Correctional Employee Wellness Monograph

Table 5

Region 1, all health education topics are provided but at less than 50% of agen- cies, with only 7% of agencies providing time management. The scan asked about primary respon- sibility for oversight of staff wellness programs and results are shown in Table 5. For Regions 2, 3 and 4, primary over- sight is most often human resources. In Region 1, the state secretary, director, or commissioner is most likely to have oversight. Results of regional funding sources are shown in Figure 8. Staff wellness programs in Region 1 are supported by the most sources of funding. Region 2 is the only region that is not funded by employee association or union funds. In Region 3, 63% of agencies report line item as the highest source of funding, at least 10% above all other regions, and Region 3 is least likely to receive fund- ing from discretionary funds. In Region 4, there is no reported grant funding for staff wellness programs. Discussion Data generated by this scan supports the importance of advancing employee wellness in the field of corrections. The results of this scan illustrate a number of important characteristics about the current approaches to providing correc- tional staff across the nation with much needed health and wellness support. Overall, a wide variety of staff well- ness programs are offered. On average, at least eight services are provided, although the range is broad. There still

Region 1 (n=13)

Region 2 (n=17)

Region 3 (n=18)

Region 4 (n=15)

All Regions (N=63)

Primary Oversight

Human Resources

31% 65% 50% 53% 51%

State Secretary, Director or Commissioner

46% 12% 22% 27% 25%

Sheriff

–

–

17% 7% 6%

Jail Administrator

–

–

–

–

–

Risk Management

0% 6% 6% 7% 6%

Wellness Committee

15% 6% 6% –

6%

Other Oversight

8% 12% –

7% 5%

Figure 8

Funding Sources

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

(n=14)

(n=19)

(n=19)

(n=15)

(n=45)

(n=22)

(N=67)

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Region 4

State

Local

Total

Line item

Facility operations External source

Discretionary funds

Grant

Employee association or union funds

Other source(s)

Regionally, services differ in number and type. Region 2 leads the nation in number of programs offered, with the majority of agencies there offering almost every program in question. Region 4 presented similar results with a wide variety of wellness programs offered by many agencies. Regions 1 and 3 do not provide as many correctional em- ployee wellness resources as the rest of the U.S. Notably,

exist both local and state agencies that lack any type of staff wellness resource. On the other hand, several agen- cies provide extensive programming covering many facets of health. Closing the gap in this spectrum will ensure all correctional professionals have sufficient access to neces- sary wellness resources.

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