Centre highlights correctional facility

PHOTO PROVIDED
Commissioners pose with county corrections employees after proclaiming May 5 to 11 as Corrections Employee Week. From left to right are Commissioner Amber Concepcion, Commissioner Chair Mark Higgins, Warden Glenn Irwin, Deputy Warden of Operations Michael Woods and Commissioner Steve Dershem.

BELLEFONTE — “I like to think we have one of the toughest jobs in Centre County. We’re one of the few departments that are open 24/7, 365 days a year, and we’re usually not dealing with happy clientele,” said Centre County Correctional Facility Warden Glen Irwin at the Board of Commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday.

The commissioners proclaimed May 5 to 11 as “Corrections Employee Week” in Centre County, to thank those working in the corrections system for their service and celebrate their contributions to a successful criminal justice system.

“It is a hard vocation to be in, but I think you all really are trying to do the best work that you can for those who are in a tough situation in their lives and getting onto a better track,” said Commissioner Amber Concepcion while applauding the county’s correctional workers’ dedication to their work.

Centre County’s correctional system employs the largest proportion of the nearly 600 employee county government workforce. The facility employs correctional officers, maintenance, food service personnel, administrators and counselors specializing in mental health and drug and alcohol abuse.

“We’re basically a self-sufficient city,” said Irwin.

“The employees we have there at the correctional facility are meeting people on some of their worst days in their lives and dealing with some pretty complex situations in terms of people’s past traumas and mental health concerns, potentially drug and alcohol concerns, and trying to get them to a point where, by the time they leave us, they are ready to be on a better track,” said Concepcion.

In early April, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency held their annual conference in State College, during which they gave out their Best Practices Award. Of the 67 advisory boards in contention for the award, Centre County’s Criminal Justice Advisory Board, which works closely with county corrections, was chosen for several of their initiatives to improve the county’s carceral system and reduce recidivism.

“We try to be proactive instead of reactive,” said Irwin. “Our facility offers a very wide variety of programming to help the reentry program, which helps our recidivism rate.”

At the suggestion of the Criminal Justice Board and with the cooperation of the Centre County Correctional Facility, the county implemented the Stepping Up Initiative, a program designed to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses being incarcerated, and established a Behavioral Health Court, which provides structured mental health treatment to criminal offenders with serious mental illnesses. They are also responsible for assembling a Reentry Coalition to help those leaving carceral environments successfully return to the community.

According to Commissioner Mark Higgins, as of April 30, the facility, which can house 397 individuals, held only 106 Centre County residents and 72 people from tenant counties. Despite a rising county population, that constitutes a 50% reduction in capacity from 12 years ago.

“I just would like to point out how unique the Center County Correctional Facility is, because every other medium sized county in the state also has a Correctional Facility that’ll hold 300, 400 and 450. They’re all full,” said Higgins.

“It’s a team effort in criminal justice. Corrections are a big part of the team, but there’s many, many other team members within county government and outside of county government as well. So we very much appreciate everyone’s efforts,” he said.