In the realm of corrections, discussions surrounding officer wellness typically center around the front-line deputies who face daily challenges maintaining the care, custody, and control of the incarcerated population. However, the wellness of supervisors within correctional facilities often receives less attention despite their significant role and the unique stressors they encounter. Supervisors are tasked with overseeing operations, supporting their teams, taking on the additional liability that comes with becoming a supervisor, all while navigating their own stressors. Understanding these challenges and exploring proactive wellness strategies can improve the overall health and effectiveness of corrections staff.
While the process of designing, building, and occupying a new jail facility takes place every day in counties across the nation, most correctional leaders will only encounter the experience once in our career, if ever at all. I truly believe a major project like this should be embraced as rare and unique opportunities to incorporate our leadership philosophies regarding justice services while also leaving a lasting monument that will:
• Transform our local communities
• Create safer working conditions for staff
• Improve living conditions and outcomes for the justice involved
• Provide improved opportunities for successful reintegration into the community
• Address medical and mental health needs
• Eliminate overcrowding
As correctional leaders, we tend to refrain from making bold statements like, “make the world a better place,” and “affect positive change in our communities.” But planning a detention facility that will touch tens of thousands of people annually involved in the local criminal justice system can do just that, if done correctly while paying close attention to important details that will impact the community for many years to come. Our facilities and how they are managed directly affect many people aside from the criminally justice involved such as their families, the staff that work in the facility, and the community either for good or bad. The appropriate planning and preparation for a new jail facility can be a daunting task, especially while performing our already difficult job of managing the current facility.
To complicate the undertaking, it is typical to find ourselves in a situation where our staff lack the experience in such a project previously. In addition, many of us are limited to having only worked in one facility throughout our careers, so we are limited in our experience in this area. To paraphrase, we don’t know what we don’t know. This is not such a bad thing so long as we recognize it and act accordingly. Having the belief that change can bring improvement, some common sense, a strong work ethic, and a team made up of thinkers, adapters, those who are comfortable offering ideas, and feel empowered to make changes are the foundational tools that will carry you through to a successful transition.
How the Project Started
The Jackson County Detention Center project first started with the county engaging with a reputable and experienced planning firm1 in a multidisciplinary study concluding in mid-20202. Fast forward a few years to the current day, the plan is to occupy a new state-of-the-art detention facility and be fully operational by Spring of 2026. To explain all the necessary steps in jail facility planning from point A to Z could fill volumes and would not be retained by anyone not currently traversing a similar process themselves. So instead, I will simply highlight the guiding principles that have helped keep us on a positive path moving forward.
First and foremost, the support of a community is critical to have any chance of success. This relationship with the community requires transparency about many aspects of our work we normally would prefer not to discuss publicly:
• Failings in both physical design and management of the current facility
• Steps for improvement and why they’ve been insufficient
• Realistic costs of the status quo vs new construction
Even this short list requires expertise that goes well beyond the normal oversight of a correctional facility. In our case, rather than guessing about what we needed for the best path forward, we decided to seek assistance from a firm who employs retired correctional leaders and professionals with vast experience managing these types of projects. We sought assistance through an owner’s representative in guiding us through design, construction, and most importantly preparing our own staff for the transition and activation of the new facility. True leadership isn’t having all the answers; it is knowing where to go to get the answers.
Once a decision is made to move forward with the building of a new facility, there is no shortage of work to be done. The success of the project hinges on putting together a successful transition team. While our consultants were able to lay out a roadmap with timelines of what needed to be done, the leadership on a local level resides with the agency head who will see the project through until the end and beyond. I looked at the people in my organization, selected the most capable, and then placed them into roles that complimented their natural abilities. Successful transition and activation require people on your team skilled at managing, researching, documenting, motivating, writing, planning and communicating. Once the correct people are in place, conversation is required to explain the big picture, your vision, and expectations. Dissemination of information from the top down and the bottom up means lots of meetings, emails, phone calls, onsite presence, and more than a few disagreements. When people are passionate about a project, they will sometimes clash with others who hold a slightly different view but feel just as strongly. During these moments of tension, a leader will step in to be the guiding arbiter who makes sure everyone’s voice is heard and then makes the tough decisions while maintaining cohesion in the team.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do as a leader is to let go and have faith in your people. Give them the tools and encouragement they need, then step back and let them do their jobs. Don’t abandon them, but don’t second guess their every decision. People will rise or fall to the level of trust they are given. Whether they are your direct employee or a contractor, brand new on the job or have decades of experience, they will surprise you with their creativity, their dedication, and their abilities if you did your job and put the right people in the right place with clear expectations.
Conclusion
The new Jackson County Detention Center is still under construction. It looks nothing like the old facility, and we plan to incorporate a different operational philosophy and management structure when it comes online. These changes were not derived from a single person, but from a team that has sought advice from the best sources, decided what they wanted to accomplish, worked tirelessly, and never lost sight of their goals. We still have a long way to go, but I am proud of the path that led us to this point. I am proud of the facility we are creating. Most of all, I am proud of my team because ultimately it is people that will determine the success or failure of any project.
_______________________ Diana Knapp, MS, CJM, CCE, has spent more than three decades in her career in criminal justice, including work with adult and juvenile offenders in secure settings and in the community across state, federal and municipal levels. She began her career with the Missouri Department of Corrections as a Probation and Parole Officer in Kansas City. She would go on to become the assistant superintendent in a men’s prison in Mid-Missouri and later managed a grant funded mental health program for municipal inmates in the metro KC area. In 2014, she became the Director of the juvenile residential and detention centers for the Jackson County Family Court. In 2017, she returned to the Jackson County Detention Center as the Deputy Director of Operations and was appointed Director in 2018. She has an undergraduate degree from Pittsburg State University in History and Secondary Education and a graduate degree from Columbia College in Criminal Justice Administration. Diana is a Certified Jail Manager, a Certified Corrections Executive, and serves on the Board of Directors for the American Jail Association. For more information, she can be contacted at dlknapp@jacksongov.org
Endnotes
1CGL Companies Inc., Miami FL, https://cglcompanies.com/
2CGL Companies Inc, Jackson County Detention Center- Jail Needs Validation, July 2020