Program Spotlight: Middlesex Jail Older Adult Reentry

In Massachusetts, the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office (MSO) and Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian have launched the Older Adult Reentry (OAR) unit, a specialized housing unit focused on the specific reentry needs of incarcerated individuals over the age of 55. The MSO engaged in two years of intensive planning and research with academic partners from Boston University and the University of Massachusetts--Boston in preparation for this unit and also worked with the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) to conduct a national scan of different housing models for older adults experiencing incarceration. The result is a unit with intentional designs around the physical plant, programmatic offerings, and staff training that promises to build on the MSO’s rich background in providing programming for incarcerated individuals. During this webinar, you will hear from MSO leadership who will share about the program's inception, implementation efforts, lessons learned and the program outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify unique considerations for aging incarcerated adults, including physiological changes and preventative health guidance.
2. Adopt best practices to achieve optimal outcomes for aging incarcerated adults.

Speakers:

Peter J. Koutoujian, Sheriff, Middlesex Sheriff’s Office

As a prosecutor, legislator, professor, and law enforcement leader, Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian has worked on the leading issues in public safety and public health throughout his career.

His use of specialty units has reimagined the correctional landscape. By targeting treatment towards unique populations such as young adults and military veterans, these programs have directly and substantially reduced recidivism in their participants. These results have been published in academic journals, featured by national news outlets, and labeled as best practices by multiple presidential administrations. More importantly, Sheriff Koutoujian’s commitment to data-driven research has made these programs and their results replicable across the country.

His work has earned him local and national recognition, including being named the national Sheriff of the Year for 2023 by the Major County Sheriffs of America. In light of his commitment to the profession, Sheriff Koutoujian was elected by his statewide peers to serve as the President of the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association from 2017-2020 and by his national colleagues to serve as President of Major County Sheriffs of America from 2020-2022.

Sheriff Koutoujian holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, a law degree from the New England School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bridgewater State University.

Shawn MacMaster, Director of Programs, Middlesex Sheriff’s Office

How Do I Participate Effectively In a NIC Live Webinar? How Do I Get Ready?

You’ll need a hands-free telephone, headset, or earbuds, and an internet-enabled computer. For optimum learning, be in a quiet place, free from where you can concentrate on what is happening during the webinar. Connect to the webinar audio bridge via a hands-free telephone or your computer, using earbuds/headset connected to your phone/cell phone, so your hands are free to interact with your keyboard.

While tablets and smartphones are also compatible with WebEx Webinar Center, many of the features are limited, and most devices require that the Cisco WebEx app be installed. Regardless of which device you plan to use, test its compatibility here. This is a quick test, and we strongly encourage you to do this before the webinar. Please have your agency/local IT whitelist NIC’s Webex URL http://nicmeetings.webex.com to allow full connectivity.

NIC strongly recommends consulting with your agency/local IT, as you may encounter pop-up blocking and/or firewall issues that block the NIC Webex webinar URL on your agency device/computer.

Click https://nicic.gov/webinar-vilt-readiness for further information on NIC’s live webinars, including (cost = free!), how to obtain training credit from your agency, and much more!