Suicide is the leading cause of death in jails in the US. For those who struggle with drug addiction and alcoholism, the risk of suicide is real. A major challenge facing jails is using methods for detecting suicidal ideation and attempting intervention strategies to prevent in-custody suicides. Agencies large and small have their own set of challenges in how they approach this tragedy. Some agencies have dedicated mental health personnel available whereas others rely on community-based services or have too few resources available.
The data suggests that the problem of suicides in jails and prisons is not going away. With increasing numbers of suicides, agencies are increasingly facing costly litigation including the implementation of court-ordered requirements and in some cases, consent decrees with plaintiffs in class-action settlements.
This course explores the breadth of the reality, the obstacles that jails face in implementing effective suicide prevention strategies and offers facts behind the myths surrounding in-custody suicides. Sadly, some suicides are preventable simply by understanding pre-disposing factors that increase suicidal behaviors. Methods of assessing suicides and best practices from around the United States are considered in understanding how agencies can combat this significant issue and save lives.
Mitigation is the process by which the course contemplates the role of training and includes the use of policies and procedures, how these policies are put into practice, staff awareness, resources, and tools available to staff; effective intervention strategies; the role of practice drills; documentation; and actions that should be taken to reduce risk and improve outcomes. Mitigation instruction involves the process of conducting critical incident assessments to discuss effective strategies and the lessons learned and changes that could be considered to reduce future incidents.
After-action includes providing resources for correctional staff who have endured the experience of inmate suicides and dealing with the impact of such events on their ability to continue functioning in high-stress environments. Suicide attempts and suicides impact other inmates, bystanders, and volunteer staff. This portion of the course discusses the need to have a transparent process in conducting investigations and maintaining public trust.
Mr. Lenard Vare is a retired Jail Administrator/ Director of Corrections from California where he managed the operations over a county jail system in the San Francisco Bay Area. Before that, Lenard held the position of Warden in the State of Nevada where he managed three adult prisons and served as the administrator over a correctional POST academy.
Lenard Vare has over 28 years of practical experience spanning inmate management, classification, program design, high-risk inmate transportation, team building, organizational development, and correctional personnel in Nevada and California. During his career, Mr. Vare has operated inmate fire camps, served as a criminal investigator and hostage/crisis negotiator, supervised state fugitive recovery teams, conducted internal affairs investigations, operated community-based prisons, and served as the departmental liaison to the Governor’s office.
From 2018 until March 2020, Mr. Vare served as the Chief Operating Officer in a publicly traded company that provided electronic monitoring and community-based correctional programs. He has worked as an adjunct professor of criminal justice and has provided training on a variety of topics to prisons, sheriffs, and probation agencies.
Mr. Vare began to provide litigation consulting to various county agencies following in-custody inmate deaths and has served as an expert on jail suicides on behalf of several counties in California. From his time as a correctional officer and throughout his career, he has been involved in dozens of suicides and attempted suicide incidents. He has first-hand experience as a staff member responding to suicides and engaging in rescue efforts. He managed several investigations following suicides and is experienced with critical incident review panels. He has provided hundreds of hours of training to numerous agencies on the topic of inmate management, critical incidents, and suicide prevention.
In addition to providing training to correctional and probation agencies, he has also provided consulting services to agencies and clients in California, Texas, Ohio, Washington, Iowa, Utah, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Kansas.
Mr. Vare is a certified jail manager (CJM) and holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration and a master’s degree in Justice Management.
Registrations are closed for this event