2019 ACA Boston Program Book_149th Congress of Correction

issues. The addition of licensed master social workers to the VRTP has added the element of structured therapeutic intervention and a level of highly skilled facilitation of a new veteran’s curriculum which includes a module on trauma-informed care for combat vets which helps to identify the possible connection between certain traumatic events and their own present-day behaviors. The veteran is encouraged to use this insight as motivation to develop tools for effective self-management of the symptoms. Additionally, Groveland correctional facility has a program called Shelter Pups and Inmate Rehabilitation and Integration Training (S.P.I.R.I.T.), a program where veteran inmate handlers and their assigned dogs participate in a six-week training program to achieve Canine Good Citizen Completion. The goal of the program is to provide training for the dogs that will make them more easily adopted and match them with the appropriate adoptive environment. Objectives: Participants will learn the origin/history of the NYSDOCCS Incarcerated Veterans Program; participants will understand the three levels of Veterans Services provided by NYSDOCCS; and participants will understand how NYSDOCCS identifies veterans, determines facility placement and provides case management of veterans under DOCCS custody. Moderator: Melanie S. Rodriguez, Assistant Director, Office of Guidance and Counseling, NYSDOCCS, Albany, New York Speakers: Zackary C. Clark, Offender Rehabilitation Coordinator, NYSDOCCS, Gouverneur, New York, New York; John P. Darcy, Guidance Specialist for Veterans Affairs, NYSDOCCS, Albany, New York

A-3F New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervisions Incarcerated

Veterans Program Room 201 The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS) would like to discuss and share information about our Incarcerated Veterans Program. In 1986, there were limited program opportunities available at a few correctional facilities for inmates with veteran status to address their veteran-specific needs. Since that time, the NYSDOCCS Incarcerated Veterans Program has evolved into a comprehensive program that is administered on three levels. The three-level program provides veterans under DOCCS custody with the opportunity to acquire viable assistance to address their needs. The benefits of specialized veterans programming have produced impressive results. It provides veterans an opportunity to address their particular needs within a correctional setting that fosters communal support. It also provides them with the opportunity to develop an awareness of the many benefits, entitlements and resources available to them as a veteran of the United States Armed Forces, further providing them with community reintegration planning. It involves the incorporation of resources from other state and federal agencies that provide services to veterans, such as the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the New York State Division of Veterans Affairs and the New York State Department of Labor, to form a sustainable continuum of assistance for program participants. The Level III Veterans Residential Therapeutic Program (VRTP) facilities are strategically located within the department to provide optimal services to all qualified veterans in accordance with available resources, offering veterans the opportunity to be housed together in residential settings to provide a healing and peaceful environment so they can safely address their service related

Workshops Saturday, Aug. 3 t 2–3:30 p.m.

A-3G Post-Secondary Education Start Up within Level 5 Correctional Setting Room 203

The inability of the majority of people in prison to access

post-secondary education is viewed as a barrier that contributes to higher recidivism rates. Post-secondary

72 — ACA 149 th Congress of Correction