Program planning An evaluation conducted by the health services staff of the South Carolina Department of Corrections identified a need to train staff to better manage special needs offenders. The central office designed a training program after consulting institutional administrators, program specialists, community service providers and representatives from advocacy groups. To ensure the training was tailored to each institution' s specific needs, the trainers then met with the warden and key staff from each of three correctional institutions that would be offering the training to their staff. The training workshop begins with a warm-up exercise. Following a review of the workshop objectives, participants are paired up and spend a few minutes talking with their partners about some skill or experience they have that is relevant to the management of special needs offenders.
Participants then introduce their partners to the group.
Pairs should be chosen beforehand to guarantee that everyone has a partner with a different job. This warm-up exercise has several benefits. First, even though staff work in the same facility, they sometimes do not know each other well. This exercise helps to break the ice. Second, it allows staff to identify previously unrecognized skills they acquired from former jobs, family experiences and elsewhere - skills that might help them manage special needs offenders.