Off Paper

Helene Creager (C.D. Cal.), informed by her time as central California’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team, shares not only what officers need to know about the science behind mindfulness, compassion, self-compassion, and positive neuroplasticity, but how to incorporate them into our daily lives as well. Drawing upon her twenty-three years as a U.S. Probation officer, including as a founding member of the National Wellness Working Group, Creager makes the case that intentional self-care is crucial in creating satisfying personal and professional lives.

Dani Hourani served twenty-eight years of a mandatory life sentence before being granted compassionate release on the basis of “extraordinary and compelling reasons” under the First Step Act. Dani is now Director of Community Development for Team Wellness Center, a provider of social and health care services to the Detroit area’s low-income community, including wrap-around services for returning citizens. We hear Dani’s story through his voice and those of his case’s lead prosecutor, the sentencing judge, Dani’s defense attorney, and the chief U.S. probation officer and intensive supervision probation officer specialist who supervised him after his release. Dani also discusses what can be done to enable others like himself to return successfully to their communities.

Wade Warren, retired Chief U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Officer from the District of North Dakota, discusses the changes he has seen and spearheaded during his 25 years in service, along with lessons learned from 28 years of service in the Army National Guard, which included deployment to Iraq. Wade was an early adopter of evidence-based practice and worked to implement it in partnership with Canadian counterparts and researchers. He received the AO Director’s Leadership Award for his efforts to destigmatize officer stress and trauma, create opportunities for officers to seek help, and make officer wellness a national priority.

Dr. Marie Garcia is a Senior Social Science Analyst at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. She is co-author, with Jay Whetzel and Scott Anders, of the article “All Hands on Deck! Toward a Reentry-Centered Vision for Federal Probation,” published in the December 2020 issue of Federal Probation. In this episode of Off Paper, Dr. Garcia and host Mark Sherman discuss the outcomes of NIJ’s many years of reentry research and how those outcomes translate to the reentry-centered, holistic, systems-oriented approach to probation and pretrial practice recommended in the Federal Probation article.

Jay Whetzel, criminal justice consultant and former Probation Administrator at AOUSC, Scott Anders, Director of the St. Louis (Mo.) County Jail and former Chief U.S. Probation Officer, and Marie Garcia, Senior Social Science Analyst at the DOJ National Institute of Justice, talk about their article “All Hands on Deck! Toward a Reentry-Centered Vision for Federal Probation,” published in the December 2020 issue of Federal Probation. The article describes a holistic approach to reentry work, from pretrial through presentence and postconviction. Chris Dozier, retired Chief U.S. Pretrial Services Officer for the district of New Jersey, describes why she believes that “Reentry Begins at Arrest,” and Clark Porter, former inmate now M.S.W. and Community Resource Specialist for the Eastern District of Missouri U.S. Probation office, shares his reentry experience and what he thinks could make the process better for others.

To officers, understanding how they are trained and educated, and finding the right training opportunity among those offered by multiple agencies and actors can be confusing. Educators from the Federal Probation and Pretrial Academy, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and the Federal Judicial Center discuss the training and education available to help officers navigate the complex issues they face every day, and to also help officers remain successful throughout their careers. Stephanie Denton, Chief of the Training and Safety Division of the Probation and Pretrial Services Office at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and Raquel Wilson, Director of Education and Sentencing Practice at the U.S. Sentencing Commission, join Mark Sherman, Assistant Division Director of Probation and Pretrial Services Education at the Federal Judicial Center, to untangle the what, where, and why of Probation and Pretrial Services Officer training and education. Also featured in this episode are Training Specialist Julie Capsambelis (Florida Middle Probation Office), Special Offender Specialist and Training Coordinator January Welks (Connecticut Probation Office), and Chief U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Officer Robin Grimes (Ohio Northern Probation Office).

Dr. Michael Siegel, Senior Education Specialist, Federal Judicial Center, created the Leadership Development Program for U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Officers (LDP) in the mid-1990s. Since that time over 1,000 officers have graduated from the program, many of whom have gone on to lead their districts as chiefs, deputies, and supervisory officers. Through LDP and other programs, Dr. Siegel is, in large part, responsible for creating a culture of leadership in U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services. Over his more than thirty-year career at the Federal Judicial Center, he has conducted leadership seminars with virtually every part of the court family: judges of all kinds, clerks of court, court executives, and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. His portfolio of programs and projects includes many other topics as well. In this episode of Off Paper, Dr. Siegel discusses LDP’s origins, the characteristics of good leaders, and his perspective on leadership generally and within the federal courts.

U.S. probation and pretrial services professionals discuss the wellness challenges facing the system and the National Wellness Committee’s work to address them. Chair of the National Wellness Committee, Melinda Torres Felix discusses what it means to be physically and mentally well, where the Wellness Committee has been, where it wants to go, and the resources and help available to officers. Monica Mannino, Supervisory U.S. Probation Officer in the Eastern District of Missouri and Vice Chair of the Wellness Committee, Chief Wade Warren of the District of North Dakota, Chief Melissa Alexander of the Middle District of North Carolina, Tiffany Vega, U.S. Probation Officer from the Northern District of Illinois, and Johnny Alexander, U.S. Probation Officer from the Western District of Kentucky, also share their unique perspectives.

This special episode discusses actionable strategies for improving mental health, increasing personal and professional productivity and fostering happiness in yourself, and those around you. Judge Jeremy Fogel, former director of the Federal Judicial Center and current Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, and Dr. Dacher Keltner, founding Director of the Greater Good Science Center, host of the Center's award-winning podcast, "The Science of Happiness," and professor of psychology at the University of California Berkeley, share their personal strategies for managing challenges and suggest manageable steps anyone can take to achieve a better sense of balance during unbalanced times.

Retired chief U.S. probation and pretrial services officers Tony Anderson, Belinda Alexander-Ashley, Ph.D., and Yador Harrell discuss their personal experiences of racial bias in their lives and careers, their reactions to the killing of George Floyd and other unarmed Black men and women by police officers, and their suggestions for alleviating racial discrimination in the probation and pretrial services workplace.