MEETING MINUTES OF THE

Location: Wenatchee River County Park, Monitor, Washington

Board Members Attending: Mary Boehnke, Jeralita Costa, Doug Jacques, Debra Latimer, Randy Loomans, Runette Mitchell, Bruce Thompson, Julie Wilson, and Marvin Wolff

Proxies Presented: George Hughes for Andrea Bynum, Curt Lutz for Ed Crawford, and Larry McKinstry for Howard Yarbrough

  Advisory Committee Members Attending: Kurt Bledsoe, Eric Haga, and Dick Winn

Guests: Frank Young, Chelan County Regional Jail; and Jody Robbins, Washington State Labor Council

A.  Call to Order

Chair Bruce Thompson welcomed and thanked those attending and personally thanked Chelan County Sheriff's Department staff Sergeant Debra Latimer, Lieutenant Dick Winn, and Chief of Corrections Frank Young for hosting the meeting. He officially called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.

B.  Welcome by Chelan Regional Jail Chief Frank Young and newly      appointed Board Member Debra Latimer

Chair Bruce Thompson introduced Chief of Corrections Frank Young of the Chelan County Regional Jail and recognized Debra Latimer, newly appointed line law enforcement representative to the Board.

C.  Tour of Wenatchee River County Park and History of Corrections      Park Program

Frank Young gave a history of the park and the corrections programs as he facilitated an open discussion of questions and answers about the park and Chelan County Regional Jail programs. The park was closed due to lack of funding for several months. The Jail made a proposal to the County Commissioners to house minimum-security inmates at the park and use staff and inmate labor to operate the thirty-three acre park and campground. The program was implemented, inmates were selected, and the park was re-opened on August 1, 2000. Inmates are free to interact with the campers and correctional officers. This has boosted moral and has been a very positive experience for all involved. The program was designed and established with women in mind and is run 100% by women inmates. The inmates are encouraged to be responsible workers and citizens of the park. With only two incidences of illegal drug use by inmates the program has been very successful. Bruce thanked Frank for his information and suggested the member's tour the park at the end of the meeting.

D.  Approval of the Minutes: June 21, 2000 Board Meeting

Chair Bruce Thompson noted a quorum was present and asked for a motion to approve the last Board meeting minutes of June 21, 2000. The motion was made, seconded, and the motion carried.

E.  Executive Director's Report on Action Items and Activities

Jill Will first responded to comments made about the Chelan County park program and the observation that similar programs may not work in other, less conservative jurisdictions. The Board and the jurisdictions with which it works need to be concerned with issues of non-displacement of city or county employees. This is a serious matter when using inmate labor and should be kept in mind whenever new projects are contemplated. There may also be other legitimate concerns and issues to be addressed for each jurisdiction. Debra commented that as the Chelan County program becomes more known, more issues may come to light. Issues will be addressed as they surface.

Jill Will submitted her written report. There was discussion on some items.

Jill reported that the Department of Corrections (DOC) has accepted the Board's request for a budget increase, which has been submitted as a part of a decision package to the Office of Financial Management for approval. DOC will keep her informed.

Jill asked Doug to comment on the progress of hiring Corrections Clearinghouse staff that will be working on the JIB web site. Staff should be on board by September 15, 2000. Once they have started things should move quickly.

Bruce commented on the salary review process. He praised Employment Security Department Assistant Commissioner Gary Gallwas, and Commissioner Carver Gayton for their support in the process. The Board's recommendations have been acknowledged and will be forwarded to the Department of Personnel. Some issues are still to be resolved. The Board will be informed as to the type of recommendations it can make when the issues become clearer.

Jill reported on providing technical assistance. She is pleased with the progress of Clark County and its marketing plans. Currently they have several active leads and are trying to reestablish relations with the Port of Vancouver.

She also reported on the meeting she had with Yakima County Corrections Department and the Yakama Nation for salmon recovery and restoration projects. Not only are they interested in doing joint salmon restoration work, but they will also be pursuing other joint programs that would provide community services to the Yakama Nation and establish programs for which their offenders could do community service work. The Yakima area has just established a lead entity relationship with some of the municipalities, the Nation, and Yakima County to go before the Salmon Recovery Funding Board for funding. Jill will work with these groups and help put together a grant package for salmon restoration projects.

Bruce reminded members that CCH still has state of the art sewing equipment available for purchase. Jill mentioned that fabric is available through DOC and the possibilities of a joint project with DOC. She also stated that other jurisdictions are doing uniform repair and asked Marvin to comment on Whatcom County's uniform repair program.

F.  Apprentice Presentation by Mr. Jody Robbins, Washington State Labor Council Labor Liaison for Community and Technical Colleges

Jody Robbins provided hand-outs and a presentation that defined what apprenticeship programs are and are not, what are some of the essential components of the program and how it works, and the future of workforce development and how jail industries can utilize the program and its resources

Jody commented on how many of the trades are competing against the instant gratification of the computer industry. Trades workers are becoming the shrinking middle class needed to keep the economy going. Jill reported on a Puget Sound area study that reflects the relative wages of workers. There is a 25 - 37% differential in wages between the unionized worker and a non-union worker. These percentages are important and one of the things the Board will be looking at in its apprenticeship project. Randy and Jody stated that high union wages should be very attractive to inmates.

There was discussion about the barriers to getting offenders into these programs. Mr. Robbins responded that apprenticeship programs can be selective, and that employers do not have to, and will not, deal with personal problems that offenders may have, such as lack of transportation and child care. There are preparation programs, mentoring programs, and other means to assist potential apprentices. It is important to make sure that potential apprentices have a diploma or GED and high scores on aptitude tests and have prerequisites out of the way. It may be possible to work with some education programs within the jails to do apprenticeship preparation instruction. This could be a potential budget enhancement request, pending the outcome of the pilot project. Mr. Robbins also commented that related work experience is very important and any on-the-job experience counts when an applicant goes before the application committee for an interview. Hopefully, work inmates do in jail industries programs could be recognized as related experience.

G.  Report of Ad Hoc Committee on Apprenticeship Liaison Position

Jill Will gave a brief history on Randy Loomans' concept of starting an apprenticeship project for jail inmates. The information project would be similar to outreach programs with the Community and Technical Colleges and School to Work program at the high school level. This idea was brought before the Board at the last meeting. The Board believed it to be a good idea and charged a labor liaison committee to move forward, explore the concept further and investigate funding options.

The committee members were Bruce Thompson, Randy Loomans, Anton Jones, and Julie Wilson. The group met one time to brainstorm ideas and decide a funding strategy. Members realized that a lot of existing materials could be adapted for a correctional audience without reinventing the wheel. Linkages can be made to supportive services. The group did not envision the apprenticeship project as a one-stop shop or that the Board would be doing everything. The project will provide some direct service in the form of information gathering and network building for the offenders. The main function would be to provide offenders basic information about apprenticeship opportunities and then hook people into existing networks. This would be done through an initial intake screening and providing a referral service. There would not be a lot of a direct service. The group also concluded through discussion with potential funders that the project needs to have to a good tracking system in place to verify the results of the project.

The group targeted the Central Puget Sound region for the pilot project, because it is has the most jobs now and has the most projected openings for trades in next few years. The jail commanders in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties and the city of Kent have expressed great interest in participating in the program. The next steps are to touch base through Randy with the local apprenticeship coordinators in the areas and the local apprenticeship councils and make sure we get their buy off on the project as well.

Action Item: The western Washington apprenticeship coordinators meet on October 13, 2000. Randy Loomans will follow up and discuss the concept at that meeting.

The committee developed a rough budget and had targeted a two-year cycle for the project. Two years would account for the time it would take to get the people through the program, address skill deficits, and potentially run through an apprenticeship preparation program. The committee approached the Employment Security Department (ESD) with this proposal. ESD would not agree to a two-year program, but did give a firm commitment for a nine-month cycle.

The project will be structured as an inter-agency agreement between ESD and the JIB, thus avoiding the necessity of going out for a complicated request for proposals. Administratively it is very clean to make an interagency agreement with the Board. Jill has started working on the interagency agreement between JIB and ESD. It remains for the Board to work out how to actually handle daily operations.

Action Item: Jill and Randy will need to address and draft the operating agreement between the Board and the State Labor Council.

Board members discussed potential concerns apprenticeship staff might have about working with the offender population. Randy Loomans is in an excellent position with her job at the Labor Council to help alleviate some of those concerns. Randy has already spoken to some of the apprenticeship coordinators, the head of the coordinators, and will continue to follow up.

Jill asks members to provide input on realistic goals and the process for setting goals for this operation. Jill questioned the Board on how to identify realistic targets for outcome measures. This is a difficult question given the fact that we have a population with high barriers to employment and a relatively short nine-month project period. She noted that several other programs are gearing up to serve hard-to-place clients, which have thousands of dollars per client to provide services. Julie Wilson noted that past projects lost 40% of the applicants through the various phases of recruitment, marketing, and initial assessments. The project should be credited for all applicants, not just the small numbers that were enrolled or completed the program. Doug Jacques suggested that "success" shouldn't be limited to actual placement in apprenticeship but should also include success of the screening process and linkage into a job or another program. Alternative measures of success could include placement into a related occupation or a referral to an apprenticeship assistance project.

Julie Wilson committed to work with the project to provide access to their management information system currently under development

Action Item: Volunteers for an Inter-agency Agreement Committee (Debra Latimer, Doug Jacques, Julie Wilson, and Randy Loomans) will work with Jill Will to finalize performance measures and targets.

Action Item: A hiring panel for the Labor Liaison Position will be Bruce Thompson, Randy Loomans, and Jill Will.

H.  PIECP Certification Deadline

A form letter was sent out October 7th to all inactive Prison Industries Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP) certificate holders stating that if programs do not become active they will be terminated. Jill Will responded with an overview of Board activities with Clark County. Mr. Bob Watkins, PIECP Program Manager at the Bureau of Justice Assistance reviewed that information and has agreed to extend our certification until June 2001, allowing the Board time to gain a business partner for active program participation. Clark County is aware of this deadline.

I.  Report on Salary Banding

Jill Will, Bruce Thompson, and Doug Jacques participated in the salary banding process that examined the pay level for the Executive Director's position. Their banding recommendation was approved and forwarded to the Department of Personnel for action.

J.  Other Business

Three jurisdictions gave reports on new activities.

George Hughes, Snohomish County, reported that as of August 1st the Corrections Department leased Indian Ridge Correctional Facility from the state. The site will initially open with 65 inmates now housed at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds. 34 women will also be moved out to Indian Ridge. Work opportunities include a greenhouse for raising plants for salmon restoration efforts and sewing projects for mattress reconditioning. Snohomish County will continue to use the Fairgrounds for a DUI Alternatives program. Snohomish County is very excited about the potential of developing industries through the apprenticeship project.

Curt Lutz, Kent Police Department, reported on the process of bidding on remodeling of the jail and a house adjacent to the jail. The house will be used as office space and a center for their day reporting program or other alternatives program. He anticipates utilizing the space sometime in June or July 2001.

Runette Mitchell reported that King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention has a new Director, former Assistant Director Steve Thompson. She suggested that Jill do a site visit to discuss Jail Industries for King County's alternatives program.

Debra Latimer, Chelan County, reported on outreach efforts with the developmentally disabled and behavioral mental health communities to establish a horticultural therapy program for healing gardens. A proposal has been mapped out with those agencies for the gardens with an expected start date in the spring of 2001. The annex is currently being expanded to house 60 - 100 minimum custody male inmate workers and should be up and running by middle of October 2001. Chelan County plans to keep the park open year-round to facilitate winter sports and activities.

Board member Marvin Wolff also gave a brief report and handed out written information on the Whatcom County Home Port program, an excellent program for youth at risk, which includes a wooden boat building program. He also provided information on other programs and the recently completed law and justice plan for the future. The Corrections component of the plan includes the construction of a minimum-security facility to incorporate work areas for expansion of work. In order for the plan to be implemented, financing of 1/10th of one percent sales tax must be resubmitted to a vote of the public. Second, suitable property for the facility must be identified from among five sites. He credited Clark County and Jane Johnson as providing great help with criteria useful for site assessment.

Debra Latimer also reported on a project at Airway Heights Corrections Center. A software project being developed by inmates will track educational competencies attained by inmates in educational and training programs. Information can be shared between sites. Another component will allow agencies to address the competency levels of their staff and utilize workforce development strategies for training their staff. This program may be useful for the apprenticeship project.

Adjournment

Chair Bruce Thompson asked for a motion to adjourn. Adjournment was moved, seconded, and the motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 1:53 p.m. A tour of the facility followed the meeting.

Summary of Action Items

Action Item: The western Washington apprenticeship coordinators meet on October 13, 2000. Randy Loomans will follow up and discuss the Jail Industries Board concept of an apprenticeship information project at that meeting.

Action Item: Jill Will and Randy Loomans will need to address and draft the operating agreement between the Board and the State Labor Council.

Action Item: Volunteers for an Inter-agency Agreement Committee (Debra Latimer, Doug Jacques, Julie Wilson, and Randy Loomans) will work with Jill Will to finalize performance measures and targets.

Action Item: A hiring panel for Labor Liaison Position will be Bruce Thompson, Randy Loomans, and Jill Will if the job is established as a Jail Industries Board position.

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