Professional Development Workshops: Corrections

The School of Criminology and Criminal Justice proudly presents a series of workshops for criminal justice professionals that explore opportunities for criminal justice reforms. The overarching theme of these workshops centers on changes that generate system improvements. Each workshop has been specifically designed with emphasis on the importance of a healthy agency and organizational culture driven by excellence in policy development, carefully crafted training, and inspired leadership. Each workshop explores how agencies can perform successfully by both engaging advancements within the field and also by embracing certain external pressures for process changes.

Panelists will engage the audience in discussions surrounding leadership and how core criminal justice practices can generate significant improvements in agency performance. Transformational leaders make little distinction between externally driven change and reforms that arise from within their agency; leaders lead by embracing the change and focusing on outcomes.

Upcoming Workshops:

Medicolegal Death Investigations held June 2-4, 2020

In collaboration with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice will be facilitating a three (3) day course on Medicolegal Death Investigations, June 2-4, 2020. Our Seminar will explore aspects of the cause and manner of death. We will explore forensic anthropology, environmental reconstruction of post-mortem events, and distinguish between foul-play from alterations caused by other factors. Instruction includes crime scene investigations, firearm and toolmark criminalistics, entomology, toxicology, technology in the courtroom, and laws pertaining to death investigations. We will also address first responders, trauma, and working with families of homicide victims. Registration is coming soon.

Completed Workshops: 

Brain Injury and Domestic Violence: What the Legal System Needs to Know
held Friday, March 30, 2018

This free workshop entitled Brain Injury and Domestic Violence: What the Legal System Needs to Know was presented the morning of Friday, March 30, in room 101 of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service building (CPACS) on the University of Nebraska Omaha campus. This workshop, which was conducted jointly by Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska, University of Nebraska Medical Center Department of Neuropsychology, University of Nebraska Omaha School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Women’s Center for Advancement – Omaha, focused on the correlation of brain injuries and domestic violence. Participants learned about the prevalence of domestic violence, brain injury and co-occurring condition, brain injury screening tools, and community resources.

This workshop benefited first responders, probation officers, parole officers, attorneys, corrections staff, judges, and law enforcement personnel. For Probation Officers, this training offered 3 hours approved for Supreme Court of NE, Office of Probation Administration’s Registered Service Provider List for the Standardized Model for the Delivery of Substance Abuse and Adult Behavioral Health Services.

Workshop speakers included:

• Sara Eliason, Prevention and Education Manager, Women’s Center for Advancement
• Matthew Garlinghouse, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Neurological Science, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Peggy Reisher, Executive Director, Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska

Jail and Prison Litigation - held Friday, October 20, 2017
This workshop covered strategies employed to litigate and defend the governance of corrections entities. Participants gained a deeper understanding of jail/prison litigation and its ongoing role in determining humane conditions of confinement. This interactive session will cast the dilemmas of corrections management against the evolving social and legal aspects of corrections. The Nebraska Bar Association approved CLEs for attorneys attending this session and it was broadcast via webcam.

Facilitator: 
Bob Houston, Senior Community Research Associate, UNO School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Introduction:
Gaylene Armstrong, Ph.D. Director and Professor, UNO School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Program Moderator:
Robert Francis Cryne, U.S. Justice Department prosecutor (retired)

Panelists:
Laurie Smith Camp, Chief Nebraska Federal Judge 
J. Kirk Brown, Nebraska Department of Justice (retired)
Harold W. Clarke, Director of Corrections, The Commonwealth of Virginia
Danielle Conrad, Executive Director, ACLU Nebraska 

Military Veterans in the Criminal Justice System: From Arrest to Re Entry in Douglas County, Nebraska - held Friday, November 3, 2017

This workshop provided participants with a working knowledge of both the Douglas County Department of Corrections (CDCD) Veteran’s Housing Unit and the Douglas County Veteran’s Treatment Court (DCVTC). DCVTC is made up of an extensive collaboration between the criminal justice system (judge, prosecutor, defense lawyer) and dedicated partners, mentors, mental health specialists, addiction specialists, including criminal justice, federal veterans’ agencies, and local community veterans’ organizations. The target population includes military veterans who have been charged with felony offense(s) and who are diagnosed with substance use and/or mental health issues.