Notes From the Field:
Rising Above the Pandemic
Since the arrival of the COVID-19 Pandemic the world has been crippled compared to the life that we knew before. We spent a year separated from one another and slowly tried to regain some sort of resemblance of the life we once knew. Distributors unable to meet the demand, major staffing loses, and the isolation we used to protect ourselves and our loved ones. This is no truer for those of us who work in corrections and throughout the pandemic fought these issues and so many more on several fronts. For those of us who stayed and carried the burden of staffing shortages, inmate safety and well-being, staff safety and well-being, and the families on both sides of the trenches, this has been a long and exhausting journey. In times like these there are really only two options for us. We can fall under the stress and fail or we can rise up and rally back. In corrections we cannot afford to fail, too many people depend on us whether they realize it or not. Through the pandemic one thing has kept our facility moving forward and that is perpetual optimism. I am not saying that the journey has been easy, but we believe that we must continue pushing forward and be the change we wish to see.
One thing the pandemic uncovered and most likely helped create was the rise in our mental health needs. With so many people being isolated from the world and the social life they needed, things began to surface. This is true for our corrections staff as well. Corrections is not the best environment to work in to begin with. There is a lot of negativity that we navigate every day that is just part of our profession. We offer lots of things to the inmates to help them adjust, grow and develop while they are in our custody and this is great. What are we offering our staff though? Staff well-being is something we take serious and we try many different things to achieve our goals. One of these initiatives comes from the Arkansas chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Project 2025 Corrections Program. The Garland County Detention Center is one of two facilities in the state chosen for this pilot program (Pulaski County Regional Detention Center being the other). This program focuses on suicide awareness, education and prevention for staff. The program is designed to help staff and those incarcerated become more aware of the importance of mental health and mental well-being. While suicide prevention is the overall goal, at the core it is creating a culture that is unafraid to discuss the issues of mental health. This is especially true for correctional and law enforcement personnel. We want to erase the stigma that can be associated with mental health issues and suicide related events. It’s okay to not be okay, we are here to help each other through these difficult times.
Another thing we witnessed during the pandemic was the rise of families in need. This pandemic destroyed families and placed people in a position that they were unaccustomed to. In corrections one of our responsibilities is ensuring the safety of the public.The majority of the time this means being a barrier between the public and those who pose a risk to the communities we serve. The pandemic opened several unique situations for us though and our staff took this opportunity to seize them. The Garland County Detention Center received the Garland County Master Gardeners “Friend of the Year 2022” award.
This award is given to an organization who has supported the Master Gardener program and has made substantial impacts on the program and community. The GCDC was nominated for the support in three major areas:
• The GC Detention Center Learning Greenhouse—this project not only give the GCMGs a place to propagate and raise plants for our annual plant sale, but also allows us to share a mutual mission of providing detainees skills and resources they can use when the return to the community and their homes. There is a sense of satisfaction in working with plants and nature that cannot be measured but is nonetheless real.
• The Hope Teaching Garden—an extension of the greenhouse provides education in all aspects of gardening. Prior to the pandemic, detainees grew produce, learned how to use their harvest and won 25 Garland County Fair ribbons with 25 entries. Teaching not only horticulture, this project also works wonders for self- esteem and allows the participants to see what healthy, delicious produce they can grow with a small plot of soil and seed—a lesson they can take with them when they leave your facility. Over the last 3 years this garden has supplied 2,725 pounds of produce to Project Hope Foodbank and Jackson House, helping feed those in need.
• The Pollinator Meadow Project—A partnership between the GC Detention Center, GC Master Gardeners and Quail Forever, using the land between the teaching Garden and the greenhouse to plant native wildflowers which will provide valuable habitat for pollinating insects, grassland songbirds, and with any luck, quail. Pollinators impact 75% of the food supply and their populations are in decline, this project is part of a growing movement to protect our environment and food sources. We hope to incorporate these messages into the teaching garden curriculum as the meadow progresses.
Captain Cosgrove has been an instrumental key to this success and received the award on November 17th, 2022. GCDC has also been nominated for the “Arkansas Friend of the Year 2022” and all of this was possible under the leadership of Sheriff McCormick.
During the pandemic we have strived to keep our staff and the community we serve safe and well taken care of. We opened testing and vaccine clinics in our facility for the public, our staff, and the inmates in our care to ensure everyone’s needs were met. Throughout the pandemic we have maintained perpetual optimism that we will continue to strive and we will continue to rise above the obstacles placed in our way.
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Sergeant Shawn Stapleton, CJM has worked in corrections for the last 12 years, four with the ADC and eight with the Garland County Sheriff’s Office. He is a former EMT-B and firefighter. He worked through the ranks from deputy to lieutenant before transferring to Training Sergeant and taking over the Detention Center Training Division. Shawn was AJA’s 2020 Correctional Supervisor of the Year and a graduate of NJLCA Class #34. For more information, he can be reached at sstapleton@garlandcounty.org