In this episode we speak with Bill Nicklow, deputy superintendent for facility security and special operations at the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Bill talks with us about the practical side of efforts to reduce prison violence. He also shares highlights of his long and interesting career in the department. Bill provides context to the p…

In this episode we speak with Dr. Nancy Rodriguez from the University of California-Irvine about a multi-state project that she and several of her colleagues have been conducting for the past five years to examine the causes and consequences of prison violence. As this project is now coming to a close, Dr. Rodriguez shares with us some of the major…

Our podcast visits Schuylkill County this month as we shine a spotlight on SCI Frackville and SCI Mahanoy. This episode kicks off with Mahanoy Superintendent’s Assistant Jen Mahally sharing about her facility and its various programs, including how the Pennsylvania Correctional Industries warehouse provides job skills that can be invaluable to reen…

In this episode we continue to remember the life and legacy of Mark Kleiman. We review perhaps his most important practical contribution to the field, what he called Swift, Certain, and Fair (SCF) Supervision. The principles of SCF Supervision were laid out in in his 2009 book, “When Brute Force Fails.” We discuss various ways that the PA Departmen…

Mark Kleiman was a special friend to the PA Department of Corrections, partnering with us on many initiatives over the years such as assisting in incorporating the principles of swift, certain, and fair (SCF) supervision into practice, in-prison violence reduction initiatives, and other evaluation and innovation efforts. This special episode is a t…

Our year-long tour around the DOC continues as we learn about two rural facilities in western PA: SCI Forest and SCI Mercer. The episode kicks off with SCI Mercer Superintendent’s Assistant Nikki Franz discussing the facility’s history and unique features and programs—including its Veterans Service Unit, which recently became an official American L…

On July 31, 2024, the PA DOC, along with Penn State University, hosted their first ever Corrections Innovation Day. The event brought PA DOC staff from various levels and types of positions together with a large group of academic partners in order to brainstorm around innovative and testable solutions to some of the department’s most important issu…

This month, the PA Prisons and Parole Podcast visits one of our most unique facilities and one of our newer facilities in SCI Muncy and SCI Fayette. SCI Muncy Deputy Superintendent for Centralized Services William Frantz kicks off the episode by discussing how the history of the facility impacts its current layout as well as the main vocational opp…

In the second part of this month’s series, we talk with Jason Stauffer, the PA DOC’s Supervisor of Assessment and Classification Services. Jason talks about his background in corrections and assessment, how the PA DOC uses risk and needs assessment, and specifically how the PA DOC uses their new Strong-R assessment instrument.…

In the first part of this month’s series, we talk with the team at Vant4ge, a company that produces a correctional risk/needs assessment tool called the Strong-R. We discuss what risk/needs assessment is, and also discuss its importance in the corrections field. The Vant4ge team talks about what new developments are happening in the risk/needs asse…

As we cross the midpoint in our prison tour around the Commonwealth, we meet with the superintendents of two eastern facilities: SCI Dallas and SCI Phoenix. Dallas Supt. Jasen Bohinski discusses the unique programs at his facility—including the highly popular horticulture program—as well as the Veterans Service Unit, which was the first in the DOC.…

In this follow-up episode, we continue our discussion on the concept of “desistance” with a very special guest: Dr. Laurel Harry, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Sec. Harry talks about her career and about her interest in implementing desistance as a practical framework in the field of corrections.…

In this episode we discuss the concept of “desistance,” an idea which has been around for a while in academic criminology but is only now beginning to catch on among corrections practitioners and policy-makers. Dr. Bucklen describes what desistance is, discusses how to define and measure it, and explains its practical use as a complimentary measure…

SCI Coal Township Supt. Tom McGinley kicks off this episode with a conversation about his facility. Later in the show, two of SCI Pine Grove’s original employees—Lt. Jason Townsend and Administrative Officer Jessica Purcell—join the PA Prisons and Parole Podcast to discuss the first 20 years of the facility, as well as its Young Adult Offender prog…

In this episode we talk with two key leaders at the PA DOC, Deputy Secretary Chris Oppman and Deputy Secretary Lucas Malishchak, about how the areas under their purview within the department use research and statistics to make better decisions.Von The PA Prisons and Parole Podcast