Related
Aug 10,2020
Litmus Program Awarded Contract
with Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department
Jun 13,2014
Litmus Program Collaborates on Decompression Room
for Correction Officers at York Correctional Institution
For the past two years, the Litmus program has collaborated with the York Correctional Institution in East Lyme, CT, to design and create a pilot, “nature informed space” focused on wellness for officers and incarcerated people, funded by a gift from Catie Marron. The new space was recently unveiled in a ribbon-cutting ceremony where Warden Trina Sexton described staff positions as high-risk.
[Counselor Jeff Picardi] said the need for the space has been evident in his 15 years in the state Department of Correction during which he’s seen many staff members commit suicide.
While there is scant data available for Connecticut, the Massachusetts Department of Correction between 2010 and 2015 counted at least 20 suicides among correctional officers, which was at least seven times higher than the national suicide rate and almost 12 times higher than the suicide rate in Massachusetts.
Next steps will include establishing use protocols and soliciting effectiveness feedback on the space. The Litmus program has plans for similar restorative spaces, including one in Chicago for incarcerated youth.