Enhancing Public Safety and Citizen Restoration Through Pro-Social Means The Role of Motivational Interviewing in an Enhanced Vision for the Wyoming Department of Corrections

Our Mission Outlines Three Departmental Goals Maintain a Seamless Pro-Social Correctional Environment Strengthen Community Safety Increase Offender Success

Goals Statement The Wyoming Department of Corrections will provide a seamless pro-social correctional environment aimed at improving community safety through employee training, recognition and retention, evidence-based crime prevention, risk/need assessment, and recidivism reduction strategies that focus on: Workforce excellence; Workforce excellence; Role modeling and reinforcing pro-social behavior; Role modeling and reinforcing pro-social behavior; Redirecting behavior that is not pro-social in nature; Redirecting behavior that is not pro-social in nature; Collaborative intervention to at-risk populations; Collaborative intervention to at-risk populations; Thorough and on-going individual risk/needs assessments; Thorough and on-going individual risk/needs assessments; Risk appropriate housing and success-oriented community supervision/ mentoring; Risk appropriate housing and success-oriented community supervision/ mentoring; Individualized quality services to victims, offenders and inmates; and, Individualized quality services to victims, offenders and inmates; and, Successful collaborative re-integration back into society. Successful collaborative re-integration back into society.

Belief Statement: When Employees, Volunteers, and Contractors Routinely Practice the 3 R’s and Proactive Intervention Techniques, the Correctional Environment will Become More Conducive to Positive Pro-Social Change

Supporting Principle Thinking and behavior are linked; offenders behave like criminals because they think like criminals; changing thinking is the first step towards changing behavior. Corrections professionals can help effect this change. Effective cognitive-behavioral programs attempt to alter an offender’s cognitions, values, attitudes and expectations that maintain anti-social behavior by reinforcing pro-social thinking and behavior. The correctional environment and interactions with staff have an affect on the change process. A seamless approach emphasizes offender-driven accountability, problem solving, decision making, reasoning, self-control and behavior modification through programming and staff’s use of the 3 R’s supported by motivational interviewing techniques.

Why Motivational Interviewing? We had spent a lot of money giving offenders opportunities for change, while also realizing that it was up to the individual offender what to do with those opportunities. It had become very clear to us that long term behavior change on the part of offenders needed to be internally driven to be successful.

Why Motivational Interviewing? MI provides a well researched method shown to facilitate the resolution of ambivalence and increase intrinsic motivation to change MI also provides corrections practitioners with a method of working with offenders that blends well with a variety of approaches, and provides a common language to discuss offender change efforts.

Why Motivational Interviewing? Motivational Interviewing (MI) had been gaining interest and acceptance among corrections professionals both in the US and abroad. The WDOC identified MI as a preferred practice to be utilized by those most closely involved with the offenders in developing individualized case management plans../Case Mangers and Probation and Parole Agents (“Change Agents”) We also recognized that all staff needed to understand what it meant for this approach to be inculturated into the agency.

Most Importantly Motivational Interviewing provides corrections practitioners with the tools to not only facilitate long tern offender behavior change, but has the potential to influence the development of a healthy pro-social correctional environment for both staff and offenders. It fit well with our enhanced vision.

Laypersons Definition of MI Motivational interviewing is a collaborative conversation to strengthen a person’s own motivation for and commitment to change. From: Presentation by Miller and Rollnick at the International Conference on Motivational Interviewing, Stockholm, Sweden, June 2010.

Basic Assumptions Assumes motivation is fluid and can be influenced Motivation is influenced in the context of a relationship  Principle task – to guide conversation towards eliciting motivation for change  Goal – to influence change in a healthy pro-social direction

Five Principles of MI Express Accurate Empathy Amplify Ambivalence Avoid Arguments, the “Right” position Support Self-efficacy-EMPOWER Roll with the Resistance/REFLECT

Some Observations about MI It aligns the agency with evidence based practice. It allows staff to be involved in behavior change. It suggests tools for handling resistance and keeping difficult situations from getting worse. It shifts the burden to the offender and makes interactions more change focused. –Staff better understand where change comes from –Places responsibility for behavior change on offender –Creates an appetite for change by amplifying offender ambivalence.

Some Observations abut MI It can change who does the talking. It helps prepare the offender for change through questions that raise change interest. It changes what is talked about, thereby eliciting “change talk” or self-motivational speech on the part of the offender. It can move an offender from resistance to change to commitment to change.

The Wyoming Protocol Initially trained 60 staff member in the use of MI to provide the candidate pool for future MI trainers. Worked with Michael Clark, Director of the Center for Strength–based Strategies with the approval from the MINT organization to pilot a model of internal MI training for correctional agencies.

The Wyoming Protocol Trained an initial 20 Departmental MI trainers Developed a 32 hour MI training curriculum and provided MI training to all WDOC staff through the use of in-service, pre-service academy and new agent training. Case managers and agents are trained with the intention of developing full proficiency. Security and other staff received training so as to be supportive.

The Wyoming Protocol Michael Clark as a result of the work with the WDOC trademarked the “Wyoming Protocol” to ensure that a rigorous training regimen was used to train MI trainers. It should be noted that MI training of trainers using the Wyoming Protocol only allows them to train MI with in the host agency and does not take the place of training provided by the MINT organization.

The Wyoming Protocol requires the following: 1.A meeting with supervisors who are coached in how to spot staff who practice with MI-type skills 2.A selection of staff to enter a train-the- trainer series 3.Two days of MI Fundamental training 4.A break for practice with supervisors observation

The Wyoming Protocol requires the following: 5.Return for two more days of further MI training 6.Tape submission at the full proficiency (may take several tries to achieve this) 7.Selection of trainers from coding results 8.Coding and coaching training (from 2 to 2.5 days each depending on the arrangement – occurs before the T4T or after…)

The Wyoming Protocol requires the following: 9.A considerable "homework" assignment to be ready for the Train-the-trainer session that must be started weeks/months in advance due to its demands. This involves the preparation of at least 50 fifty minute presentations of modules from the 8 stages of learning MI days of a train-the-trainer session with presentation of modules to an audience with feedback and evaluation. Further work on accessing MI resources and organizational dissemination strategies are discussed.

The Wyoming Protocol requires the following: 11.Booster sessions that follow (from 1 to 2 days, depending on the arrangement) for trainers. 12.Also, training for managers/supervisors (1 day) to familiarize the executive team with MI concepts and build organizational receptivity- capacity for MI. 13. (Suggested) Establishment of their own list- serv to continue the development and discussion of resources/issues.

Continuing Effort In keeping with the emerging area of implementation science, it is important to recognize that implementation is an ongoing process. Due to attrition and other factors it can be necessary to repeat initial efforts towards implementation. Currently the WDOC is in the process of training an additional 36 staff as trainers so that ongoing MI training, coaching and QA efforts are available state wide.

Important Points The use of MI has the potential to make a significant contribution to offender behavior change efforts and the development of a healthy pro-social correctional environment. However, time and resources need to be devoted to developing the infrastructure (ongoing regular coaching and supervision) and to sustain MI implementation at the level of full proficiency for key staff.

Observed Benefits of WDOC MI Efforts Increased staff competency and collaboration Engages offenders and elicits and reinforces change talk Client focused case plan Promotes collaborative problem solving Models displays of genuine empathy Offenders mirror staff modeling Ask more open ended questions Demonstrate reflective listening Increased verbalizations of understanding and empathy Supports autonomy and self-efficacy of other offenders