a secure location in which to engage in rehabilitative service and programs in order to ensure they can focus on making improvements in their life instead of worrying about their safety. Close security prisons typically are comprised of single cells and divided into cellblocks, which may be in one building or multiple buildings (NCDPS, 2012). This provides greater protection for the inmate and staff members. The cells and prison gates are controlled by guards that are in secure control station. In the closed prison the rehabilitative services should also be contained with only the inmates participating in the program as well as guards present at the program or services to ensure better safety measures. The programs and services should be closely monitored as well by guards in the secure control station. In order to ensure the safety of the inmate attending vocational programs and services inmates should only be allowed out of their cells to work or attend corrective programs to avoid inmate contact that could result in volatile situations. Another safety measure is to ensure the vocational or rehabilitative services involve small groups of inmates. Inmates provided with the services should not have a history of violence with other inmates and should not have had recent disciplinary action. Ensuring the safety of the prison guards and inmates should be the first goal of the vocational and rehabilitative services followed by providing the necessary skills and tools to the inmate to successful outside the prison environment. The changes that would need to be implemented to ensure the safety measure put into place are a successful is to first ensure all prison staff are properly trained on the safety measures put into place by the prison, increase staffing levels, and a restrictive environment in which to attend the vocation services. Employees should be trained on the culture of the prison, interactions with inmates and the leadership, and the goals and mission of the prison. Increasing staff levels especially during shift changes is essential to ensuring inmates and prison staff safety so in order to reduce the number of violent incidents during vocational and rehabilitative services shift changes should not occur when inmates are not in their cells or attending vocational programs. The prison should also hire strong staff commanders responsible for ensuring shift changes go smoothly and staff is adequately supervised. Lastly in order to ensure inmates and prison guards are safe while inmates are attending vocational and rehabilitative services they need to be provided with a restrictive learning environment (Immarigeon, 2008). Inmates attending these services should be closely monitored through video surveillance, guards physical present at the programs, and monitored by prison guards in a secure control station. Because inmates in a closed security are medium to high level inmates the rehabilitative services should occur after the inmates work day and during a time frame when less activity is occurring in the prison. Inmates should also be made aware of the potential consequences of engaging in disruptive behavior while attending vocational and rehabilitative services. Because in many cases inmates are required to fulfill certain vocational or rehabilitative programs or services in order to fulfill their obligation to the court the inability to fulfill these programs could result in a longer prison sentence. Inmates need to be made aware that one infraction will result in their inability to attend these services and these programs.

References
Immarigeon, R. (2008). Diversion Works: How Connecticut Can Downsize Prisons, Improve Public Safety and Save Money with a Comprehensive Mental Health and Substance Abuse Approach. Retrieved March 1, 2012 from http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/DiversionWorks.pdf
North Carolina Department of Public Safety (2012). Assigning Inmates to Prison. Retrieved March 1, 2012 from http://www.doc.state.nc.us/dop/custody.htm