Marquette Branch Prison Employee Town Hall

On Thursday, December 3, Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington had the opportunity to speak with current staff from both Marquette Branch Prison and the surrounding Parole and Probation offices. Staff who took part in Thursday’s virtual meeting brought a lot of great questions to the table, and we hope they will help provide answers for staff across the state.

Is there still a hiring freeze? Will non custody staff openings be approved to be filled any time soon?

· Director Washington — yes there is a hiring freeze. However, we are still filling positions through a process where positions need to be submitted to the State Budget Office for approval. We do have a blanket exception for Corrections Officers, Healthcare, and Food Service employees.

What is the plan for retaining staff when the private sector is as competitive. Benefits and Mandatory overtime are a problem.

· Director Washington — We are working on retention strategies and understand that the times we are living in now are not the times of the past and we have to adapt to be competitive. We have several generations working together and are driven by different things. One of the objectives in our Strategic Plan was to create the Wellness Unit to focus on staff wellness. Many of the people on this screen have made a career out of working for this department and have an opportunity to make a difference with the staff coming in and we are definitely open to suggestions that staff have. The department also just implemented a new exit survey process through survey monkey so that we can learn from the feedback and try to reduce the number of departures.

· Deputy Director Bush — This is truly something that we discuss all the time: Recruiting staff and retaining them. We lost a staff member today that chose a different job because of mandates. It is a tough position to be in. It is an effort by all of us to be talking to staff as it really takes a team to keep our staff numbers where they need to be. If you have any suggestions, we are certainly open to it.

MBP currently has 41 officer vacancies with more retirements on the horizon. Has a determination been made about how many officers might be allocated for MBP out of the next UP Academy?

· Director — We just had a meeting on this today. There is not a determination on the exact number. The message I gave recruitment staff is to hire as many staff as you can until vacancies are filled. We do have a budget and have to live within that however we are running quarterly academies so we are continually recruiting and hiring and that is something you can count on. So, Warden and staff, go out and recruit your friends and family.

Has there been any thought about allowing, on a voluntary basis, non-custody staff without prior custody experience to fill open custody shifts that management deems appropriate to help alleviate mandates of custody staff? Maybe in positions where they are partnered with a custody officer. Of course, this would be during the non-custody staffs non-working hours.

· Director Washington — Up to this point in our efforts to recruit assistance to the various facilities we have found staff with prior custody experience. We have P.A. 415 which requires Corrections Officers to be certified. While volunteers may not have current certification, they were previously certified. We have not entertained the idea of staff that do not have prior custody experience.

· Jonathan Patterson — To ensure safety, we want people with that prior training and experience before placing them in those positions.

Will the COVID vaccine be offered on site for employees when it becomes available?

· Director Washington — We are in the process of planning for the vaccine and we do not know for sure yet. It is one of the options that is being discussed. There are a lot of rules that go along with the prescribers administering the vaccine and so we are still not clear if it will be on site or at a local hospital. Some of our facility Wardens have been contacted by local hospitals that are trying to determine if they should include our staff with their hospital staff when vaccinating but that has not happened statewide. There are also different tiers for the priority, and we are discussing that and where we fit in. As soon as we have answers to these questions, we will share them in the nightly update and the newsletter.

Why are all vendors that enter our facilities not being rapid tested prior to entry?

· Director Washington — There are a limited number of vendors allowed on site at this time. We do require them to be in the testing cycle with our staff when they are on site. We have a limited supply of the BiNax cards that are being used for the rapid testing and we do not know how many more we will be able to receive so we are monitoring that supply closely.

Will the transcript of this townhall meeting be available when the meeting is over?

· Chris Gautz — Yes it will. The transcript will be shared for staff that were not able to join either tomorrow or Saturday.

· Warden Huss — There are individuals that called in, so they are not able to type their questions into the comments. I do copy what the Director has said as we did not realize how much was going to need to be decided and happen on the fly and am amazed at how our staff reacted and handled it. Also, staff came to help from all over the state and merged with our staff working seamlessly. Most staff are back to work now. I thank our staff, the volunteers and leadership for acting fast and getting us help.

One Complaint that I was called about was Mr. Gautz going on TV-6 making statements that MBP staff brought COVID into the prison. maximum security prisoners had heard via their TV’s which caused some anger from the prisoners toward staff. The public across the Upper peninsula has caused a variety of problems for staff, such as refused flu shots, Children’ were asked to leave school because their parents work there. please keep in mind information the department gives on local TV is also seen by our peers and Prisoners. can a statement like “No comment” or “ we will look into it further”

· Director Washington — I want to say that throughout this pandemic there have been many, many media inquiries and it has been very stressful. It was never Chris’ intent to place blame and if anyone was offended by that, I apologize. We are one team working together and when people look at what is happening with the spread; what happens in the community, happens in our department. Our staff are doing a tremendous job trying to protect everyone.

· Chris Gautz — In all the interviews that I do, especially in the last few months I talk about how amazing our staff are and how hard they are working. Unfortunately, when you say something positive it sometimes is not reported. I have heard of an instance of an employee whose daycare was not going to let them bring their children because of COVID in the facility and I talked to media outlets in Marquette about that and how unfair that was advocated for businesses to support our prison staff, and not unfairly deny them services. Daily I talk about the great things that our staff are doing.

· Warden Huss — Some of the things that staff are not hearing or seeing is the support we have received from our local health department and local hospital who have been praising us for how we are managing our population through this. After that interview was published the health department and hospital reached out sharing that the news report was not fair to what we are doing at our facility. There is has been assistance from the community and the hospital such as testing our volunteers. The hospital reached out to see what they could do to help us. They reached out because they view us as an important part of this community, and they appreciated how we handled this and protected the community.

Considering the budget situation and the inmate population decline, are we looking at another facility closure?

· Director Washington — As part of the budget signed on September 28, 2020, the closure of the Detroit Reentry Center (DRC) is scheduled to take place in January. Macomb Correctional Facility is opening a unit to take the parole violators and the offenders on dialysis will go to Woodland Correctional Facility. I cannot tell you if there will be another closure, but I can tell you that the department is heavily invested in education and training and delivering evidence-based programs. The result is that offenders are getting out, being productive and staying out. That is success and that results in a declining prison population and low recidivism rate. So, I do not know when another closure might happen, but offender success is our state goal.

Is there any way to talk to legislators to give the newer staff back retirement healthcare or any lost benefits that could help retain staff?

· Director Washington — That is a question for as long as I have been with the department, staff have raised. You are right, that is a legislative decision and it is talked about. I do not see it coming back with the current financial situation the state is in.

· Jonathan Patterson — It has been discussed quite frequently with claims of retention in state government overall. It has been brought forth to legislature several times. It is a legislative act, and we do not have the authority to make that decision. Even in the private sector they have gone away due to how unsustainable it is. We have no authority to bring that back.

What if any avenues does MDOC have to “sweeten the pot” to help with recruitment?

· Jonathan Patterson — As far as “sweeten the pot” I would take that as compensation. Wages are negotiated with the Office of State Employer and the bargaining unit and those decisions are largely based upon budgetary constraints not only to the MDOC but also to the State of Michigan budget. We do look at creative ways to try and benefit employees not only to come to the department but to be retained by the department. We are in a cycle where we will be going to the bargaining table again this summer as the bargaining agreements end 2021.

· Director Washington — Since I have come on board as the Director, one of my main areas of focus has been Recruitment. One of the things we wanted to do was get our academy back. I think it is really important for our department to be looked at as a career and having our own academy and a professional place to hold our training and showcase our history with memorabilia and showcase those that have come before and our accomplishments.

There was no Employee Recognition Banquet this year; has there been any thought to having another type of event, possibly virtual like the academy graduations to recognize this past year’s nominees?

· Director Washington — We just talked about this, this week. Due to COVID we thought we would just delay the banquet and now months later, we still cannot hold it. We discussed next year’s banquet today and a decision has not been made. If you are willing to help us plan a virtual event, we would accept your help with that (Warden Huss indicated there were people at MBP that would like to assist). I am also excited about the opportunity to have a place to showcase our memorabilia and history and honor the accomplishments of those who have come before us.

Can it be brought to the legislators and Governor Whitmer’s attention that there is difficulty recruiting for the MDOC because of the huge differences in what each state employee has. For instance. I have the pension and retirement healthcare. where someone who was hired a month ago does not. This has turned the MDOC a job and not a career. I believe that the corrections appropriation committee could help with this as well.

· Director Washington — Recruitment and retention is in our Strategic Plan and an EPIC team was created to make improvements and enhancements in our recruitment process. I have also testified in front of Legislature regarding these challenges along with some of the unions. There is a lot of public dialogue around this. There has to be movement in Legislature, but you also have to have money for funding. I understand the desire of staff and others to bring back the pension, but we would have to be able to pay for it and not put future generations of the state into debt. Deputy Director Marlan — FOA recruitment has not been so much of an issue as we post positions and receive 200–300 applicants. We also talk to them about other opportunities within the department when people apply. There are opportunities in different areas of this department to do other things and that is appealing to applicants.

Deputy Director Marlan — We currently have 16 FOA staff that are working on their caseloads during the day and working nightshift at Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility and this has helped prevent mandates. We also have FOA staff living out of hotels and helping at Brooks and Kinross Correctional Facility. These staff started their careers working at the facilities and have custody experience.

You keep saying invest in the staff. I feel most staff do not feel that way. They feel left out and isolated in most cases. What can be done to change the culture.

· Director Washington — We have had a number of employee surveys and read the feedback, take it to heart and try to make improvements to our operations based off the feedback. One thing we have heard it we need to invest more in training and bring back in person training. We listened to those comments and brought back more classroom training. We have invested in employee engagement and have done more to incorporate staff in more areas of the department. We are listening to staff ideas and are trying to incorporate them. Also, communication, you mention isolated; we are communicating more than ever with the podcast, newsletter, daily news update and townhalls. I think it is important that we promote the department in a positive way. I am always looking for ways to promote the positive things going on.

What about bringing back the Resident Unit Officer position (RUO)? Or is that something that Civil Service does? It seems to create a career path. Also, could we have an EPIC committee look at creating a mentoring program? Perhaps employee mentoring would help and might be low cost.

· Jonathan Patterson — The elimination of the RUOs was not done by Civil Service, but when I think about career paths, there are many opportunities through the custody and non-custody ranks for Corrections Officers. The elimination of the RUO was done by the prior previous administration.

· Director Washington — There is a Strategic Plan objective regarding mentoring and there is going to be an EPIC team. I can keep your name for the list of possible people for the EPIC team if you are interested in being on it.

One other question the members have asked is about an incentive-based thing they do on the job. For instance, to be on ERT, Cell extraction teams, handgun holders could be paid more since they are risking more. They are paid the same as everyone else and due to these necessary needs of the Prison/Facility. The danger/ Risks are exponentially raised during these times.

· Director Washington — I think you are asking for monetary incentives. That is an area that would need to be bargained for.

· Jonathan Patterson — Staff working in a facility receive prison pay which is negotiated by the unions so anything else above and beyond the rate of pay would have to be negotiated.

One thing I hear from many people in the department, is that they feel the prisoners have more rights than staff do. This seems to negatively affect staff morale. Staff are nitpicked for interactions with prisoners and feel they are not supported by the department. In my six years with the department, I have noticed prisoners are far less disciplined and much bolder in their demands of staff.

· Deputy Director Bush — That is a matter of perspective. From my experience prisoners are in prison and there are all kinds of tools at our disposal for dealing with issues with the prisoners. I can see where staff might be frustrated by investigations and hearings in dealing with prisoners. We have many tools we can use to treat offenders professionally when issues come up. When it comes to staff, it is important to treat each other respectfully.

· Director Washington — In regard to your comment that staff are nitpicked for interactions with prisoners I would like to say that people come to prison for crimes they have committed in society and not for additional punishment. We do have an obligation to treat them fairly and provide them access to healthcare and programming. A lot of time we spend defending situations that occur where people have had interactions with offenders where there is an accusation of inappropriate conduct. We need to continue to invest in training and changing the culture in how we view offenders and how we can do our job better. We need to be concerned with treating everybody respectfully both prisoners and staff.