[0:00] see why this is important.
[0:08] » Good morning and welcome, excuse me, to
the Burks County Jail System Prison
[0:12] Board meeting uh today, April 8th. It is
9:00 a.m. and we will call the meeting
[0:17] to order.
Yes, sir. We ask our uh COO Kevin to
[0:25] please read the public comment notice.
>> Thank you, Commissioner. Public comment
[0:29] will be accepted in person through the
Q&A function. Please include your first
[0:32] name, last name, and municipality for
all comments. Any comments without name
[0:36] and municipality would not be
considered. Each citizen must submit one
[0:40] comment. Comment length is dictated by
limitations of the platform being used.
[0:44] Team's Q&A. Inperson comments will be
accepted first, followed by comments
[0:49] submitted virtually. The meeting comment
period is limited to a total of 30
[0:52] minutes, including both in-person and
virtual comments. This time period may
[0:56] be extended at the discretion of the
board. Please be concise. Comments that
[1:01] are germanine to county business will be
read during the meeting and should not
[1:04] be considered to be interactive dialogue
with the board. County solicitor will be
[1:08] the final arbiter of whether a comment
is germanine and should be read and
[1:12] response to public comment will be done
at the discretion of the board.
[1:18] » Okay. Thank you very much. We'll now
move to the approval of the minutes. Are
[1:23] there any changes or additions to the
minutes of the March 11 meeting?
[1:28] If none, the agenda stands approved at
I'm sorry, the uh minutes stand approved
[1:33] as presented. We'll now move to public
comment on agenda items. And we have
[1:39] public comment. None in person on agenda
items. Do you have anything online?
[1:45] Nothing online. We'll now move to the
presentation today on the Berts County
[1:49] criminal justice overview. and I'm going
to introduce our COO Kevin Barnhart who
[1:55] will give a brief introduction about
what we're going to be discussing today
[1:58] as well as present the different
speakers that we have. Kevin,
[2:02] » thank you Commissioner Rivera and thank
you to the prison board for allowing us
[2:05] to have this presentation. It's the
first of its kind and we hope that we're
[2:09] going to be doing this on an annual
basis uh possibly every April. We felt
[2:14] it was important for the board uh as
well as the public to understand a
[2:19] little bit more about our providers and
our programs at the jail and how these
[2:23] efforts are making a change in our
community. Uh I want a special thanks to
[2:28] Deputy Warden Smith for pulling together
all this information over a period of
[2:32] months and also putting together the uh
PowerPoint presentation. uh leadership
[2:37] of the jail can be commended for being
very uh proactive in criminal justice
[2:42] reform as well as our county leadership
team. And just a few other things to
[2:47] know uh is that housekeeping as you make
your presentation please just ask for
[2:52] next slide because is will be uh making
the slide changes and this is being
[2:57] recorded uh because we have one of our
commissioners commissioner is
[3:02] unavailable and we want to also ask the
board to consider putting this out on
[3:06] the county website for folks to uh view
the slideshow uh that could not be in
[3:11] attendance today.
So, uh, you want to consider at the end
[3:15] of the meeting. Uh, without further ado,
our first presenter will be our, uh,
[3:20] warden, Jeffrey Smith, who will kick off
what's being done within the walls of
[3:25] the jail and then move into our other
presenters of programs and
[3:31] uh, probably hold your questions till
the end. I think would be a better flow
[3:34] of the of the presentations. Thank you.
[3:39] » Morning.
>> Morning. Not on. Uh sound.
[3:45] » Now,
>> good morning. We're excited for this
[3:48] opportunity to reflect on the progress
we made in 2025 to better support the
[3:52] individuals in our care. In 2025, our
focus went beyond custody. We
[3:56] strengthened our commitment to
rehabilitation, re-entry, and the
[4:00] overall well-being. Through expanded
programming, stronger partnerships
[4:05] with the community agencies, and
continued emphasis on mental health,
[4:08] education, and accountability, we've
created more opportunities for
[4:11] incarcerated individuals to succeed,
both during their time in their in the
[4:15] facility and after the release. The
following highlights represent not just
[4:19] accomplishments, but meaningful steps
towards a more effective and humane
[4:23] system.
Uh, next slide, please. Over
[4:29] the past several years, the jail's
average daily population has shown a
[4:32] consistent and meaningful decline. While
the CO 19 pandemic of 2020 initially
[4:37] accelerated this trend through emergency
measures and reduced court activity,
[4:42] what's most significant is what happened
afterward. Through strong collaboration
[4:46] with the district attorney's office, the
courts, adult probation, and our
[4:50] partnered agencies, we've been able to
sustain these lower population levels.
[4:54] This reflects a more coordinated and
strategic approach to case processing,
[4:59] supervision, and alternative options,
demonstrating that systemwide
[5:03] cooperation can safely reduce jail
populations while maintaining public
[5:07] safety. Next slide, please.
[5:18] So, just to provide a brief overview of
some of the programs and services that
[5:22] the treatment department specifically
offers at the jail. Um, we offer a
[5:27] variety of group and individual
counseling services. Um, you can see a a
[5:32] bulleted list up there. I'm not going to
read them all to you, but we we really
[5:35] uh try to focus on evidence-based models
uh specifically cognitive cognitive
[5:40] behavioral therapy um which we know is
the most effective method uh with
[5:45] individuals who are uh within
incarcerated setting um to target
[5:50] criminogenic needs and help reduce
recidivism. Um so we have cognitive
[5:55] programming. We also have seeking safety
which is a trauma focused group. We know
[6:00] a lot of individuals who come into an
incarcerated setting have um experienced
[6:04] trauma in their lives. So, we offer that
as a voluntary experience for them. Um
[6:08] they can sign up on their housing units
and uh we have counselors that are
[6:12] trained to run that evidence-based
model. Um in 2025, we held over,00
[6:21] uh sessions um of group combined group
and individual counseling. And then on
[6:26] the right we have a list of other basic
services that we offer within the
[6:31] treatment department. Um classification
and orientation is a a staple within any
[6:37] jail setting. Uh we need to identify
individuals who are coming into the
[6:41] facility and determine what kind of risk
and need they have. Um and we need to
[6:46] also orient them to the rules and the
the the um programming and the the
[6:51] services that are available to them. So
the treatment department takes on that
[6:55] responsibility. Um and
in 2025 we completed over 6,600
[7:03] classifications. Um which is a is a
significant number. Um we also do a lot
[7:08] of risk screening and assessments. Um
a lot of referrals. the treatment
[7:13] department's responsible for reviewing
everybody that comes in, not just
[7:17] determining what risk and need they
have, but then what programs we have and
[7:21] and referring them to those programs.
Um, and then we also oversee programs
[7:26] like earn time, um, coordinating all the
volunteers that come in, reviewing their
[7:30] applications, uh, and and things like
that. So, just a brief overview of some
[7:35] of the things that the treatment
department within the jail oversees. So,
[7:40] um
there's a there's a lot more within
[7:44] that, but I just wanted to give you a a
brief picture of uh of what we what we
[7:50] focus on daytoday.
[7:56] Next slide, please.
>> So, in addition to our treatment
[8:01] programs, we've uh expanded on a few
other items. We've increased our out of
[8:04] cell time. We've expanded opportunities
for individuals to spend more time
[8:08] outside the cells promoting movement
engagement and overall well-being. We've
[8:13] enhanced fitness and recreation options.
We've invested in new equipment
[8:17] including pull-up dip stations, press
and pull machines, and we added
[8:21] recreational activities like cornhole to
encourage encourage physical activity
[8:25] and positive use of time. We've also
maintained our free communication
[8:29] opportunities for the individuals. We've
continued providing one free phone call
[8:32] per month and two free video calls per
week. This helps individuals stay
[8:37] connected with the family and their
support systems. We've we've expanded
[8:41] inerson visitation, increased access to
inerson visits, strengthening family
[8:45] connections, and supporting successful
re-entry outcomes.
[8:50] Next slide, please.
[9:05] Um, excuse. So, for community re-entry
programs in 2025, we expanded
[9:13] our access to community medication. Um,
our PEND dot we we started a PENDOT ID
[9:19] program. We expanded our medical
assistance application process and we
[9:25] also expanded a program that we had we
already had running in the jail. Um but
[9:30] we access we expanded access to um that
program in the community. So in 2024 we
[9:37] had started a partnership in the
community with a pharmacy for
[9:41] individuals who are released to have
access to prescription medication 14 a
[9:45] 14-day supply which was free of charge
to them. Unfortunately, that partnership
[9:50] um h was terminated um midyear 2025 and
we had to work to develop a new
[9:57] partnership uh which we were able to do
towards the end of the year in 2025 um
[10:01] which we were very excited to do. We
partnered with um Tower Health Reading
[10:06] Hospital um and their ambulatory
pharmacy. So, we're able to offer a
[10:10] again a free 14-day supply of medication
to everyone who's released from the
[10:15] jail. Um, and the ambulatory pharmacy is
open 7 days a week. Um, and has
[10:23] regular hours. So, any at any point when
someone's released any day of the week,
[10:27] they're able to go to the pharmacy and
pick up their prescription. Um, moving
[10:32] on to the PEN ID program. That was a new
program.
[10:35] » I hate to interrupt, but it it kind of
explained that's especially important
[10:39] relative to mental health. Oh,
>> that we had situations where people
[10:45] didn't get have medication with them,
didn't have access to it, and were in
[10:49] trouble within days.
>> Yeah. Prior to that, we were we were
[10:52] offering a three-day supply of
medication in hand when people were
[10:56] leaving the jail. Um, and individuals
with mental health, I mean, the the
[10:59] weight times to see a psychiatrist in
the community were months sometimes. Um,
[11:05] so people were really struggling and and
and that's a a significant contributing
[11:09] factor to stabilization in the community
when someone's leaving. Um so for us to
[11:14] be able to offer a longer supply of
medication um and access within the
[11:20] community within the first day that
they're leaving um was was really
[11:25] important and really critical. So when
we lost that contract in 24 in 25, it
[11:29] was really important for us to find a
new partner in the community. Um, and it
[11:33] was really important for us to identify
a partner that was available seven days
[11:38] a week and had evening hours. Um, so
that it was something that was
[11:43] accessible because we our releases are
anytime during the day or evening. So it
[11:48] was really important that it was a
partner that had that kind of same
[11:51] availability.
Um, the PEN ID program was started in
[11:56] 2025. We started that program in March.
Um, and that program, for anyone who
[12:02] isn't aware, um, allows individuals who
need,
[12:07] um, an ID or a driver's license to make
an application with PENDOT, and we free
[12:11] of charge to them, um, submit that
application. Pendot checks their record
[12:16] and sees what they're eligible for and
then provides them either a product um,
[12:20] that's mailed to the jail or if, let's
say, like you or I, your, you know, your
[12:24] your ID or your driver's license is
expired, you need a camera card. you
[12:28] need to um show up to a a a a driver's
license center and have their have your
[12:33] picture taken again, they'll they'll
send a voucher um so that that person
[12:37] once they're released can go to a
driver's license center and have their
[12:40] picture taken in a new ID um or driver's
licenses printed. So uh we started that
[12:46] pro that program in 2025 um March so not
a full year but in 2025 we processed 549
[12:55] applications and we we provided a total
of 409 IDs driver's license or vouchers
[13:04] for access to that in the community. Um
which is a pretty significant number and
[13:09] that that's missing a couple of months
within a year. Um moving on to medical
[13:15] assistance application expansion. Um
medical assistance is again another key
[13:21] part of re-entry. Having access to uh
medical benefits in the community
[13:27] when you are released from the in from
an institution is a critical component
[13:33] of getting not just your medical needs
met but your mental health needs met. Um
[13:37] being able to make appointments and have
them in covered covered by insurance.
[13:41] Um, so
we had a process in place where some
[13:46] individuals were getting applications
done depending on the program that were
[13:49] that they were in, but we we had
identified a way to expand that in a
[13:54] year prior for individuals who were
sentenced because we knew when they were
[13:59] getting out. So it was easy to identify
their release date. And in order to
[14:03] submit the application, we need to know
their release date. That's how the the
[14:07] process and the system is built within
the the state system. Um, in 2025, we we
[14:14] really targeted and prioritized finding
a way to process applications for
[14:21] individuals who were released um without
without warning. So, individuals who
[14:26] maybe posted bail or went to court and
got time served. And we really didn't
[14:30] have that advanced notice and planning
opportunity. Um so we identified a we we
[14:36] identified a method and at the end of
2025 we put a process in place so that
[14:40] individuals who are released without um
extensive notice um we were able to
[14:47] submit their applications the day after
they're released from our facility. Um
[14:53] and that that process has been that it's
been going well. Um we have our case
[14:57] workers doing that checking our releases
the day prior. Um, and we have case
[15:01] workers in the jail seven days a week.
So, that's an effective method for us.
[15:06] Um, and the last the last item on our
list is uh the reality check program in
[15:11] the community. Um,
again, reality check was is a peer-led
[15:18] uh program that's facilitated
um by an individual who has lived
[15:22] experience. Um, and he focuses on uh
important re-entry concepts for
[15:30] individuals who are getting ready to
leave or recently incarcerated and, you
[15:37] know, struggling with criminogenic needs
and and things that are driving some
[15:41] criminal behavior. Um, and he really
tries to help uplift them and and help
[15:46] them focus on what changes they need to
make in order to make differences in
[15:51] their lives in order to not commit new
crimes. Um, and we had that individual's
[15:57] name is Charles Jackson. He was coming
into our jail for about a year running
[16:00] that program inside and we really saw um
a warm reception from our population.
[16:08] the the individuals that were going to
that group um really responded well um
[16:13] and showed a lot of change and
new new concepts in their own um
[16:22] verbalizations and understandings after
his group was done. And so we we had
[16:27] some conversation with Charles and we
decided that this would be a good
[16:30] opportunity postrelease. Um, so we
worked out a plan for him to be able to
[16:34] offer that group um in the community for
up to a year for any individual who was
[16:39] released from Burks County Jail. Uh, so
we fund that program. Uh, Charles is
[16:44] currently running two groups a week um
out in the community. Um, one at the
[16:50] YMCA and one at the Opaque Center at
Alveria here in the city. Um and
[16:56] those are completely free to anyone who
is released from the Burks County Jail
[17:01] within the last year. Um and there the
attendance is um it's increasing. It's
[17:08] going up. Um and getting we're trying to
get the word out and and encourage
[17:12] people to uh to use that support. Um
he's seeing individuals who met him in
[17:19] the met him in the jail and are now
finding him in the community. Um, so
[17:23] we're seeing really good results from
that. But re-entry wise in 2025, those
[17:28] are the those are the strides that we
made.
[17:35] Next slide, please.
[17:40] » Uh, we streng we strengthened our
support through community partnerships.
[17:44] Uh through partnership with the Burks
County Library System, we provide
[17:48] children visiting incarcerated loved
ones with the opportunity to select a
[17:52] free book from the vending machine. It
helps ease the stress of visitation
[17:56] while promoting literacy and posit
positive engagement. In addition, our
[18:00] collaboration with Northstar initiatives
allowed us to train our staff to
[18:03] recognize the warning signs of human
trafficking and connect with supervis
[18:07] with survivors and critical resources
enhancing both awareness and our ability
[18:12] to provide meaningful support. Also want
to add that we did just have a visit
[18:16] from the state librarian this week to uh
see the success of our program with the
[18:21] book vending machine. Was very pleased.
Next slide, please.
[18:27] » What's new in 2026? We're expanding our
wellness and personal growth programs.
[18:32] We introduced yoga as a wellness
initiative promoting stress reduction,
[18:36] mindfulness, and overall mental health
for individuals in our care. the Common
[18:41] Grounds Art Program. We partnered with
the local artists to launch a mural
[18:44] project throughout our facility. The
designs are created by our by our
[18:49] individuals in our custody right now,
fostering creativity, ownership in a
[18:53] more positive environment. We enhanced
our staff training with autism
[18:57] awareness, provided specialized training
through assert to better equip the staff
[19:02] in recognizing and appropriately
responding to individuals with autism.
[19:07] We also had the opportunity to celebrate
educational achievement. We began
[19:10] formally recognizing GED
accomplishments, reinforcing the value
[19:14] of education and encouraging continued
personal growth, development, and
[19:18] success. And lastly, the puppy program.
Do I need to say anything else really?
[19:25] Who doesn't love puppies?
Uh we are partnered with United
[19:30] Disability Services who provides uh
service dogs for those with
[19:34] disabilities. We will be taking puppies
along um in the early stages in the
[19:40] welping stage to get them trained and
ready for uh the vetting process. We're
[19:47] also uh going to be vetting the dogs
through a training process where the
[19:51] older ones will come in our custody and
the individual handlers will be some of
[19:55] our uh our residents in our in our
custody. They'll be providing them the
[20:00] training on a weekly basis and they will
um get them ready. They will it's a
[20:07] great opportunity to provide something
back to the community, a service dog.
[20:11] And that is all we have for you today.
Thank you, jail leadership. Uh we'll now
[20:16] move to Primeare Medical and discuss
medical mental health services at the
[20:20] jail.
[20:29] Good morning. My name is Tom Weber. I'm
CEO and one of the three owners of Prime
[20:33] Care Medical. On behalf of Brent
Babington, Todd Haskins, u we appreciate
[20:38] this opportunity uh to highlight what
we've done uh here in Burks County in
[20:43] 2025. Um we submitted correspondence at
the end of February. I hope everyone had
[20:49] an opportunity to review that. If you
have not, I urge you to do so. It goes
[20:53] into some greater detail about the
specific delivery system items covered.
[20:58] Uh I will not be repeating that today.
We have provided a brief uh PowerPoint
[21:03] presentation that I'll go over. Uh that
will touch upon essentially I believe
[21:08] five components. One just the healthcare
delivery system itself, the staffing. Uh
[21:14] we'll go into the medical care. uh than
the mental health care uh the MAT
[21:19] program that we have here in Burks
County and finally uh some of the
[21:24] cost-saving measures that uh we
implement on behalf of Burks County uh
[21:28] and its taxpayers. Um if I could have my
PowerPoint, please.
[21:32] » Next slide.
>> Next slide. Sorry.
[21:35] » That's okay.
>> Next slide.
[21:40] We're good. Thank you. Uh Prime Care
Medical uh we're celebrating our 40th
[21:45] year of existence. Uh all we do is
correctional health care. Uh and by
[21:50] healthcare we mean the full gambit of
medical, mental health, dental services.
[21:55] Uh we're celebrating 40th year. As I
said, uh this year is our 37th year of
[22:00] partnership with uh Burks County. Uh
with the loss of Dolphin County last
[22:04] year, Burks County is now our longest
standing um client. Uh we appreciate uh
[22:10] the relationship, the opportunity and
the trust uh placed in us to take care
[22:15] of those incarcerated in jail system. Uh
we operate in six states now.
[22:20] Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New
Hampshire, Florida, and as of last
[22:24] Wednesday, Ohio. As I said, just
focusing on county and juvenile health
[22:28] centers. We care for about 23,000 people
a day, uh all incarcerated. So, uh quite
[22:35] a bit of experience. uh a lot of that
experience earned here in Burks County
[22:39] uh matured over the years. Uh certainly
delivery system now is quite different
[22:45] than it was 37 years ago. Uh never would
we have been seeing treating MAT uh the
[22:52] full gamut of mental health services,
transgender care, HIV, you name it. If
[22:57] it's happening in the community, it's
happening in your jail system. And we're
[23:01] charged with the responsibility of
providing the care for those
[23:03] individuals. Next slide.
[23:08] Uh we are uh a 24hour a day, 7 days a
week, 365day operation. Uh we're not a
[23:17] part-time clinic. We're there around the
clock every day. We provide a little
[23:22] over 45 full-time equivalent physicians
per week. That equates out to about
[23:27] 95,000 hours of health care services
provided um in Burks County per the
[23:34] contract. by why I say per the contract
we are contracted to provide 95,000
[23:39] hours a year. Um I'm pleased to say uh
given the acuity and the seriousness
[23:44] with which we take our patient care last
year we provided just less than 100,000
[23:49] hours uh over 4,000 hours more than
contracted for. Uh and that's because
[23:55] our patients needed it. We felt the need
and we wanted to make sure that they
[23:59] were as safe as possible while they were
in our care in your custody. uh that
[24:03] gives the rundown by uh breakdown of
practice area uh between medical, mental
[24:09] health, MAT administration. Uh so you
see um we are essentially running a
[24:15] small hospital in your facility without
hospital equipment. Uh we certainly
[24:20] don't have an ICU and the like uh but we
we do have the staff to take care of our
[24:25] patients uh inhouse for the vast
majority of their medical and mental
[24:30] health needs. Next slide please.
This is a snapshot of the appointments
[24:37] that we've create within a year. Uh it
goes through you'll see for 2020 I I've
[24:44] given historic perspective so you can
think see how trends are. Um as the
[24:48] warden mentioned uh the population has
consistently gone down. However, the
[24:53] health care needs of those within the
facility has not reduced
[24:57] correspondingly. Uh and unfortunately uh
the reason for that is you know some of
[25:02] the social economic pressures we have in
our community. Uh it is unfortunately
[25:07] our sickest our poorest uh individuals
who remain incarcerated while those who
[25:12] have have opportunities um to get out.
It's not true across the board. There
[25:17] have certainly been strides made uh for
diversionary programs to touch the most
[25:21] needy. Uh but as a trend um our our
patients have remained the ones that
[25:26] we've cared for before even when we had
a larger population. Those that have the
[25:31] largest needs have remained even though
the population has been reduced. I
[25:35] wanted to highlight there that we have
418,000 appointments uh created for
[25:41] 2025.
181,000 of those were completed. A large
[25:46] number. Uh but for those of you closely
uh looking at the slide, you may note
[25:50] that the uh the appointments deleted
actually slightly exceed the
[25:54] appointments uh completed. And you may
have questions as to how why that is
[25:59] occurring. Um simply uh we operate all
of our facilities consistent with the
[26:05] standards created by the National
Commission on Correctional Healthcare,
[26:08] the NCC, which was an offshoot of the
American Medical Societ Association in
[26:14] the early 1970s. When the AMA uh
recognized that correctional health care
[26:19] had become almost its own specialty like
cardiology,
[26:24] uh they decided that there needed to be
standards to govern best practices. um
[26:30] in in correctional healthcare and as a
company we follow those standards in all
[26:36] of our facilities. Burks County
recognizes the importance of those
[26:39] standards and has elected to follow them
correspondingly. It's it's a it's a
[26:45] whole facility standard. Uh so we are
accredited through the NCC. Some of our
[26:50] counties don't want or don't feel the
need to have that accreditation and they
[26:55] won't participate. But we still operate
all of our uh delivery system consistent
[27:00] with those standards. Those standards
require certain things. Every individual
[27:04] has an intake done as soon as practical
upon entering the facility. It is our
[27:10] personal standard uh company standard
that that be done within 4 hours of
[27:15] entering the facility. Everyone has to
have a physical within 14 days of being
[27:19] there. If someone is there for a year,
they have to have a repeat physical. So,
[27:24] as to ensure our compliance with those,
we have built into our electronic
[27:28] medical set uh record certain things
that triggers that make sure we don't
[27:32] miss those. So, when you come in for an
intake, your annual physical is going to
[27:37] be automatically scheduled for 11 months
out to make sure that we complete it
[27:42] prior to that year. Obviously, most are
thankfully most of our patients aren't
[27:46] with us for a full year. So, when they
get released, that scheduled appointment
[27:52] gets deleted. So, it would go in that
category of deleted appointments. In
[27:57] addition to the NCCHC standards, we've
also implemented certain care standards
[28:02] that we've put in place um voluntarily
to try and ensure uh the safety of our
[28:08] patients. One of those by example is
anyone who comes in and flags for
[28:12] substance abuse is going to be
automatically placed on a detox
[28:16] protocol. Uh a lot of individuals will
wait to see if someone goes through
[28:21] withdrawal and then they'll start
treating the withdrawal symptoms. It's
[28:25] our opinion that it's better to treat it
before it's likely to happen. Uh so we
[28:30] will start it uh immediately and
typically those uh protocols will last a
[28:35] period of 7 to 10 days. So again, if
someone comes in, we believe they're
[28:39] going to be going through withdrawal,
we'll initiate a detox for them that
[28:43] will say last seven days. They get
bailed out after 2 days. The next eight
[28:48] days of appointments are automatically
deleted. So that's why if you look at
[28:51] that graph complete uh closely and you
say, well, it's great they did 181,000
[28:57] appointments, but why did they delete
195 of them or 195,000 of them? That is
[29:02] why. Next slide, please.
mental health. Uh it it is finally been
[29:10] recognized and finally within the last
five years uh that the Commonwealth's
[29:14] mental health treatments uh system is
failing. Uh there was an initiative in
[29:20] the Commonwealth going back now almost
40 years that there was a perception
[29:24] that having state mental health poss
areas was inhumane because it was
[29:30] inhumane to take someone who is
suffering from mental health problems in
[29:34] Reading and move them to the Harrisburg
State Hospital away from their family.
[29:38] So the decision was made to close down
those regional hospitals and have a more
[29:42] focal focalized attention on mental
health in comma. The problem, as
[29:47] Harrisburg will often do, is when they
find a source of money, they they freed
[29:51] up all the money from the state
hospitals. When they find a source of
[29:54] money, it doesn't go where it was
initially intended to do or go. We all
[30:00] allowed gambling so that our property
taxes would go down. We have a lot of
[30:04] casinos around. Property taxes have not
gone down. We closed the state mental h
[30:08] this is me my personal opinions out here
uh but we closed the state hospital
[30:14] saying okay we'll we'll put the funding
in the local communities so that they
[30:17] can be treated closer to home. That
funding never materialized. The
[30:22] community struggle and the patients
suffer. So de facto your your county
[30:27] prisons bec or jails became uh the
mental health treaters uh in the
[30:32] community. uh and that fell upon us and
and and the jail system to treat these
[30:36] individuals. So, we track uh every
individual who comes in, we give them
[30:41] what's called a mental health stability
rating scale. It's a scale A, B, C, and
[30:45] D's. Um it was developed as part of an
ACLU lawsuit against the uh Pennsylvania
[30:51] Department of Corrections and how they
dealt with mental health people as a way
[30:54] to identify people. Uh it has
ramifications in terms of placing people
[30:59] in segregation. certain things you have
to do. A's and B's. A's have no history
[31:04] of uh mental health issues. B's have
none in the last five years. C's have
[31:09] active mental health issues or at least
in the last two years or receiving
[31:12] psychotropic medications. And your D's
um are uh those who have a serious
[31:18] mental illness uh schizophrenia, bipolar
or the like. So we focus a lot of our
[31:24] attention. Everyone has the availability
of a mental health clinician. All you
[31:29] have to do, you know, they are screened
at the beginning. They also have a
[31:32] 14-day mental health assessment done. Uh
but if your A's have any concerns, uh
[31:38] there there's the sick call system so
that they can have access to a mental
[31:41] health clinician. The C's and D's are
automatically actively followed and
[31:45] visited uh on a u routine basis
periodically. Um here's the graphic for
[31:52] your C's. I am pleased to report that
Burks Countyy's jail system uh is one of
[31:57] the few in our footprint of 86
facilities that has seen a somewhat
[32:02] steady decline uh in in your C's and
your D's. It it's not completely
[32:08] significant. There's still a great
presence of mental health uh needs in in
[32:13] the facility, but it has been on the
decline. Uh I would like to think uh
[32:17] part of that is as the warden had
mentioned uh a lot of collaboration with
[32:22] the DA's office the courts of late uh to
see see if there can be other avenues of
[32:28] placing someone somewhere else other
than getting in the system. Uh because
[32:33] if someone's incarcerated with a mental
health illness, they're likely to stay
[32:37] three to four times longer than someone
who does not have mental health. Um they
[32:41] deteriorate in the facility. They have a
hard time participating in their
[32:45] criminal system. So just working through
the system is delayed merely as a side
[32:49] effect of their mental health system. We
have numerous weekly meetings with jail
[32:54] administration on a number of topics.
One of them is this diversion areas. Is
[32:58] there a better place for these
individuals? We have releases signed by
[33:02] our patients at their intake that enable
us to share what would otherwise be
[33:06] confidential information with jail
administration so that we can go through
[33:10] and see is someone else worthy. Uh a lot
of times you will hear people say you
[33:15] know they they'll have a mental health
break. you know, they get stable in jail
[33:19] taking their medications because it's
readily available. And as the
[33:22] commissioner pointed out, one of the big
concern is out in the community if they
[33:26] can't get back on Medicaid or they can't
get an appointment, they don't have the
[33:29] medications. When they stop taking their
medications, they will deteriorate and
[33:33] then they act out in a certain way
consistent with another symptom or side
[33:37] effect of their mental illness and it
causes a break in the law uh and and
[33:42] then they find their way back in. So
what we try and really do is identify
[33:46] does someone have criminality or is this
a a symptom of their illness? If it's a
[33:50] symptom of their illness and they're
safe in the community, can we get them a
[33:54] different placement so they're not with
us? Uh you're you're can you next slide
[33:59] please?
[34:05] And this is uh a similar slide uh for
your category DS, your smis or actively
[34:11] suicidal. Again, we're seeing a a
decrease over the last couple of years.
[34:16] Uh so these are certainly positive
trends uh in in the Burks County jail
[34:21] system.
Next slide, please.
[34:28] As I started the presentation, I
mentioned the breath of our uh staff uh
[34:34] and but I also stated we're not an
hospital. We're not ICU. We can't
[34:39] perform orthopedic surgery. So, some of
our patients certainly present uh with
[34:44] medical needs uh that are greater than
what can be provided in a correctional
[34:49] setting. And this slide provides uh the
hospital days uh that patients have been
[34:55] in uh for 2025 as well as the outside
transports that we had uh complete.
[35:00] Those house outside transports could be
for an emergency need uh or they could
[35:05] be for routine type treatment. all of
our pregnant uh females and we had 23 of
[35:10] them in the facility for 2025. We make
sure that they have an appointment with
[35:14] an outside OBGYn.
Although we have physicians who have
[35:18] gone through training and know how to
care for pregnant females, they are not
[35:23] OBGYNS. We will start them on their
prenatal vitamins. We'll help them along
[35:27] the way, but we want to make sure that
they are followed by a specialist. So
[35:31] all of those 23 went out for regular
OB/GYN visits depending on where they
[35:36] were in the terms of their pregnancy. Um
this slide also uh highlights as I
[35:42] mentioned you know when the warden
mentioned there's a decline in
[35:45] population unfortunately the needs of
our patient in terms of the higher
[35:50] acuity have not gone down but in fact
have risen over the last several years.
[35:56] Next slide please.
[36:03] As part of the intake process, uh we
screen people. Uh it's about a 35 to 45
[36:09] minute intake process to try and get as
complete uh of a history of all our
[36:14] patients that we can. Uh we truly
believe that the intake is is the
[36:20] foundation. We we want to start planning
their discharge from the intake
[36:24] information. Everyone has a blood
glucose level taken. Uh the number of
[36:30] individuals that we diagnosed with
diabetes that they were unaware of is
[36:35] truly amazing. The number of people, our
patients, you know, are not the best
[36:39] carers of their own health in the
community. They're not making the best
[36:43] decisions often times. That's why they
may end up incarcerated. So they're not
[36:47] aware that they're walking around with a
dangerous diabetic condition. We've
[36:51] learned the hard way that if unchecked,
diabetes can manifest itself and turn
[36:55] into a very serious serious condition
relatively quickly if they're allowed to
[37:00] go untreated in the back halls of a
jail. So, we test everyone. Uh we do the
[37:07] same thing for all types of abuse,
alcohol, substances, heroin, um meth, uh
[37:14] you name it, we have a check to see if
it's on it. Um, and this graph shows
[37:19] over the last several years what we're
seeing in terms of the people that come
[37:22] in and screen positive for some type of
substance abuse. Other than a spike uh
[37:28] shortly postcoid uh which again was
consistent with the community um we've
[37:33] been you've been experiencing about a
third or 30% of your population comes in
[37:39] uh suffering some from some sort of
substance abuse. Next slide please.
[37:48] MAT program. As I said, uh, correctional
health care has changed significantly
[37:53] over the last 40 years, 37 here in in U
Burks County. MAT programming is
[38:00] certainly the most significant change of
late. Um, historically, all uh, MAT that
[38:08] would be provided in a facility was
methadone for pregnant females who came
[38:14] in uh, addicted uh, to an opioid. Uh,
and that was provided more to care for
[38:20] the baby uh, than it was actually the
mother or their substance abuse. It was
[38:24] to try and ensure the safety of the
fetus. Um, that has changed. Uh I can
[38:30] tell you here in Burks County,
ironically, it's probably 20 years ago
[38:34] uh Christine Zadler and myself uh
appeared before the court uh in a matter
[38:38] where we had a young individual who was
brought in who was on a bupinorphine uh
[38:43] product. I believe it was Suboxone at
the time. He had become addicted to uh
[38:47] heroin following a sports injury in high
school. Uh and his um family pleaded
[38:53] with the court to allow him to maintain
that treatment while in the facility.
[38:58] And at the time, consistent with the the
school of thought, uh we went to court
[39:04] on behalf of the jail and advocated not
to allow him to have it in it. Um
[39:08] because it was considered contraband in
a jail. uh it's dangerous and it's still
[39:12] a dangerous product in the in the uh
jail environment, one that has to be
[39:17] handled with great care. But back then
um the the thought process was it was a
[39:22] greater risk to the patient because they
could be vulnerable to uh influence from
[39:27] other individuals in the facility who'd
want to steal their medications for
[39:31] their own use. uh or it could be used as
uh a form of uh uh money or uh the like
[39:40] in jail to to barter. So, we
successfully kept it out as contraband
[39:45] uh consistent with the school of thought
that we'd be able to maintain his
[39:49] sobriety uh because he could white
knuckle it while he was in here. He
[39:52] wouldn't have access to the drug so he
not overdose and then when he got out he
[39:56] could start it. Uh I tell that story
just to give historical pre uh uh
[40:02] significance or or point in time not uh
because I'm overly proud of the success
[40:07] we had because now uh I go around to our
facilities and champion champion MAT
[40:12] programs. science has advanced in the
last 20 years. The recognition uh once
[40:17] the DSM5 recognized substance you abuse
as a disease uh the thought of it being
[40:23] a weakness as opposed to an illness has
has changed and we've seen uh over the
[40:29] last eight years that we've been
providing it we've seen numbers and
[40:32] numbers of success stories. So it has
expanded here in Burks County and we
[40:37] perform uh we provide every form uh of
MAT treatment available to individuals.
[40:43] Bupinorphine, Vivitrol, methadone, all
of them uh including the long acting u
[40:49] injections.
uh we've been able to monitor it. Uh and
[40:54] although some individuals who are on the
program may find themselves
[40:58] reincarcerated, I'm pleased to say about
68% of those that come back to us have
[41:03] maintained their program in the
community. So even though they've done
[41:08] something to run a foul, it could be a
parole violation, something else, it's
[41:12] not related to narcotics. So we're
starting to see a break in that vicious
[41:17] cycle uh of round and round. So the MAT
program has been successful. Next slide
[41:24] please.
[41:29] And this is an overview of the just the
numbers of our MAT program. Uh I know
[41:35] there were time limitations so I won't
go every one of them over every one of
[41:39] them but I'll just highlight the the
most significant I believe. Uh and that
[41:42] is last year we treated 1566 people in
the MAT program in 2025. That number
[41:49] will be I believe significantly higher.
Um next year we inducted 159 which means
[41:56] we introduced 159 new people to MAT
while they were in here. Most of them
[42:02] are in a form of oral bupinor orphans.
Next and final substantive slide please.
[42:12] We as a company fully recognize that
providing this level of care is one
[42:16] necessary uh for the health and safety
of our patients, but two also extremely
[42:21] expensive to the taxpayers of Burks
County and and that is not lost on us.
[42:26] Uh so we try as much as possible to
provide that care as efficiently as
[42:32] possible uh so that the taxpayers of
Burks County are getting the greatest
[42:37] return for their taxpayer dollar that
they can in terms of correctional
[42:40] healthcare. Um this is the most concrete
way for us to display uh the level in
[42:48] which we monitor the funds that are
entrusted to us or the care that is
[42:52] entrusted to us. As I mentioned before,
there are outside medical needs. We saw
[42:56] the number of h outside hospital stays.
Last year, Burks County or 2025, Burks
[43:02] County received over $5.4 million in
claims for outside care rendered. Uh we
[43:10] on behalf of the county process all
those claims. Uh we are the largest
[43:16] provider in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania. Uh number of years ago,
[43:20] Pennsylvania passed a law that if you
receive care while incarcerated, if it's
[43:25] outpatient care, it's build at the
Medicare rate. If it's inpatient care,
[43:29] it's built at the medic Medicaid rate.
Um there is an Oregon association in
[43:34] Pennsylvania that handles those claims
for most counties. We've worked a deal
[43:39] with them that we can do it ourselves.
That saves Burks County a participation
[43:44] fee um because they they allow them to
come through us. We very aggressively
[43:49] scrub those claims. For any of you that
have received a claim from a hospital in
[43:53] your house, you will see from your
insurance uh explanation of benefits or
[43:57] EOB, how the bill will come in from the
hospital at $70,000 and your insurance
[44:02] company will pay something and then
they'll ask you to pay something, but
[44:05] they're both smaller than that $70,000.
So, of that 5.49 49 million that Burks
[44:10] County received, we were able to reduce
those claims to $545,000.
[44:16] So, we saved 90% of the claims received
uh that that Burks County. So, uh we
[44:23] like to highlight that because I I think
it epitomizes the mindset that we have
[44:27] that we want to partner with the county
um and provide the best care possible
[44:32] for the incarcerated individuals, but at
an expense that the taxpayers can can
[44:37] afford. Uh, I believe I ran a little
longer than the allotted time, but I
[44:42] will afford any questions if if there
are any. I also heard that this may be
[44:46] posted. If the board receives any
specific questions on the medical
[44:50] information that is out in the public, I
would invite the opportunity uh to send
[44:54] it on to us. We'll be happy to respond
to anyone's questions. Thank you for
[44:58] your time.
>> Thank you. Very informative. Thank you.
[45:02] We now have uh Kathy Null, our executive
director of Council on Chemical Abuse,
[45:06] joining us virtually to discuss
substance use disorder services through
[45:10] the Council on Chemical Abuse.
>> Morning Kathy.
[45:14] » Good morning, Kevin. Um thank you all
for having for inviting the Council on
[45:19] Chemical Abuse to be here today to talk
about services. Um
[45:25] next slide.
So today um I want to talk about
[45:31] what we provide in terms of assessment
and counseling in terms of jail
[45:37] diversion into treatment and um although
the gentleman from prime care uh really
[45:43] covered MAT very very well. I will talk
um a little bit about MAT as well. Um, I
[45:50] think maybe some of you right now might
be saying to yourselves, "Hold on a
[45:54] minute. Um, does KOKA actually provide
services in the jail? I don't actually
[45:59] think I've ever seen any KOKA staff in
the jail." And you would be right. We
[46:06] don't operationalize
um we don't operationalize our services.
[46:12] What we are doing is we contract for
services through our local provider
[46:17] network and then we monitor those
services as well. Um next slide, next
[46:22] slide please.
So by way of background um KOKA is the
[46:28] single county authority or you'll hear
the terms um SCA for drug and alcohol
[46:33] programs in Burks County. Um, since the
act of 63 in 1972, which established the
[46:40] whole SEA system, um, the Burks County
Commissioners have contracted with the
[46:47] Council on Chemical Abuse to manage, um,
drug and alcohol services and drug and
[46:52] alcohol funds. Um, we have our
regulations through uh, the Department
[46:58] of Drug and Alcohol Programs. And again,
every single um county in Pennsylvania
[47:04] is represented by an FCA and that's, you
know, due to the act of of 63 and um
[47:11] counties choose how they want to um
implement the SEA functions. Many many
[47:19] um seas are part of county government.
Again, um our commissioners have decided
[47:25] to contract with the council on chemical
abuse. So for the past over 50 years, we
[47:30] have been managing the drug and alcohol
funds um for for uh Burks County. Um
[47:37] next slide, please. Um, one of the
things that that I I really want to say
[47:43] is that
Burks County has a lengthy history of
[47:48] providing high quality state-of-the-art
services to um, incarcerated individuals
[47:55] um, decades long. And what we have right
now um that KOKA is supporting through
[48:02] funding and monitoring in our prison um
are we have early intake and assessment
[48:09] for drug and alcohol. Um we provide for
counseling and MAT as we heard medicated
[48:16] assisted treatment. Um we have a
diversion program that supports recovery
[48:22] uh and engages people in treatment
immediately. And then um our case
[48:27] managers also make sure that we have
community continuation, ongoing
[48:32] treatment and stabilization. And we've
heard that theme several times as as
[48:37] people have spoken how important it is
that um people be connected to services
[48:43] uh in the community as soon as possible.
Next slide, please.
[48:51] So um one of the things that I talked
about is Koka contracts for services. So
[48:56] we contract with Burks Counseling Center
and I do believe that they are here
[49:00] today. So I am not going to take their
thunder and um and and allow them to to
[49:06] talk about the strides that um they've
made in counseling. But it is Koka who
[49:11] um contracts for and monitors that
service. Um and BCC does some assessment
[49:18] for us. They do outpatient counseling.
They do early re early recovery support
[49:24] groups and some um some pre-treatment
services as well. Uh and I'll let BCC
[49:32] talk about this and the way they've kind
of are looking at their services uh at
[49:38] this time, but there's just some
pre-treatment information there for you.
[49:42] uh BCC will talk more about numbers and
and and actual treatment, but
[49:47] pre-treatment meaning that we know that
this um that there are individuals who
[49:52] have a drug or alcohol problem or at are
high risk and for whatever reason um the
[49:59] referral to treatment in the prison,
their treatment has not started yet in
[50:02] the prison. And so these pre-treatment
groups help keep people connected, help
[50:08] start kind of the motivation process for
them to um actually take part in in a
[50:13] treatment program. Um and also we
coordinate the BCC coordinates very
[50:20] closely um with MAT. Well, I one of the
conversations really important and vital
[50:26] conversations that Koka has had with BCC
this fiscal year is um the importance of
[50:36] that of of being able to move people uh
into treatment as soon as possible in
[50:43] the jail. And so one of the things that
we were seeing and of course they were
[50:49] seeing is that that the waiting list for
treatment were continuing to rise. So we
[50:55] were able to respond to that um to that
situation and to provide them some more
[51:02] funding so that they could have more
people available to do counseling. Um
[51:07] and you'll see I I added their um budget
in for this fiscal year. Uh
[51:15] what you're seeing there is BCC's budget
for outpatient um treatment assessment
[51:22] and early recovery support groups at the
prison. Next slide, please.
[51:29] Um I want to talk about the
what we call the medical assistance jail
[51:35] diversion program. Um,
Deputy Warden Stephanie Smith has
[51:41] started to talk a little bit about how
the jail was expanding
[51:45] um, med access to medical assistance.
This program started more than 10 year
[51:52] 10 years ago um, through the Department
of um, human services and the Department
[51:59] of Public Welfare and uh, the SEA and
the county offices. um they were able to
[52:07] to make policy that allowed individuals
to apply for medical assistance before
[52:15] they left the jail. Our whole goal is to
have their medical assistance, we always
[52:22] use the word the term turned on the
second they step out of the prison. And
[52:28] the whole purpose of this is to
coordinate their residential treatment.
[52:32] Um so what happens is that um a person
who is in need of drug and alcohol
[52:38] treatment um has the opportunity to be
released from prison, picked up by the
[52:45] treatment provider and brought to
treatment. That way they're not
[52:49] flounding around in the community trying
to figure out, well, you know, how do I
[52:52] get there and what do I do? And they go
doortodoor. Um and so during um I think
[53:00] I have 25 26 here you can see um our
referrals, our assessments um and our
[53:06] admissions. Um one of the things that
we're particularly
[53:11] uh
excited about is our successes in terms
[53:16] of
clients being able to complete the
[53:20] treatment program is is relatively high.
77%
[53:25] of of people successfully complete their
um their residential treatment. Um so
[53:34] that's something that we continually um
point to as a success. The other piece
[53:39] of this is that um
if we were not able to help people to
[53:46] apply for medical assistance and if all
of these people would come to the SCA
[53:52] come come to KOKA and say hey you know
we need treatment service we would never
[53:57] ever be able to afford it. um medical
assistance has paid out, you know,
[54:03] millions of dollars over the years for
um people to receive the appropriate
[54:08] drug and alcohol treatment services. Um
next slide, please.
[54:14] So, the gentleman, and I'm really sorry
I didn't I didn't write down his name.
[54:18] I'm really sorry. The gentleman from um
Prime Care started to talk about Oh, he
[54:23] talked a lot about med uh Medicaid
assistant treatment home. One other
[54:28] thing I wanted to point out about the
MAJL project was all we have to all we
[54:33] pay for for that is we support a uh
evaluator case manager. So you're
[54:39] talking approximately $70,000 a year um
to be able to send people to to
[54:47] treatment. Just wanted to make make sure
that I I pointed out how cost effective
[54:51] that is. Um but anyway, back to uh
Medicaid assisted treatment. Um
[54:59] it it's been uh with the uh inception of
the opioid settlement funds that we've
[55:07] really been able to partner with the
county and with the prison to talk about
[55:13] and to implement um comprehensive
medical uh Medicaid assisted treatment
[55:20] services. So, um,
we pay for Prime Care's, um, medical
[55:30] time as well as the medication except
for my
[55:35] » Your average 5D player thinks dungeons
are boring as hell.
[55:38] » Uh, Koka has nothing to do with uh the
methadone program there. The jail has a
[55:44] a different partner and a different way
of making sure that that happens. We
[55:48] don't we don't do the methadone. Uh we
do however pay for the bupinorphine viv
[55:54] vivitrol supplicate and again and all of
the medical um appointments that are
[56:01] associated with them. Um and then I have
some activity there and again we are
[56:06] like uh the gentleman from prime care
said we're really really happy with how
[56:10] this program um is being utilized in the
jail. And my numbers may be a little bit
[56:18] different from uh prime care's numbers
only because I think we might have
[56:22] counted different time periods. Um so
Medicaid assisted treatment in the jail
[56:28] uh that that that is budget for 2526 as
you can see is over $800,000. And again,
[56:37] without opioid settlement funds, we
would not have been able to uh
[56:44] support financially this project the way
we can now. This uh and and just a note,
[56:51] um the MAT at the jail is a county and a
Cocoa priority for uh continued opioid
[56:59] settlement funding. Um next slide,
please.
[57:04] Um, so again, why is this important? And
we know that it reduces overdose risk.
[57:11] Um, we improve community engagement. Um,
and supporting accounting ability. Um,
[57:18] and we know that this is the way that
that this has been implemented in our
[57:24] jail is recognized as a model for other
county jails. And I I I do believe I've
[57:30] never gone, but I do believe um the the
team has been invited to provide
[57:35] consultations to other uh jails and
jurisdictions. Uh again, this is a a a
[57:42] program that really wraps itself around
the client to ensure that while they're
[57:48] in the prison, they're getting their
medication, they're getting their treat,
[57:51] their cognitive treatment, and that they
are totally connected in the community
[57:58] for their next step. Um next slide,
please.
[58:04] So um again this is about MAT and one of
the things that uh I I wanted to make uh
[58:12] the prison board aware of is that
we are going to we are starting a formal
[58:19] evaluation of MAT. We we have been um
again, Deputy Warden Smith has been
[58:26] working with us to be able to kind of
plan this evaluation. Um and what we
[58:32] want to do, again, we're not going to be
able to answer for you next April when
[58:35] we come again. We're not going to be
able to tell you how many people did we
[58:39] cure today, but we can at least begin to
talk about um postrelease residi
[58:45] recidivism um treatment continuation in
our community. And we hope to also be
[58:52] able to um interview our participants in
in these programs. And so we can talk a
[58:58] little bit about their perspectives and
um and then and then anything that we
[59:04] see that we can is there a gap in
services? Is there something that we can
[59:08] be doing um differently? So uh in
addition to our monitoring that we do,
[59:16] we are going to continue to um evaluate
as well. Next slide, please.
[59:23] Um, again, some some stats why they
matter. 63% of incarcerated individuals
[59:30] um meet criteria for substance use
disorder. Um, we know that as people are
[59:36] leaving jails and other institutions,
they're they have an elevated um
[59:42] overdose risk and we know that MAT
reduces that relapse and recidivism.
[59:49] Next slide, please.
Um,
[59:54] so looking ahead, we want to continue to
support um postrelease care. Um, again,
[1:00:04] we're going to enhance our outcomes
tracking. Uh again looking at we want to
[1:00:10] really be able to have an understanding
of the number of people that are able to
[1:00:15] connect with their services outside of
of the prison as they're leaving and see
[1:00:20] if there's anything in there that are we
missing anything. uh continuing with our
[1:00:27] collaboration uh with
we we we Koka meets regularly with uh
[1:00:33] our providers in the jail as well as
with uh
[1:00:39] uh mostly our communication is with
deputy warden Stephanie Smith just to to
[1:00:44] make sure that what we are providing is
still what is needed to to be able to
[1:00:51] respond to any problems Like I said
before, we we knew that there was a a
[1:00:56] waiting list and we had a response to
that and we want to make sure that we um
[1:01:03] always have adequate support for all of
the uh and capacity for all the services
[1:01:11] that we're providing. Um next slide
please.
[1:01:16] So again, um
we believe that the funding of these
[1:01:23] services at the prison, they are a
priority. Not only do we believe that,
[1:01:28] that's the way that um we do our work.
They are a priority. We've had over
[1:01:32] 1,800 assessments, over four almost 500,
if not more, um MAT enrollments, 344
[1:01:41] diversion admissions into treatment.
um uh and and I did point out the 77%
[1:01:49] diversion completion rate and a
nationally recognized um MAT model.
[1:01:55] Again, we are committed
to continue this uh with the prison as
[1:02:01] we have for decades uh providing
state-of-the-art high quality treatment
[1:02:08] um at Burks County Prison. Um and that's
what I have for you this morning. Thank
[1:02:14] you.
>> Thank you very much.
[1:02:19] » Do a thing other than Okay.
>> Okay.
[1:02:24] » Next is Bur Townson Center,
>> Substance Abuse Disorder Treatment
[1:02:28] Service.
[1:02:35] » Good morning everyone. My name is Bonnie
Tbe. I'm the clinic director at Burks
[1:02:39] Counseling Center. Burks Counseling
Center is a certified community
[1:02:43] behavioral health center on the national
level and an integrated community
[1:02:47] wellness center within the state of
Pennsylvania. You've already heard a lot
[1:02:52] about what we're doing in the jail, so
I'm just going to add a couple of
[1:02:55] snippets to that, but then I'm going to
share a story.
[1:02:59] So, we've been in partnership with the
Burks County Jail system and Koka to
[1:03:02] provide the SUD services within the jail
for over 30 years. And what that looks
[1:03:07] like is we're assessing new inmates in
the jail to see if they are in need of
[1:03:11] our services. We're then providing their
services as a DDP licensed site using
[1:03:18] evidence-based practices. Um we're also
providing early recovery supports
[1:03:23] typically run by a peer specialist.
Um and then we have now bridged those
[1:03:31] services to our outpatient. So within
our jail program, we have a case
[1:03:36] manager, we have a peer. They are able
to meet the individuals while they're
[1:03:42] incarcerated in the jail, be
participatory in their treatment, and
[1:03:46] then assist them in getting to our
outpatient to ensure that that first
[1:03:50] week postrelease, they've got the
supports in place, they've got access to
[1:03:55] what they need. What that looks like is
on the day of release, the case manager
[1:04:00] and or the peer pick the individual up
from the jail, take them to the pharmacy
[1:04:05] to pick up their medications, bring them
to BCC so that they can have their first
[1:04:10] outpatient appointment, no intake
necessary because they're already in our
[1:04:14] services within the jail. We take them
to probation to do their initial
[1:04:18] check-in if that is necessary, and we
make sure that they get home. So that's
[1:04:23] the basics, but really what I want to
share with you today is a story. For the
[1:04:27] purpose of this story, we're going to
call this gentleman Joe. Joe was
[1:04:31] incarcerated within the Burks County
Jail system in 2024. He was there for
[1:04:37] about 16 months when he was able to
finally be accepted into treatment
[1:04:42] court. I don't know when he applied, so
that's not a judgment. Um, so he was
[1:04:47] there for 16 months. While he was there
for 16 months, he did participate and
[1:04:51] complete our services within the jail
system. Once he was accepted to
[1:04:56] treatment court, he was able to then get
into rehab to enhance the treatment that
[1:05:00] he'd already been receiving. Went from
rehab directly to our continued supports
[1:05:05] in our outpatient program.
This gentleman was a success both in and
[1:05:11] out of the jail. So while in the jail he
actively participated in our services
[1:05:17] and then even once he completed
volunteered to be a peer support within
[1:05:21] those groups so that he could provide
what he had learned and enhanced in his
[1:05:26] treatment to the others that are joining
the groups. He also actively
[1:05:29] participated in our early recovery
supports.
[1:05:34] He had struggled for years many attempts
at getting sober and none had worked. So
[1:05:39] he was throwing himself full tilt into
this um opportunity that he had to this
[1:05:45] day. So he entered treatment court
um finished rehab and came back to our
[1:05:52] outpatient program in August of 2025. He
has since completed his group treatment
[1:05:58] but continues to attend individual
sessions and meet with the psychiatrist
[1:06:02] to continue to address his mental
health.
[1:06:05] As of today, he continues to maintain
his sobriety, is compliant with
[1:06:11] treatment court, is currently on phase
three of treatment court, um has gone
[1:06:16] from living at the YMCA to owning his
own apartment. He is now working
[1:06:20] full-time and doing everything that he
can to maintain that sobriety.
[1:06:27] » Good story. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:06:29] » Thank you very much. Appreciate that.
Uh, next is the uh Burkstown
[1:06:34] Intermediate Unit education services
provided at our jail.
[1:06:44] » Good morning.
>> Morning.
[1:06:46] » Uh, and thank you for the opportunity to
provide an overview of the education
[1:06:49] services at the Burks County Jail.
Brooks County Interview has been
[1:06:55] providing educational programming in the
facility since 1997 with GED programming
[1:07:01] being handed over to the BCIU in 2018.
Our goal at the BCIU is to ensure that
[1:07:06] all individuals both youth and adults
have access to meaningful educational
[1:07:10] opportunities that support their
academic progress, workforce readiness,
[1:07:15] and successful reintegration. Next
slide, please.
[1:07:23] The program provides a comprehensive
range of services including high school
[1:07:26] diploma completion, GED preparation and
testing within the jail facility, adult
[1:07:32] basic education, ESL services, and a
full special education services.
[1:07:37] Instruction is aligned with students
home school district for diploma
[1:07:41] programming or school valley school
district as our host to ensure credits
[1:07:45] transfer and students remain on track
towards graduation. We also have a
[1:07:50] strong internal structure including
certified teachers and an educational
[1:07:54] specialist who coordinates enrollment,
transcripts, IEP compliance, and
[1:07:58] everything GED related. Next slide,
please.
[1:08:04] A key point to highlight is the strength
and compliance of our program.
[1:08:10] A 2024 review by the Pennsylvania
Department of Education confirmed that
[1:08:14] the program meets all requirement
special education indicators, including
[1:08:19] IEP implementation, documentation, and
confidentiality practices. This
[1:08:24] demonstrates that even with a
correctional setting, students are
[1:08:27] receiving services that meet both
federal and state standards. Next slide,
[1:08:32] please.
[1:08:41] One moment that stands out from this
year was graduation. As you had heard
[1:08:45] earlier, seeing students succeed that
previously struggled significantly in
[1:08:51] traditional school settings was not only
a success but a monumental moment for us
[1:08:55] in education. For those individuals,
this may have been the first time ever
[1:09:01] that they were publicly recognized for
their academic accomplishments. There's
[1:09:05] a sense of pride not just from the
students but from the staff and their
[1:09:09] peers. They really underscored the
importance of their work and it was a
[1:09:14] reminder that education in this setting
is not just about academics. It's about
[1:09:18] restoring their confidence, dignity and
sense of possibility at any age. Next
[1:09:23] slide please.
[1:09:27] You can look at the numbers.
[1:09:32] You can look at the numbers.
Historically,
[1:09:35] um we have served uh we have had served
871 GED students and 148 diploma
[1:09:43] students over our tenure providing
education at the Burks County Jail.
[1:09:48] Looking more broadly, the program
continues to demonstrate strong
[1:09:52] participation and impact. Last year
alone, 52 GED sections were passed. Um,
[1:09:58] as you may know, there are multiple
sections within the GED test. Students
[1:10:02] can take a a test in each section and
then take the entire test completion to
[1:10:08] have the full GED. That way, if they for
some reason would leave the jail early,
[1:10:13] uh, they have had sections passed and do
not have to repeat the passing of those
[1:10:17] sections at their next location.
We also had nine full GEDs earned.
[1:10:23] Historically, as noted, we have served
over 870 GED students and 148 diploma
[1:10:29] students. These outcomes support
increased literacy, critical attainment,
[1:10:34] and the improvement of engagement within
the facility, all linked to better
[1:10:38] re-entry outcomes. Next slide, please.
[1:10:44] It's also important to recognize the
impact of CO 19 on the program during
[1:10:48] that time.
Testing restrictions significantly
[1:10:52] limited our credential completion
despite continued participation. But
[1:10:56] even so, the program continued to serve
hundreds of individuals annually and
[1:11:01] maintained uh we maintained access to
education during that very challenging
[1:11:05] period. As you can see, our um numbers
continued to rise during that time
[1:11:10] regardless.
[1:11:13] Next slide, please.
[1:11:18] this school year uh highlighting current
we are currently serving 25 diploma
[1:11:23] students and 79 GED students as of this
month we've administered 40 GED tests
[1:11:30] and 28 sectional past so far uh one full
GED earned to date the data is a little
[1:11:36] bit different between diploma
programming and GED because the the
[1:11:40] years are different so in our GED uh we
run on a calendar year and then our data
[1:11:45] for our diploma program runs on a
traditional school year. So, you will
[1:11:49] see that there's there are some
differences there.
[1:11:53] Again, one of our most meaningful
highlights this year was hosting the
[1:11:56] first graduation ceremony with the help
of Deputy Warden Smith, which allowed us
[1:12:00] to formally recognize student
achievement in a way that these
[1:12:04] individuals potentially have not
experienced in the past. Next slide,
[1:12:08] please.
[1:12:16] In summary, um, oh, sorry. Uh, while the
diploma numbers are smaller, this, um,
[1:12:23] smaller number accounts for the age
currently within the Burks County jail
[1:12:28] system. So, in the past, and we had
started in 1997 with programming, uh,
[1:12:33] the jail housed students who were
younger than 18 years old. And so when
[1:12:39] that transition happened, our numbers of
course shrank within the the diploma
[1:12:43] program piece. But while the diploma
numbers are stronger, they are smaller.
[1:12:47] They they represent significant
individual achievement. Many of these
[1:12:51] students require credit recovery,
special education supports, and
[1:12:55] individualized planning, which our staff
take on. Each diploma earned represents
[1:13:00] a meaningful step towards long-term
stability and opportunity for the
[1:13:04] student, and they have their own diploma
to leave with.
[1:13:08] Next slide please.
[1:13:14] In summary, the program is well
established, compliant, high quality,
[1:13:18] participation remains strong, students
are making measurable academic progress,
[1:13:23] and the program plays a critical role in
supporting re-entry. Next slide, please.
[1:13:32] Um, again highlighting our first
ceremony.
[1:13:35] Next slide.
[1:13:39] You can see that we have expanded
completion rates for both GED and
[1:13:43] diploma programming.
We have an honored achievement within
[1:13:47] the state as we continue to surpass the
special education regulations. Our
[1:13:52] curriculum is career focused and it
aligns with those career initiatives. We
[1:13:56] currently have new career initiatives in
place to start for the new school year
[1:14:01] and it upholds standards. So we
currently follow all PTE regulations and
[1:14:06] are monitored regularly with success.
Next slide please.
[1:14:12] Most importantly behind every number in
the data for education is an individual
[1:14:18] gaining skills, confidence and a pathway
forward often for the first time. And we
[1:14:23] thank you so much that you allow us to
be part of that growth.
[1:14:28] Happy to take any questions but thank
you.
[1:14:32] Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.
[1:14:34] » Thank you. Appreciate that. Next up is
connections work on uh
[1:14:41] re-entry pre-trial forensic diversion
and other support services.
[1:14:50] » Good morning. Um thanks for the
opportunity to be here today. I am Peggy
[1:14:55] Kersner. I'm one of the co-executive
directors at Connections Work. Uh,
[1:15:00] Connections Work is a nonprofit
organization. We celebrated our 50th
[1:15:06] anniversary last year, so we're very
excited about that. Our primary target
[1:15:11] population is individuals in the justice
system, and we provide services in a
[1:15:18] wide variety of ways. uh really running
the the full spectrum of that system
[1:15:23] from diversion programs which you heard
a little bit about but I'll talk more
[1:15:27] about um through pre-trial we have some
re-entry programming
[1:15:33] and also programming um we operate the
pardon project of Burks County so that's
[1:15:39] sort of at the far end of somebody's
involvement in the system
[1:15:43] the main um amount of the work that we
do is in re-entry programming And we
[1:15:50] serve a lot of individuals. All told,
our programs and my wa I'm my phone is
[1:15:54] ringing in my watch and by the time I
figure out how to turn it down, I'm
[1:15:57] sorry if you can hear that. I'll just
put my hand back here. Um we serve over
[1:16:02] 2,000 people every year. Um in the jail
and in the community, we have a large
[1:16:07] presence in the community. In our
re-entry workforce development programs,
[1:16:11] we serve over 1,200 people. So, just to
kind of set the scene and the scope, um,
[1:16:17] and keep in mind as I talk about our
programming at the Burks County Jail, we
[1:16:21] have, you know, services available for
individuals when they're back out into
[1:16:25] the community. So, we really appreciate
the opportunity. Um, our partnership
[1:16:30] with the county is amazing. Our
partnership for years with the Burks
[1:16:34] County Jail is great because we would
not be able to do, uh, next slide,
[1:16:38] please. the um long list of programs
that we do in the jail if if we just
[1:16:44] really weren't working with the same
goals in mind, which is really, you
[1:16:48] know, the best way to do re-entry
programming is to start planning for
[1:16:51] that person's release the day that they
are incarcerated. So, um with that
[1:16:57] mindset, um we operate our program. So,
the re I'll just say a little bit about
[1:17:02] each of them. Um our website is
burksconnections.org.
[1:17:07] You can if you're or if you're
interested or connectionswork.org my god
[1:17:11] that's our old name. Um if you're
interested in more information you can
[1:17:15] look there. So our re-entry resource
center is a program that we had
[1:17:19] initially developed for the community um
and actually during COVID and we had
[1:17:25] always provide in addition to re-entry
workforce development for folks coming
[1:17:30] into our office. We know that perhaps
needing a job was not their only um
[1:17:35] barrier and their only need. So we had
always been very tuned into that and
[1:17:40] through a case managed approach were
able to identify other barriers and
[1:17:44] needs that might include ID,
transportation,
[1:17:48] housing and all those sorts of things.
Uh during COVID we realized that
[1:17:53] people's needs are growing and services
were rapidly declining in the community.
[1:17:59] So, we were able to obtain some funding
to kind of provide extra needs or if
[1:18:04] someone was coming out of the the prison
and perhaps was not ready to look for a
[1:18:09] job or didn't need employment at that
point, um we would be able to just sort
[1:18:14] of assess them um look at where they are
and and what can we help them obtain to
[1:18:18] achieve stability. Um, and I believe it
was Deputy Bordon Smith who was always
[1:18:23] looking out for uh more services for the
folks uh for the inmates who came to us
[1:18:29] and said, "Gosh, this would be great if
you could start this while people are at
[1:18:32] jail. Why wait if we don't have to until
they get out into the community to start
[1:18:37] kind of helping them put those pieces
together. So, we were able to obtain a
[1:18:43] grant um that allowed us to expand that
program. And so for the last several
[1:18:48] years, we've actually had the ability to
have staff up at the jail to kind of
[1:18:54] start working with people on putting
some of those pieces back together to
[1:18:58] have some things in place so when they
do their eventual return to the
[1:19:02] community. And it's typically um we we
don't work too far in the distance for
[1:19:07] that return that you know they have some
of those things in place and then when
[1:19:10] they get out they can come back into our
office and finish up what needs to be
[1:19:14] done while they're what's easier to be
done while they're in the community. Our
[1:19:18] working toward change program is a
re-entry program that began in 2010. It
[1:19:25] was our first uh real foray into a
evidence-based re-entry and workforce
[1:19:31] development program. So, we since 2010,
we've been working with uh case managers
[1:19:38] up at the jail, serving a segment of the
population, working very intensively
[1:19:44] with them to prepare them for their
release into the community. Um, and the
[1:19:50] best practice in re-entry programming is
that you have a warm handoff and a
[1:19:56] continuum of care. So those folks that
we work with in the jail can get out and
[1:20:00] the very that day or the very next day
can come into our office which is right
[1:20:04] across the street and begin working with
their same case manager. And once out in
[1:20:10] the community, we're able to focus a
little bit more on employment
[1:20:13] connections to employers and that sort
of thing. Our mothers and father's voice
[1:20:19] program um is actually a a an initiative
that is celebrating its 30th anniversary
[1:20:26] this year. So for 30 years we have been
providing a service to not just the
[1:20:32] inmates in the jail but to their
families and children as well. Um, every
[1:20:37] week we send staff and volunteers into
the jail for um, recordings of books for
[1:20:45] inmates who have young children um, who
would like to maintain a connection. One
[1:20:51] of the things that we find is that a lot
of times for a variety of reasons,
[1:20:57] children left behind in the community do
not always get to maintain maintain
[1:21:01] contact with the incarcerated parent.
Could be a lack of transportation. It
[1:21:06] could be that the caregiver doesn't feel
that they want the child exposed to the
[1:21:10] jail setting or for whatever reason
just, you know, they're they're not able
[1:21:14] to make that happen. Um the inmates can
sign up to read a book. They are
[1:21:20] recorded doing so and then we take that
back to the to our office. Um the book
[1:21:27] and a YouTube link and that has changed
over the years as you might expect. At
[1:21:32] one time we were sending cassette tapes
I believe. Um but we now provide a
[1:21:37] YouTube link and if they would like a CD
burned we can do that. So this is a way
[1:21:42] to um really help maintain that
connection. We have a lot of families
[1:21:48] who reach out to us and express a lot of
gratitude for their children being able
[1:21:54] to hear their mothers or father's voice
every night. And we have lots of stories
[1:21:59] about kids who want who insist on
watching that. So if you can imagine um
[1:22:03] the stress for both parent and child in
that situation. So you know we think it
[1:22:09] helps um maintain that connection. So
when the parent is back out and they're
[1:22:13] going to reunite with the family um it's
not quite so foreign to them. Promotes
[1:22:19] literacy. The book uh vending machine is
awesome and much in that same light. Um
[1:22:25] the kids are exposed to different kinds
of books. So just some scope for that
[1:22:30] program. Last year we had 447
readings by parents and they were
[1:22:37] delivered to 944 kids in the community.
So times that by 30 give or take you
[1:22:44] know some changes every year. So we
that's really impacted a lot of families
[1:22:47] and we appreciate the jail um you know
providing the room for that to happen
[1:22:52] and the opportunity for the volunteers
and the training for the volunteers come
[1:22:56] in because you know doing things in a
jail we know is a little it's not just
[1:23:00] it's like no other place in the world to
walk into a building and try to provide
[1:23:04] a service. So, we know that um it takes
some extra effort and we're so grateful
[1:23:09] that they are willing to to do so
because they understand the importance
[1:23:12] of the programs. Our pre-trial services
program serves individuals um typically
[1:23:20] early on um after arrest. We uh
interview folks post arrest and we have
[1:23:27] an evidence-based assessment where we're
looking at the potential for pre-trial
[1:23:33] release for individuals. We provide that
information to the courts. Um we we some
[1:23:40] of those interviews are done before the
person reaches the jail. That is not
[1:23:44] always possible. Uh so we have staff at
the jail uh seven days a week conducting
[1:23:50] in-person interviews. That program
operates 24 hours a day. Last year we
[1:23:55] conducted 1463
interviews at the jail. So we are
[1:24:01] looking to see if an individual might be
able to be safely um released into the
[1:24:08] community on bail.
That program also provides um a service
[1:24:13] of pre-trial jail population management
where we're monthly kind of looking at
[1:24:18] that population at the jail so we can
look for both maybe individual
[1:24:23] situations if someone's fell through the
cracks or some more kind of systemwide
[1:24:28] things and trends um to look at how many
people are sitting in the jail on a true
[1:24:34] pre-trial basis meaning that they don't
have any other reason why they're there.
[1:24:39] Um the average I believe for last year
was around 32% at any given time. Um our
[1:24:46] forensic diversion program, diversion is
a word you heard a lot about this
[1:24:50] morning. Super important. We have a
forensic diversion program that seeks to
[1:24:57] divert appropriate individuals who have
a severe mental illness and who are are
[1:25:04] arrested or may be arrested for um
non-violent offenses. So individuals who
[1:25:12] it is very very obvious that is their
mental health condition is has resulted
[1:25:17] in their involvement with the system. We
actually the program actually works a
[1:25:21] lot with local police departments and is
often um called prior to the arrest an
[1:25:27] arrest being made to see if the
diversion might happen at that point. Um
[1:25:32] if the folks are arrested and end up in
jail, we can interview the individuals
[1:25:39] work with uh crime care staff, the DA,
the public defender, jail staff and look
[1:25:46] at that person's mental health history
and you know other factors to determine
[1:25:51] if there is an appropriate diversion for
them, if they have somewhere stable to
[1:25:56] live. uh get them back into treatment,
onto medication if that's necessary, um
[1:26:02] and divert them out of the system
because as has been said many times,
[1:26:05] jail is not the place for those folks
who are suffering from mental illness.
[1:26:09] So, that's a super important program and
hopefully part of those numbers that
[1:26:15] Prime Care saw trending down, I'd like
to think that um that program in
[1:26:20] partnership with with so many other
entities and that is the uh county's
[1:26:24] mental health and developmental
disabilities office who um funds that
[1:26:29] program uh through us. So, we also help
out with the Burks County Jail Voting
[1:26:36] Project in Pennsylvania. Um there are
individuals who are eligible to vote um
[1:26:44] who might be incarcerated and we um
provide the ballots for that to happen
[1:26:51] to the jail. Um and you heard the jail
talk about the jail ID project which is
[1:26:58] absolutely awesome. Um that is probably
our number one thing that we find as a
[1:27:04] really like concrete barrier for folks
um who are freshly out of jail or
[1:27:09] sometimes who've been out for a while.
You can barely do anything without an
[1:27:14] ID. Um getting in homeless shelters
certainly getting employment. Um that
[1:27:20] has been a huge huge help to our
organization to the folks that we serve
[1:27:24] for the jail to to take on that project.
So, one of the things that we do, as you
[1:27:29] might imagine, their numbers are great
for that first year. So, you know, in
[1:27:34] the timing is everything department,
sometimes in the justice system, you
[1:27:37] just don't know when someone might be
released from jail. So, if somebody's
[1:27:41] sort of midway through that process and
hasn't received their paperwork yet, um,
[1:27:45] and they get released, our office serves
as the hub for where that paperwork will
[1:27:51] go so that folks can come in there to
pick it up, which is a perfect
[1:27:56] partnership because we also have
workforce development and all kinds of
[1:28:00] great programming there. So, if they
come in to get that ID paperwork, we can
[1:28:05] kind of offer up our other services and
hopefully help them in a lot of ways.
[1:28:10] So happy also to answer questions either
now or if somebody wants to reach out
[1:28:16] afterwards.
>> Thank you.
[1:28:18] » Thank you very much.
>> Next is reality check project peer
[1:28:22] support and re-entry skills. Good
morning.
[1:28:33] » Good morning.
>> So I don't have a PowerPoint
[1:28:37] presentation. kind of just bought an
outline.
[1:28:41] Um,
but let me introduce myself. My name is
[1:28:45] Charles Jackson and I'm the uh founder
of the organization Reality Check
[1:28:50] Project.
Uh, to talk about the work that we've
[1:28:55] done in the prison in 2025.
Uh we went in and we were focused on
[1:29:01] emotional intelligence,
stress and anger management, life
[1:29:06] purpose development,
uh communication skills, and financial
[1:29:10] literacy.
We also had the returning citizens.
[1:29:16] We had them
uh we had them make vision boards
[1:29:23] which allowed them to really go inside
their brain and think about what they
[1:29:26] wanted to trade their life for.
Um so that was one of the one of the
[1:29:32] other subjects that we did in 2025.
[1:29:38] Moving into 2026,
[1:29:47] our focus now is we're we're trying to
get individuals to focus on identity
[1:29:54] versus ego. What what I found is that a
lot of people,
[1:30:00] they know what their name is,
but they don't know who they are or who
[1:30:05] they're trying to become.
So, we're focused on identity versus
[1:30:10] ego.
Also, when you get out of prison, you're
[1:30:15] in survival mode.
And
[1:30:19] we're teaching them that survival mode
is not failure.
[1:30:24] uh it's necessary, but we're trying to
get them to stabilize
[1:30:29] and survival mode so that they can move
into purpose mode
[1:30:35] because we believe once you're
stabilized, you can start focusing on
[1:30:39] what your purpose is, why you're here.
And from purpose mode,
[1:30:46] uh we think the the next step would be
leadership mode. So, we're trying to get
[1:30:50] them to focus on survival mode, purpose
mode, leadership mode. And then the last
[1:30:57] thing um is a class called 3 seconds.
Um it took me 3 seconds to pull a gun
[1:31:06] out that cost a man his life. We're
trying to get people to make better
[1:31:11] decisions and widen that 3 seconds. Um
because the crime don't start the night
[1:31:19] that it happens. It starts before that.
There's conditioning that goes into it.
[1:31:25] It's ego. It's environment
which causes reaction.
[1:31:35] And then the decision is predictable
but it's also preventable.
[1:31:45] That's all I have for you guys this
morning. Thank you. Thank you for your
[1:31:48] time. Thank you so much. Appreciate your
service. Uh this is uh the cover of my
[1:31:53] new book which is titled What If? And
this is the framework to where we're
[1:31:59] moving in 2026.
And on the cover, there's a man looking
[1:32:04] in the mirror.
And in that mirror
[1:32:08] there's a a chain with a bear trap
because
[1:32:14] I believe there's a trap out there that
um as a as society we have become we
[1:32:21] have become
um desensitized to violence
[1:32:26] and
you know I'm trying to expose that trap.
[1:32:31] I'm trying to get people to see that
trap before it bites you like it bit me.
[1:32:39] Thank you. Thank you very much. Our
final presenter is Transformative
[1:32:43] Solutions Network uh Chapel Services.
Good morning.
[1:32:55] » Good morning.
>> You are an enduring group this morning.
[1:33:00] Thank you so much. It's an honor to be
part of the treatment services at the
[1:33:04] jail. My name is Michael Caler. I serve
as the CEO of Transformative Solutions
[1:33:08] Network. We've been providing chapency
services within the jail for decades,
[1:33:13] maybe the longest standing partner in
the group today. I'm just going to put
[1:33:18] that out there. We're proud to be there.
Um, in the Burks County Jail, our
[1:33:24] chaplain serve steadily, bringing
dignity dignity to everyone they
[1:33:28] encounter. You could simply describe
chapency as a ministry of presence.
[1:33:33] Uh we answer requests for religion-based
study materials, distribute thousands of
[1:33:38] sacred tests each year, and maintain a
chapel library where the materials are
[1:33:43] donated by the wider faith community so
men and women can practice uh the faith
[1:33:48] that they profess.
Um
[1:33:52] we do this in a number of ways. This is
done through communication forms. Um,
[1:33:56] those that are incarcerated can also
visit uh the chapel library when they're
[1:34:01] engaging other services within the
chapel and uh check out books. We're not
[1:34:07] like a regular library. Well, the
regular libraries don't have late fees
[1:34:10] anymore either. So, some of the books
don't get returned. Can you believe
[1:34:14] that?
But we don't really worry about that.
[1:34:18] We're glad that we can provide those
materials. I remember particularly
[1:34:22] during COVID uh fulfilling written
request forms because the the movement
[1:34:26] around the jail was was extremely
limited. Uh and those those forms served
[1:34:31] as a lifeline. I remember looking at
forms uh and you know those that are in
[1:34:37] jail they don't understand that our
library is not 200,000 volumes you know
[1:34:41] so they're like hey do you have this
book or that book? And I remember
[1:34:45] looking at the forms and being like okay
what book is similar to that? Cuz we
[1:34:49] didn't have that one. And so we were
working hard to find something that was
[1:34:52] similar to what they requested. And the
communications be forms become a
[1:34:57] lifeline back and forth. They're
requesting something, we're fulfilling
[1:35:01] it, but we can write a little note back
to them in that in that fulfillment just
[1:35:05] saying, "Hey, we're thinking about you.
We're praying for you." So it was
[1:35:09] awesome to serve in that capacity.
Um volunteers and staff minister in the
[1:35:15] chapel as an open place of learning and
belonging. Uh major wor worship services
[1:35:20] draw many attendees across traditions
and study groups fill the chapel with
[1:35:24] conversation and reflection. The chapel
becomes a small community where faith is
[1:35:28] lived and shared and where attendance
turns into connection.
[1:35:35] There's a more personal side of chapency
as well. Weekly one-on-one visits uh
[1:35:39] invite uh those incarcerated into
conversation about faith and wellness.
[1:35:44] Many volunteers are part of this
one-on-one ministry that happens each
[1:35:48] week. Chaplain also respond to hundreds
of individual requests to meet. These
[1:35:54] private encounters provide restoration
through listening prayer and practical
[1:35:58] support. And we're often referring those
in jail to other services that are
[1:36:02] within the jail as well, encouraging
them participate in different things
[1:36:06] that are happening for their benefit.
Um, when faith practice requires a
[1:36:12] special diet or observance, our chaplain
coordinate with dietary staff to honor
[1:36:16] these needs. Special meals for
observances like Ramadan and Passover
[1:36:21] are arranged so spiritual practice is
respected. Uh, small accommodations like
[1:36:26] these affirm identity and worth in
everyday routines.
[1:36:32] Uh we can we coordinate a special gift
package for each inmate at Christmas
[1:36:36] time in 2025. The gift pack included a
journal, crossword puzzles,
[1:36:41] inspirational stories, and bookmarks
along with cookies and a card. This also
[1:36:46] is kind of like a lifeline in that time.
You don't have the normaly of receiving
[1:36:50] presents at this time of year. We're
happy to do something for them. These
[1:36:54] items that are given are donated by area
churches and ministries. Our chaplain
[1:37:00] also stand at the threshold of crisis.
As jail administration learns of the
[1:37:05] death or hospitalization of close family
members, our chaplain deliver this news
[1:37:10] of death or hospitalization with care.
They then walk alongside those
[1:37:15] incarcerated through grief counseling
and referrals. They also build
[1:37:19] meaningful relationships with jail
staff, offering support that strengthens
[1:37:23] the whole community within the jail.
These connections help to create a
[1:37:27] culture of compassion inside the
facility.
[1:37:32] We're excited this year to launch a new
workshop called Embracing Resilience.
[1:37:37] Our team at Transformative Solutions has
done much training over the last few
[1:37:41] years in the area of trauma. You've
heard that mentioned a number of times
[1:37:44] today. It's addressed in a variety of
ways. We're happy to be a partner in
[1:37:48] that as well by providing this
interactive workshop again called
[1:37:52] embracing resilience which brings
trauma-informed learning into small
[1:37:56] groups teaching practical skills for
coping and connection. Our chaplain
[1:38:01] along with a training team have received
trauma and resilience specialist
[1:38:05] training. Um this program extends
chapy's mission from comfort to
[1:38:10] empowerment helping participants
transform past wounds into sources of
[1:38:15] strength.
Threearters of the first group of male
[1:38:18] inmates showed an increase in
understanding triggers and responses
[1:38:22] along with an increased understanding of
resilience after completing this
[1:38:26] workshop.
Our goal is that the information and
[1:38:30] skills learned in these three-part
workshops will help each participant
[1:38:34] continue to grow in healing and
resilience. We start the first group
[1:38:38] with the female population of the jail
tomorrow. Excited to do that.
[1:38:43] In every visit, service and program,
chapency work insists on one simple
[1:38:48] truth. Dignity is not earned by freedom
alone. It is restored by being seen,
[1:38:54] heard, and treated as each one of us
would like to be treated. Thank you for
[1:38:58] your time this morning.
>> Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Uh
[1:39:03] thank you to our presenters and we hope
this information for the board as well
[1:39:08] as the public has been wellreceived and
it gives you a better understanding of
[1:39:11] the numerous providers and programs
provided in our criminal justice system
[1:39:14] here in Burks County.
>> Okay, Kevin, thank you very much for uh
[1:39:20] putting this together. Before I
continue, just want to let everyone know
[1:39:23] that Judge Lash had to leave. He had a
uh court case that started at 10:00
[1:39:27] a.m., so it was running late. he needed
uh to leave. But do want to take the
[1:39:32] opportunity to thank all the presenters
here uh today, not just for being here
[1:39:36] and presenting, but for the work that
you do day in and day out. I know most
[1:39:41] of the presenters here and although I've
been involved with the uh jail board for
[1:39:46] now, it's been seven, eight years now, I
wasn't aware of everything that is done
[1:39:51] at the jail. You have to understand that
people that are sentenced to the Burks
[1:39:54] County jail are going to be there for
maximum of up to 20 almost 24 months and
[1:40:01] at some point uh they're going to come
back and probably live here in Burks
[1:40:04] County. So at the jail we want to make
sure that we're providing services that
[1:40:08] will allow them to be rehabilitated and
come out to be productive members of the
[1:40:13] society here in Burke. Uh thank you to
the warden and the uh deputy warden for
[1:40:20] the work that they do there at the jail
for the other organizations that are
[1:40:24] partners uh that work with our inmates
at the jail for work with people that
[1:40:28] come out of the jail as well. You all do
an amazing job. I've heard over and over
[1:40:33] again from sitting in CJAB and other uh
judicial related boards how well it work
[1:40:40] we work in Burks County how well we
partner, how much we care about the
[1:40:44] people that are involved judicially here
in the county from the DA uh who's
[1:40:49] always looking for ways uh for to
alternative sentencing to our judges. We
[1:40:54] look at Judge Geiser who runs uh the uh
what's name of the court?
[1:41:00] » Treatment court.
>> Treatment court.
[1:41:02] » Runs the treatment court. Just a passion
with what with how she talks about what
[1:41:07] she does and how she wishes that more uh
people would get involved in the
[1:41:11] treatment court. And you see the passion
of everyone else here who was speaking
[1:41:15] today on behalf of their organization
and that they want to help. It's not
[1:41:19] just a job for them. They want to help.
They want to make sure that the people
[1:41:23] that are in Burks County Jail come out
better and are able to be productive
[1:41:28] members of our society. So, thank you to
everyone here. The time is moving. So, I
[1:41:33] just want to ask you if there's any uh
board members that have brief comments
[1:41:37] uh so we can continue with our agenda.
>> Sure. Um I have a few comments. uh
[1:41:43] looking at the numbers uh that were
referenced uh going back to 2008, the
[1:41:48] average daily population is much more
stark uh than looking at even the last
[1:41:55] four years. And you just mentioned one
of the things I was going to mention, a
[1:42:00] lot of credit goes to uh our treatment
courts for the work that they do, but I
[1:42:06] will tell you also a lot of credit goes
to our district attorney. Uh in 2008, we
[1:42:12] saw a fundamental change in the
philosophy of the way uh our district
[1:42:17] attorney prosecuted. Uh and I I am I'm
I'm a fan of what you've done, of the
[1:42:26] team that you have. Uh and and the
commitment you have to justice
[1:42:32] and you're not soft on crime at the same
time. uh that has had a those two things
[1:42:39] have had an enormous impact along with
the other areas that you've heard. Um
[1:42:45] another thing that wasn't mentioned that
has had an enormous impact on the mental
[1:42:49] health diversion is the stepping up
initiative. Several of the entities that
[1:42:55] presented have been involved in that.
That's an initiative that was
[1:42:59] established, I think, in 2013 or so uh
through the National Association of
[1:43:06] Counties specifically targeting mental
health and jails. If it wasn't for that
[1:43:11] program, our numbers which are running
around 60% of category C and D, which is
[1:43:18] unacceptable still in my mind, uh those
numbers would be dramatically higher if
[1:43:24] we were not actively involved uh in uh
that program. Uh the insurance issue
[1:43:31] continues to be a challenge, but I think
it's so valuable that Prime Care pointed
[1:43:36] out what they are doing to help us. What
most people don't know is the minute an
[1:43:41] individual walks into the jail before
they're even uh prosecuted,
[1:43:48] uh they lose, if they're a veteran, they
lose their veterans benefits. If they're
[1:43:52] on Medicaid, they lose use of that
Medicaid or that Medicare or the private
[1:43:59] insurance. They become wards of not the
state, wards of the county taxpayer. And
[1:44:07] so when those numbers are shared, that
is a that's a huge factor, but it's also
[1:44:13] something that needs to change at the
federal level. I don't see any
[1:44:17] justification for a veteran losing their
veteran benefits uh because they've been
[1:44:22] incarcerated or a person on Medicare or
Medicaid or who's on private insurance.
[1:44:28] Why should the county taxpayer be forced
to pick uh that up? Uh the last thing
[1:44:36] that I will come back to is the category
C and D. Uh I believe it's Tom.
[1:44:46] » He nailed it on the head.
We have got to challenge the
[1:44:52] Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And it's a
problem across the country. there was a
[1:44:57] realization I think uh that the old
mental hospital system wasn't working
[1:45:06] and so most of them were shut down
across the country and across
[1:45:11] Pennsylvania
but no solution was offered in place of
[1:45:15] that and the vast majority of
individuals and I'm not talking about
[1:45:20] the individuals because this has been
going on over 50 years they the steady
[1:45:26] closure,
but the people that need those services,
[1:45:31] many of them are ending up in our jails
because there are lack still of services
[1:45:37] in the community uh for mental health.
So, I I really appreciate I think this
[1:45:42] is the this is the first time since I've
been here that we clearly delineated all
[1:45:50] of the different things that we are
looking at. And if there's one takeaway,
[1:45:54] it should be that we don't stay
stationary when it comes to dealing with
[1:46:03] uh the needs of people who are
incarcerated in our system. We are
[1:46:08] constantly looking for better ways to do
what needs to be done and that is to
[1:46:15] help have less people come back into the
system. Uh, Connection Works did not
[1:46:22] mention the R3 program, but I just
talked about that at a meeting yesterday
[1:46:28] at the Reading uh, Yulenberg Career uh,
center. Uh, there was Representative
[1:46:35] Manny Guzman had a number of uh, some
senators and House members there to talk
[1:46:40] about Votech. I talked about the adult
population that's been going through the
[1:46:46] R3 program with connections works since
I think 2018
[1:46:52] 17. Uh so there's a lot going on and I
really appreciate that.
[1:46:59] And I what should I I'm supposed to be
down at BCTV in 10 minutes. What should
[1:47:06] I do here? What's that? I'm looking at
my executive assistant.
[1:47:13] » Should I go?
I don't know. What's that? You still
[1:47:18] have a quorum? I'm going to do that. I
made a commitment. Some of you know
[1:47:22] Sandy Graphius. Uh I am on her show. Uh
she's sitting down there and uh I don't
[1:47:29] want to tick off Sandy Graas.
>> I I would give you some good advice.
[1:47:33] Don't go because otherwise he'll she'll
call me to have you arrested.
[1:47:36] » Oh, okay.
Don't let that
[1:47:39] » So, moving along with the agenda, uh
have here uh before we started, Kevin
[1:47:44] had asked about uh the interest of the
board of having this on the website. Is
[1:47:49] there anyone that is opposed to having
this on our website so that it can be
[1:47:53] viewed by others?
>> Okay. Thank you.
[1:47:56] » Go ahead and do that. Thank you.
>> Appreciate that.
[1:47:59] » Okay. We'll now move on to agenda items.
We will have our senior staff report
[1:48:06] » today. Okay. The population at the jail
is 667. We have zero juveniles in our
[1:48:11] custody right now being held anywhere.
Our average daily population for March
[1:48:15] was 686.
Total commitments to date 853.
[1:48:21] Total discharges 841.
We have 30 individuals sentenced to an
[1:48:26] SCI. 14 of those are scheduled to be
transported between now and April 30th.
[1:48:31] And we have 16 waiting a transport date
or pending other charges. Currently, we
[1:48:35] have 36 individuals here with an
immigration detainer and seven of those
[1:48:40] seven individuals were discharged to ICE
within the last 30 days. Just want to
[1:48:44] remind the board that the first week in
May is National Correctional Officers
[1:48:48] and Employees Week and we will be
holding a memorial service on May 8th uh
[1:48:52] to honor all the staff. Any questions?
>> Okay. Thank you. Warden Deputy Warden of
[1:48:59] Custody Report.
>> I'll be covering that in his absence. Uh
[1:49:03] we currently have 18 correctional
officer vacancies and four sergeant
[1:49:07] vacancies. I have six cadets in the
academy that started on February 25th.
[1:49:12] They'll be graduating on or around May
21st. We held a CO testing on March
[1:49:17] 18th. I currently have 13 candidates in
the interview phase and we have another
[1:49:21] CO testing scheduled for April 28th.
>> Okay. Deputy Warren of treatment.
[1:49:28] » Morning.
>> Morning.
[1:49:30] Um
we currently have 95 individuals in
[1:49:35] custody who are a D roster. Um that
makes up 14% of our population. Um our
[1:49:43] combined C and D roster is 64%.
Um regarding our trustee and work
[1:49:49] release um individuals in the month of
March, we had 20 individuals who were
[1:49:54] made eligible for work release on their
sentencing order. uh we had an average
[1:49:58] trustee population of 22 and we had
eight individuals uh become trustee in
[1:50:04] the month of March. Um regarding the pen
ID program uh we had 55 referrals to the
[1:50:11] program in March we had 41 applications
processed. We received 12 products being
[1:50:18] IDs or driver's licenses and we received
one voucher
[1:50:24] uh for access to a product in the
community. Uh moving on to the Narstown
[1:50:29] Wernernville State Hospital waiting
list. Uh we had one at the end of March,
[1:50:35] as of March 31st, we had one individual
waiting for a bed at Narstown for
[1:50:40] competency restoration. We had no one
waiting for um treatment at Narstown and
[1:50:47] we still had one individual waiting for
a bed at Warersville.
[1:50:50] Um regarding admissions, we had one
individual admitted to Narstown for
[1:50:56] competency restoration. That person
waited 14 days for their bed. We had one
[1:51:00] individual admitted to Narstown for
treatment. That individual waited 15
[1:51:05] days for their bed. And we had no
admissions to Warersville. Our current
[1:51:09] census at Narstown is 12. Uh nine
individuals are there for competency
[1:51:14] restoration and three are there for
treatment.
[1:51:16] » Any questions?
>> Okay. Thank you.
[1:51:22] Now move on to deputy warden of
operations.
[1:51:25] » Good morning.
>> Morning.
[1:51:27] » A couple projects going on. Securas is
currently on site at the jail upgrading
[1:51:30] security features. Uh Kelly Brothers is
in the process of replacing golf and
[1:51:35] unit yard doors. Our transport vehicles
are being outfitted with uh video
[1:51:40] monitoring and as the ward mentioned the
cadets they're in their seventh week of
[1:51:44] training. Uh they are currently
reviewing direct supervision and with
[1:51:49] the uh book vending machine to date
since it's unveiling has dispensed 278
[1:51:54] books. That's all I have.
>> Okay. Thank you. Any questions from the
[1:51:59] board? Okay. Move along to our
solicitor's report.
[1:52:05] Do we need an executive session? No
executive session. Okay, we'll now move
[1:52:10] on to comments from the prison board.
Any comments?
[1:52:15] » Okay, we'll now move on to then uh the
public comment section. Do we have
[1:52:22] anything online?
Nothing online. Uh we do have uh various
[1:52:28] here in person. Remember for those
speaking please uh when you come up to
[1:52:32] the podium give your full name your
municipality and you will have three
[1:52:36] minutes to speak and Jesse will be
taking the the uh time. Okay. Crystal
[1:52:42] Kowalsski.
[1:52:49] » Good morning.
>> Morning
[1:52:51] » Crystal Kowalsski by missing. I want to
congratulate you and thank you on the
[1:52:55] program programming that you talked
about today. They're incredible choices
[1:52:59] and they make huge difference and we
really appreciate it.
[1:53:04] I'm here to talk about ICE detainers.
So, in February, I submitted a right to
[1:53:09] know request asking for a list of the
names and charges of the people who had
[1:53:13] been handed over to ICE and DHS in the
past year. My request was denied because
[1:53:18] there is not an existing document. I
asked for this because it is information
[1:53:23] that we should all have in front of us.
this document should exist.
[1:53:28] When we as a county take someone into
custody, we are responsible for that
[1:53:32] person. When they're handed over, we all
know where they're going, what kind of
[1:53:36] treatment they're likely to receive, and
that the final outcome will probably be
[1:53:41] that they are deported to either the
country that they fled from or now
[1:53:45] possibly a third country.
Using the jailboard minutes, I have
[1:53:50] counted that 75 people have been handed
over in the past year.
[1:53:56] This is a choice. Every single person,
every single time is a choice to hand
[1:54:01] that person over. I am asking you to
stop choosing to contact ICE. I'm asking
[1:54:06] you to stop holding people past their
legal release date and time. And I'm
[1:54:11] asking please do not hand another person
over. Thank you.
[1:54:17] » Hey, thank you, Crystal. Uh, next is
Jane Palmer.
[1:54:25] Good morning and thank you um what
Crystal said, we appreciate what you're
[1:54:30] doing. My name is Jane Palmer. I live in
Y missing.
[1:54:35] Um we just heard from Warden Smith that
um seven people were um released to ICE
[1:54:42] in the past month. That makes it a total
of 75 this year. In roughly the same
[1:54:47] time period, 46 people have died in ICE
custody. Um my question is are you
[1:54:53] comfortable with the fact that you have
no idea what might happen to those 75
[1:54:58] people? They are wards of the country of
the county and then you let them go. You
[1:55:04] hand them over to an agency that is
amply demonstrated that it operates
[1:55:08] outside of the law. Those people can be
detained indefinitely, deported back to
[1:55:14] their home country, or to somewhere
entirely different, such as Honduras, El
[1:55:18] Salvador, Congo, South Sudan, and lots
of other countries we know are unstable.
[1:55:25] By cooperating with ICE, you're
knowingly putting these people in harm's
[1:55:28] way, denying access to their loved ones
and to legal representation and exposing
[1:55:34] them to overcrowding, mental neglect,
malnutrition, emotional distress,
[1:55:40] and possible death. I ask you
respectively, please do not ask people
[1:55:46] you arrest about their citizenship or
place of birth. Do not contact ICE when
[1:55:51] you have them. Do not honor ICE
detainers and do not people turn people
[1:55:57] over to ICE. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Jane. Uh Lisa Gallagher,
[1:56:09] » morning Gallagher. Um I'm from Spring
Township and I just want to say to begin
[1:56:14] with, I learned so much today. Thank
you. and the book vending as a former
[1:56:19] first grade teacher like my heart is
happy to hear that. Um I'm speaking
[1:56:24] because I have questions about the
financial aspects of the ICE detainer um
[1:56:28] from a July 24th 2025 article um by
Gabriella Martinez. It's listing how
[1:56:35] Burks County is using detainers at the
prison and that DA Adams was informed
[1:56:40] that the county could lose $290,000 of
FEMA funding if the county did not
[1:56:47] comply at that time to share inmate
status and detaining them 48 hours to 72
[1:56:53] hours beyond their scheduled release,
even when they post bail or
[1:56:59] um their charges were resolved. So, I
have issues with all of that, especially
[1:57:05] remembering that a charge is not a
conviction. Due process is still a
[1:57:08] thing. Um, but my question today is
who's paying for the additional days of
[1:57:14] detainment between their scheduled
release and when ICE takes custody? Um,
[1:57:19] from 24 to 48, even up to 72 hours,
especially because weekends don't count
[1:57:23] in that time period. Are the taxpayers
paying that? Are we paying more? Um, is
[1:57:29] the county losing money or is the county
getting money? I I'm I'm not sure. Um,
[1:57:35] and also thinking about that, taking
into account the extra staffing,
[1:57:38] manpower, clerical time, and money that
that requires. So, I have financial
[1:57:45] questions also. And in closing, I just
respectfully urge you to just end this
[1:57:50] process of contacting ICE voluntarily,
especially because of the situation that
[1:57:56] we're seeing now with the way ICE is
being um conducting their business. I
[1:58:02] personally don't want my tax money used
to detain people past their release date
[1:58:06] when they should be able to go free like
anyone else. Um, immigration is not a
[1:58:13] criminal charge.
Thank you.
[1:58:19] » Okay. Thank you, Lisa. We'll now move on
to Colin Underwood.
[1:58:30] » Morning.
>> Morning.
[1:58:31] » My name is Colin Underwood. I live in
Fleetwood. A lifelong Burks County
[1:58:36] resident. Uh having grown up in Blandon,
moving to Laurddale, Reading, and then
[1:58:41] eventually Fleet with my wife and two
kids. Um, I am a very big proponent of
[1:58:46] community. I'm afraid the involvement
with ICE is disrupting our community's
[1:58:52] um, co coercion, if you could say that.
Um, people are worried to report crimes
[1:58:58] because they're worried that ICE
involvement will wrongfully detain
[1:59:02] American citizens. We have very large
Puerto Rican population. Those are
[1:59:05] citizens. I am asking you to please urge
the end urge the uh practice of
[1:59:10] cooperating with ICE voluntarily.
I'm asking you to not use my do tax
[1:59:15] dollars to hold people 48 hours 72 hours
past the release date so ICE can pick
[1:59:19] them up on the detainer. Thank you very
much.
[1:59:22] » Okay. Thank you, Colin. Uh Erica Zeller.
[1:59:30] Okay, so Eric. All right. Uh Kristen
Park.
[1:59:37] Okay. All right. So, that ends the
in-person comments. Uh, do we have
[1:59:42] anything online?
>> Yeah.
[1:59:44] » Okay.
[1:59:56] Is there a reason you didn't sign in
when you arrived or?
[2:00:03] Okay. So, allow at this time. Uh, but
I'll just need you to sign in here uh
[2:00:07] when you finish. Okay. Right. Uh, full
name and municipality, please.
[2:00:16] » So, my full name is Andrea Campbell. I'm
from uh Boyertown, Douglas Township. Um,
[2:00:23] I'm here today to speak and advocate for
those who don't have the same privilege
[2:00:28] as I do to walk in here and speak
openly. So, I'm here to advocate and
[2:00:33] speak for them. This is clearly not the
ICE of the past. In order to meet their
[2:00:38] 3,000 per day uh quota, they are
targeting people based on solely on
[2:00:46] their appearance or their spoken
language. Um and I'm here to ask, are
[2:00:50] you comfortable with people within our
county um persons that don't look like
[2:00:58] white Americans um being treated like
suspects?
[2:01:04] I respectfully urge you to end the
practice of contacting ICE voluntarily.
[2:01:11] Stop respecting um the ICE detainers and
refrain from using our county resources
[2:01:17] for
federal immigration enforcement. It is
[2:01:21] not too late to do the right thing.
Thank you for listening.
[2:01:26] » Thank you, Andrea. Now move to online
comments.
[2:01:37] There's one online comment. Um, my name
is Craig Schaefer and I am a resident of
[2:01:41] Kumra Township. I am present today
because I am a white male. My Latino
[2:01:46] friends and family members are too
scared to participate in community
[2:01:50] events right now. I'm here to express my
strong objection to the Burks County
[2:01:55] Sheriff's Office and prison executing
detainers for ICE. Participation in
[2:02:00] federal immigration enforcement is not
the job of Burks County law enforcement
[2:02:05] or our p prison system. It should not be
what our Burks County tax dollars are
[2:02:10] spent on. Additionally, detainer
databases are outdated, causing
[2:02:16] unconstitutional detention violations
that are not properly tracked. ICE is
[2:02:21] not transparent.
[2:02:26] ICE is not is also certainly not
accountable. This lack of accountability
[2:02:32] and transparency will open Burks County
to lawsuits against ICE
[2:02:37] and the sheriff's office causing more
financial consequences caused by
[2:02:42] unlawful actions. I ask you to stop
using county resources to cooperate with
[2:02:46] ICE. I do not want my tax dollars spent
on detaining people past the release
[2:02:51] date. I want my family and friends to
believe in our government, our
[2:02:55] community, and our representatives.
Again, please do not please do the right
[2:03:00] thing and stop contacting ICE
voluntarily.
[2:03:05] » It's the end.
>> That it Okay, that concludes the P.
[2:03:08] » Wait a minute. There's one more that's
not popping up for me. Wait a minute.
[2:03:17] There it is. Um, last one. I'm sorry
these don't pop up automatically. My
[2:03:22] name is um, Jenna Dumbarrowski and I am
a resident of Long Swap Township. As was
[2:03:29] stated earlier today, these those
incarcerated are wards of the taxpayers
[2:03:33] of Burks County. regardless of their
citizenship status. It is the
[2:03:38] responsibility of the county to to
uphold their constitutional rights and
[2:03:42] cannot and should not hold people past
their release date. As my neighbors have
[2:03:47] stated, we do not want our tax money to
go toward handing our immigrant
[2:03:52] neighbors over to ICE and potentially
their death.
[2:03:56] » Okay,
>> I think that's it.
[2:03:58] » Okay, that will uh close the public
comment period for the meeting. Are
[2:04:03] there any comments from the members of
the board?
[2:04:08] » No.
>> Okay. If we have uh no comments, that
[2:04:12] concludes our agenda.
>> I'll make a motion.
[2:04:16] » I'll second it.
>> The meeting is adjourned. Thank you very
[2:04:20] much.