Responsibility

The Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) has a wide range of responsibilities. A central one is ensuring the safety and well-being of all the people under its care. This includes the residents in the six Vermont prisons and a facility in Mississippi. The total changes constantly, but currently is around 1300. A steel bed to sleep on, three meals a day, health care provided by an outside vendor. Mental health personnel to help residents cope with incarceration. Corrections officers (COs)paid to watch over us and to ensure that violence is not visited on us by other residents.

It goes without saying that COs are enjoined to never lay hands on a resident, unless they are defending themselves from attack, or breaking up a fight. Even then, pepper spray is supposed to be employed first to render the resident more compliant. Theoretically, no CO just comes in swinging like Rocky. Residents have claimed this behavior, but the DOC says it is a lie.

What is the cost of safety? If the state is paying an average of $95,000 a year per incarcerated person, with 1300 individuals, call it $120 million a year. I have no idea what administrative costs, if any, are included in this figure. The health care budget, we are told, is $33 million, paid to a corporate entity with a bad track record for providing adequate care.

But that is a discussion for another day, along with the question of inadequate CO staffing. New recruits are leaving at alarming rates, as well as many long-time staff. Also, staff are converting to other jobs, such as case worker. Given that the average CO shift at Southern State Correctional Facility (SSCF) is 12-16 hours, the quitting rates are understandable. That the prison has had to lock down all units on many occasions do to short staffing, ceasing classes and outside recreational activities without notice or warning, is disruptive to the prison’s smooth running.

There’s another, perhaps more pressing situation that needs addressing. Resident suicides or attempted suicides are horrible to witness or hear about. The most common is to jump over a railing on the top tier, a drop of about 12 feet. There’s a possibility of having one’s fall broken by landing on a dayroom table. Either way, lives have been lost. Greater vigilance by COs will never stop all attempts. Residents who survive such an attempt are often hospitalized in the Springfield hospital. The SSCF infirmary will keep them until they are able to safely return to their living units. These costs may or may not be figured in to the state’s estimation of expenses.

There are three segregation units at SSCF. Foxtrot 1 has the highest security designation, and is the only one with its top tier fenced in to prevent suicide attempts. Bravo, a mental health unit, also has its top tier fenced in. However, suicide attempts can and have occured in the general population units. The most recent one occurred this past spring, with the person surviving the fall and being hospitalized.

The question I pose is, what is the worth of a human life? Fencing the top tier of all the units could be a considerable expense, but compare that to the worth of a person’s life. If protection of all persons under the DOC’s care is paramount, why has the situation not been addressed, not just at SSCF, but at all Vermont prisons? What are we waiting for? The trauma experienced by staff, residents, and families is real and consequential. Given the trauma of incarceration, the chances of another resident attempting suicide is a given. We have the collective responsibility to save lives. Why wait?

The writer is an incarcerated individual at Southern State Correctional Facility, Springfield, Vermont