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 Sharing Our Stake in Maryland's Public Safety | May 2011 |
The Public Safety Stakeholder
 An E-publication of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services for our Criminal Justice and Community Partners |
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Did You See Us
In The News?
Recent sightings of our public safety efforts in your local media are updated daily on the DPSCS homepage
Recent headlines:
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DPSCS' mission is to protect the public, our employees and those under our supervision.
Governor Martin O'Malley Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown
DPSCS Secretary Gary D. Maynard
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 | Offenders nearing their release from the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women are getting a head start on job hunting through a new career lab
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This Month's Featured Stories:
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 | keeping communities safe |
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New Offender Case Management System Improving Booking Process
The Booking Module, the first phase of a new Offender Case Management System that will create a single integrated file as offenders move through the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) was installed at our Division of Pretrial Detention and Services (DPDS) this past fall. Once complete, this first of its kind web-based solution will allow the Department to more effectively manage offenders, in terms of both institutional security and program/rehabilitative services. Following implementation, improvements in the capture of data are already being seen by DPDS at Baltimore's Central Booking.
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 | believing in human capital |
One Stop Career Lab Takes the Job Hunt Behind Bars for Female Offenders
There are many resources out there for ex-offenders looking to find jobs. Job announcements are often posted on the internet for easy access and fast application - but what happens when a soon to be released offender wants to get a head start on the job hunt in an institution where the internet isn't available?
Females at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCIW) are one step closer to finding employment upon release thanks to a One Stop Computer Lab recently installed behind the fence. The small set-up of four computers came to fruition through input from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services' Information Technology Division, Division of Parole and Probation, MCIW and the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR).
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 | public safety works |
Farmfield Gleaning to Benefit the Poor
Among the many Public Safety Works projects DPSCS is looking into right now, farmfield gleaning is one of the most exciting. In various parts of Maryland, farmer coops and other groups are interested in letting non-profits like food banks glean crops from a portion of their farmland. They're talking about donating acreage which the non-profit can then use to fulfill its mission of feeding folks in these difficult economic times.
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New Offender Case Management System Improving Booking Process continued "Collecting more useful data and making the transmitting of that data more effective are the biggest improvements in the booking process so far," states Central Booking Warden Carolyn Scruggs. While there has been some adjustment to using the new system, which covers booking through intake for all arrests in the city of Baltimore, Warden Scruggs believes it's only what you'd expect when implementing a new system into a real-life setting. In addition to being installed at Baltimore's Central Booking, the only local pretrial system run by a state agency, the Department's Information Technology Division also implemented remote booking locations at seven Baltimore City Police Districts and the downtown stadiums for quick access to arrest information on those being brought to Central Booking.
Offenders will now have one electronic file as they move from pretrial status to corrections and onto community supervision. OCMS provides a "live" up-to-the-moment status on any offender, as well as the entire history of the offender's relationship with the Department. The system also has the potential to hook up to outside agencies, such as county detention centers and the courts, to make Maryland's criminal justice system more fluid across government borders.
Harford County is the first outside booking location to also switch to the OCMS - several more local county detention centers will begin using it this summer.
It keeps track of an offender record of programming accomplishments as they transfer from one institution to another or between agencies, ensuring people are correctly matched to the next step in the rehabilitation process. Conversely, information regarding assessments, infraction history, gang affiliation and security issues enables staff at new institutions to properly manage potentially dangerous offenders.
The second phase is the investigative module and is scheduled for completion by the end of the summer. The Division of Correction and Division of Parole and Probation modules will follow.
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One Stop Career Lab Takes the Job Hunt Behind Bars for Female Offenders continued
"Only a few women have come through the Lab as we get it up and running" states MCIW Lieutenant Nate' Denton. "Just this week though one of the women expressed how helpful it was and hopes to jumpstart her search for a job before she leaves the institution. That's what we hope all the women will take away - a sense of self-confidence that they can tackle the hurdles reentry throws at them." 
Women who can use the lab are those that are within 120 days of release. To get started, those that are enrolled in the institution's Employment Readiness Workshop are coming to the lab and learning from a DLLR instructor how to access websites and navigate the application process. Only four websites are accessible through the computers to maintain security, both Maryland and national job sites. The DLLR instructor also gives the women some resources to use once they are released, like the location of One Stop Centers in the area they will return to.
The program at MCIW is a pilot and will eventually be expanded to male institutions around the state.
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Farmfield Gleaning for the Poor continued
But who would pick all those acres of crops? The Public Safety Works initiative of DPSCS could use inmates nearing their release for such jobs---and help them feel like they are paying back the society they harmed. This project has the potential to do both in a big way. 
In recent weeks, Mr. John Rowley, Inmate Public Works Coordinator, has met with several groups interested in using inmates to plant, tend, and harvest crops that would then be given to non-profits to feed the poor. Any inmates eventually working a job like this would be low-security men or women in the last stages of their incarceration. On any given day, DPSCS has several hundred such inmates working meaningful projects all over Maryland. It's an exciting job skill for offenders in a state where farming is a large part of our economic landscape. It also has the potential for local food pantries, soup kitchens, and even large-scale food bank operations to get a boost in supplies to feed the poor.
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