CCA Leader Shares Insights with South African Corrections Officials
Rick Seiter visits country as part of American corrections delegation
One of CCA’s leaders recently had a seat at the table of corrections on an international scale.
In late 2009, Rick Seiter, CCA executive vice president and chief corrections officer, spent 11 days in South Africa with a group of 10 of America’s top corrections administrators and researchers. The delegation toured the nation’s prisons and met with wardens, directors and other government officials.
The trip was sponsored by People to People Ambassador Programs, which seeks to “bridge cultural and political borders through direct interaction, unparalleled access and unique experiences.” Mark Saunders, former president of the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents (NAAWS), also helped to organize the visit.
“People to People Ambassador Programs go to associations that are influential in the field,” Saunders explains. “For this trip, they tapped into members of NAAWS and the American Correctional Association (ACA). The whole idea is to create relationships with countries that may lack full development in terms of a specific discipline or profession. In this case, corrections in South Africa could benefit from guidance in human rights, administration and operations.”
Seiter was the only delegation member from CCA. He was joined by corrections professionals from Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Wisconsin and other states and jurisdictions.
“We met with institutional, community and crime prevention officials and advocates to discuss their challenges and offer insights,” Seiter explains. “We also learned from some of the things they had done that we could do here.”
Seiter says that many public institutions in South Africa, including the corrections system, are still adjusting to the aftermath of apartheid, which ended in 1994. The society is addressing “what was a changing, imbalanced work force from 15 years ago to a free, democratic government today.”
Among the strategies for improvement and best practices shared with officials from the South African Department of Correctional Services were unit management and direct supervision, according to Seiter. Unit management divides a facility into smaller, more manageable housing units, which increases inmate monitoring and intelligence by frontline staff. With direct supervision, correctional officers are posted within inmate housing units, enhancing security and promoting enhanced collaboration among correctional officers, case managers, correctional counselors and others.
Like many states in the U.S., South Africa is coping with overcrowding and mounting public needs, like education and infrastructure.
“They cannot afford to continue to build and expand their prisons,” Seiter says. “Community advocates are pushing restorative justice and community corrections.”
Saunders says this trip was the first in an anticipated series of dialogues and potential future journeys to the continent.
“We helped plant seeds about what can be fixed more easily, sometimes without great expense,” he says. “We have started an important relationship.”
Source, Spring 2010