Who's The Woman Serving Justice-Involved Veterans?
A Full Circle Story
Christina L. Davis
If you would have told me that the criminal justice field would be the driving force that developed my career and my purpose, then I would not have believed you. Entering the criminal justice field was not on my radar. I was supposed to have a degree in it, and well on my way into one of the many aspects of the human resources field, but that has not been my lot. I even entered the United States Army as a Human Resources Specialist, and I was great at that specialty—seen as a subject matter expert in soldier personnel orders, soldier movement, and records.
However, three and a half years in, I felt stuck and a re-enlistment opportunity to cross over to the Military Police with a specialty in corrections came my way. So then, as a Corrections Specialist in the Army, I basically became a Corrections Officer with custody, control, and security responsibilities for justice-involved active-duty soldiers found guilty, sentenced, and confined in military correctional facilities for the same kinds of felony crimes one can find in the correctional facilities we work in today.
Switching Gears
After another 3.5 years of service, I ended my military career, and applied to local community college as a Business Management major with a Human Resources minor. I knew I did not want to return to civilian life as a correctional officer. Third shift, small children, and a deployed spouse to Iraq, I did not have the balance or capacity for it all. In college, I found I hated the business capital aspects of the business major but loved the human capital side of those same courses. I have always wanted my career to align with helping people in some way, but I was not sure what that should look like. So, I went to my advisor, weighed my course options so I could still graduate on time, and switched my major to criminal justice administration.
Fast forward, I completed a bachelor’s in criminal justice administration, and immediately landed a job with the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) as a Veteran Benefit Specialist II in the nation’s third grant-funded Incarcerated Veterans Program, servicing two of the largest counties in Washington—King and Pierce. I fell in love with the work, and our project and program managers were phenomenal. I felt like I belonged, and the work was personal for me. Being a veteran myself, navigating the VA, and then advocating for my spouse, a deployed service member, I was motivated to use my education and my service to map the community for these veterans feeling displaced by their country and the government.
Coming Full Circle
So, how does this come full circle? After working for the incarcerated veterans program for WDVA at the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD), my spouse’s military career sent us to Chatham County, GA, where I entered the Department of Corrections (DOC) and held various positions before I was promoted to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department leading their programs department, and eventually creating them their own incarcerated veterans program based on my WDVA/DAJD experiences. The Chatham County incarcerated veterans program was a first for that region, and everyone was onboard with making that happen—the sheriff, classification, operations, and of course, the community.
Now, it is 2017, and I was hired by King County’s DAJD as a personal recognizance investigator, then the training coordinator at Juvenile Division, to now, when I was promoted in 2023, as the Corrections Programs Supervisor of Resident Programs. Not only as a woman veteran, but as a facilitator and supervisor of programs, I get to continue the work with incarcerated veterans.
DAJD has a veteran’s program in one of its adult divisions. The program has been in existence for several years, surviving COVID, changes in funding, changes in leadership, staffing, and providers. The operative word here is survived. DAJD Programs Department is working hard to get the program back to thriving. One thing for certain is veterans can identify with what it takes to being resilient. The program is still servicing veterans, offering justice-involved veterans programming in creative writing/journaling, mental health and wellness, Yoga Behind Bars, Transforming Power workshops, and connection to the King County Veterans Reentry Program (KCVRP). I echo DAJD’s Director Allen Nance’s sentiments from his December 2023 graduation speech: “The participation of these jail residents in this veteran’s program allows them to preserve their dignity, self-worth, and patriotism even in the midst of challenges of their involvement in the legal system. Opportunities to focus on learning new skills and developing capacity to better manage their lives can add value as they eventually return to community.”
In December 2023 we held the first veterans program celebration and graduated four veterans who completed four 10-week cohorts over one year. I told DAJD from day one that there was no more business as usual—that moving forward, programs will be more meaningful and more strategic than how they were previously. This time around, the goal is to connect program participants to the community—more reentry focused—for the warm handoff and continuity of care. In my opinion, if programming exists inside detention, then it should exist outside detention.
Conclusion
So, now after 18 years in the criminal justice field, where I began as a corrections specialist in the Army, guarding and interacting with incarcerated veterans, to several years later, being foundational to WDVA’s incarcerated veterans program’s success, while providing services to veterans housed in secure detention at DAJD, to now in 2024, managing and supervising resident programs, which includes the veterans program. Circle complete. I am a veteran serving veterans who so happens to be a woman. I am Christina Davis, a woman veteran who serves justice-involved veterans. I am amazed how the criminal justice arena has embraced me over the years, and how it has helped me evolve my career to culminate to where I am today. I am truly blessed and grateful to have taken advantage of many opportunities—some presented to me and some I made my presence felt to gain access to. But nevertheless, my purpose is maturing, and I am looking forward to what is next. What can this veteran do to continue to serve?
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Christina Davis is the Corrections Programs Supervisor for Resident Programs with the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD). Christina has been with DAJD since early 2017, starting as a Personal Recognizance Investigator (PR) with the Community Custody Division (CCD), then as a Training Coordinator with the Juvenile Division, and finally as the Volunteer Coordinator before her current role. Christina’s criminal justice career started when she was in the U.S. Army, serving in dual specialties—Human Resources and Corrections. Since that time, Christina has served in a variety of roles such as Juvenile Probation, Behavioral Health Counselor, and Veterans Benefits Specialist in the Incarcerated Veterans Program. Christina has a master’s in organizational development and human resources management, as well as a bachelor’s in criminal justice administration. She is a certified instructor with the Washington State Criminal Justice Academy, and is also certified in Training and Development from the Association of Training and Development (ATD) in Alexandria, VA. For more information, she can be contacted at Christina.Davis@kingcounty.gov
