Hotline Online

By Rachel Culver, Case Manager

I want to recognize the work of the Security Staff assigned to MCF-Stillwater's Segregation Unit on Friday, April 12, 2024.

The Security Staff not only accommodated the four legal calls for Case Management that morning, but also the myriad of medical appointments, intakes, and construction that were happening as well. The Security Staff remained extremely professional and were able to accommodate the legal calls in a timely manner.

The 2nd Watch Segregation Security Staff were Officer Lent, Officer Porter, Sgt. Steele, Officer Harrington, Officer Domenick, Officer Adams, and Officer Newkirk.

Thank you 2nd Watch Segregation Security Staff! Your hard work was appreciated.

By Dominic Chacon

I just wanted to make a Shout out to 1st Watch at Rush City. They have been going above and beyond with nightly duties and working together as a team.

Thank you all for your hard work and dedication.

By Heather Hansen

Recently, Willow River hosted a two and a half day, CIP tri-site training for a new program curriculum. The WR staff were all friendly and helpful, the bathrooms always clean, and there was plenty of coffee.

A job well done by all involved to make the best learning environment possible!

Thank you Willow River!!!

By Officer Nedeau

On April 16th, OPH experienced a power outage and Sgt. Sprague stepped up to the plate.

Sgt. Sprague was able to demonstrate a high level of professionalism, a great deal of attention to detail, and was able to maintain a cool and calm demeanor while running Master Control. She answered an unwavering amount of phone calls while training newer staff, she directed current staff to procedural duties while under the emergency ICS activation, she completed log-in information for all the downed computers in Master Control, and tended to many alarms and notifications sounding within the control panels inside the control base.

Thank you for showing such dedication and leadership during such a stressful situation at Oak Park Heights.

By Chrissy Gamst

On March 21, Moose Lake officers leaving work observed a pedestrian/car accident. Without hesitation they sprung into action as first responders on the scene to assist the victim and render aid until law enforcement and paramedics arrived.

This is a reminder of the dedication of our staff and utilization of training received also shines bright in protecting our community and citizens outside of the fence.

Thank you!

By Captain Nathan Bartz

Lt. Scott Huckell recently visited College Station Texas to attend MTG314 Large Incident ICS Training. Realistic scenarios with intensive leadership roles were required. This level of knowledge gained will certainly assist the Rush City facility in getting back to Pre-COVID levels of proficiency in the ICS area.

By Crystal Brakke

Fresh Start is a temporary program through the US Department of Education to address federal loans currently in default, creating repayment plans or forbearance options. The program is set to expire in September 2024 and the Education team wants to share information about it with DOC staff, for two reasons. First, anyone with federal loans currently in default is eligible for this program. We hope that you will review this information and/or share it with people in your own life who may be eligible for Fresh Start. Second, several of the Education Unit staff have been working on how to ensure our population has access to this information and get a better sense of how many people in facilities may be eligible for this program. St. Cloud and Shakopee team members did two weeks of information gathering in education intake sessions with new IPs that provided very helpful insights. Twenty seven percent of those surveyed self-reported they had some kind of outstanding student loans.

Knowing that this is a time limited program, we want to get information distributed in a way that provides time for IPs to contact the Department of Education and initiate the process. Sheila Hoffman, a liaison between DOC and the Office of Higher Education, has done significant work to test the process IPs are supposed to follow and developed a one-page document and one-page FAQ. That is attached. We will be working to distribute this information throughout facilities in the coming weeks.

This is a process that the incarcerated person must initiate and complete themselves. DOC staff will not be expected to provide active support in this process (it requires the loan holder to be the one contacting them), but rather to be baseline familiar with it and point people back to the attached document for how to proceed with contacting the US Department of Education. OSI has approved the phone numbers for this program to be exempt from phone call time limits.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

By Melissa Paquette

The past 6-8 weeks have been filled with work lists, tasks, room moves, etc. all in preparation for the segregation unit shutting down for the next 3-4 months. Several work orders had to be completed, along with countless room moves within the facility to ensure that SEG was emptied out by the target date of April 12, 2024.

I'd like to give a huge shout out to Lt. Ryan Hanson, Lt. Matt Olson, Room Assignment Coordinator Leah Nelson, Officer Alec Pfarr and our Maintenance department for all of their hard work! Had it not been for all of these staff continuously working to make this happen and stay on track, the process would not have gone as smoothly as it did.

Thank you!!

By Marisol Ortega

Yesterday a meal celebration was served for Eid-al-Fitr. Thanks to Chaplain Mike Lamb and all the Food Service staff, along with the IP workers who prepped and prepared the meal.

The kitchen staff took pride in serving a great meal for the IPs, it turned out fabulous! New food items were tried and well accepted for the feast. The IPs seemed to enjoy the variety of food that was offered and appreciated the opportunity to celebrate and pray together. Food Service Director Sarah Klein and Chaplain Lamb appreciated the staff who assisted to make it all run smoothly both for the celebration meal as well as the entire month of Ramadan.

Our FSD also adds: "Special thank you to Chaplain Mike Lamb who was well organized and updated us several times a day as things were changing during the month of the Ramada Fast. His attention to detail made the Ramadan process one of the best I have experienced in the 15 years of working here. Mike took the time and effort to ensure that the paperwork was correct. We did not have any complaints from the officers who delivered the meals throughout the entire Ramadan month in regard to where the IP was housed! I will give credit where the credit is due. My staff who supervised and monitored the IP's in the food service area during the Ramadan Fast (1 month). We had two IP's who prepared every single Ramadan meal. The hours of work, prep, and making sure all diets were followed (many allergies etc,). They did an outstanding job!"

By Jennifer Kern-Sieleni

Shakopee has been rather busy the first quarter of the year, unfortunately seeing an increase in major events. However, our Lieutenants have done outstanding with showing support both verbally acknowledging our line staff's efforts, helping with tasks, and checking in to ensure their staff are doing well mentally.

Our A-team, and the utility filling in, have been professional through some stressful and trying events, and showed compassion to their struggling coworkers in the aftermath.

It has been great to see that even through the stressful events, everyone pulls together and takes care of each other.