Professional Development Workshops: Corrections

The School of Criminology and Criminal Justice proudly presents a series of workshops that explore opportunities for corrections reforms. The overarching theme of these workshops centers on changes that generate corrections improvements. Each workshop has been specifically designed with emphasis on the importance of a healthy corrections 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 corrections field and also by embracing certain external pressures for process changes.

In each workshop, panelists will engage the audience in discussions surrounding leadership and how core correctional practices can generate significant improvements in agency performance. Corrections 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.

Gaylene Armstrong, Ph.D., director of SCCJ, will welcome participants to each session and provide an ongoing analysis of our series. Her comments will add context and meaning to varied topics that have the common focus to reform corrections through value-driven policies, training and leadership.

The 2017-2018 Corrections Series consists of:
Jail and Prison Litigation
Friday, October 20, 2017
8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Held on UNOs campus in the Milo Bail Student Center Umoho Room
The Nebraska State Bar Association has approved CLEs for attorneys attending this session. This program will be broadcast via webcam.

This workshop will cover strategies employed to litigate and defend the governance of corrections entities. Participants will gain 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.

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, Chief Executive Officer, Nebraska Civil Liberities Union

Cost is $75.00. To register for this workshop, click here.

Military Veterans in the Criminal Justice System: From Arrest to Re Entry in Douglas County, Nebraska
Thursday, November 3, 2017
8:30a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Held on UNOs campus in the Thompson Alumni Center

This workshop will provide 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. Cost is $150.00. Registration available soon.

Corrections Culture: Enhancing Policies, Training and Practices to Elevate Ethical Agency Behaviors
Friday, February 16, 2018
8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Held on UNOs campus in the Community Engagement Center

This workshop will discuss the forces which have had major impacts on agency operations. Participants will interact with the panel to explore how these operational changes are being achieved. Cost is $75.00. Registration available soon.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA): Moving Corrections from Denial and Resistance to Embracement and High Performance.
Friday, April 27, 2018
8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Held on UNOs campus in the Community Engagement Center

This workshop will discuss the 2003 PREA law from passage by Congress to its present-day implementation which has greatly enhanced the safety of juveniles, inmates, parolees, and corrections workers. The state directors of corrections early resistance to this law will be covered. Cost is $75.00. Registration available soon.