Public Meeting Notice  Restrictive Housing Oversight Committee Meeting

Restrictive Housing Oversight Committee

Date: January 20, 2022

Time: 11:00am-1:00pm

Place: Microsoft Teams (Virtual Meeting)

Call to order

Chairman Andrew Peck called the meeting to order at 11:03am once a quorum of members had been established. Roll call attendance was taken.

Members Present:

Chairman Andrew Peck (Undersecretary of Criminal Justice)

Attorney Bonnie Tenneriello

Dr. Brandy Henry

Attorney Bob Fleischner

Kevin Flanagan

Hollie Matthews

Justice Gerri Hines

Christopher Fallon

Kyle Pelletier

Sheriff Tom Bowler

Attorney Tatum Pritchard

Members Absent:

Joanne Barros

December 2021 Meeting Minutes

There was a motion to accept the December 2021 meeting minutes with edits by Justice Gerri Hines. The motion was seconded by Kevin Flanagan.

Subcommittee Updates

Atty. Bonnie Tenneriello gave an update regarding the subcommittee’s work as they are continuing to sort through the county data. Atty. Bob Fleischner provided an update on his subcommittee. EOPSS Atty. John Melander is currently reviewing the draft provided by the Bob’s subcommittee and Committee members are welcomed to provide further insight in the recommendations. Hollie Matthews will provide subcommittee updates at the next monthly meeting.

Letter to Judiciary Committee Update

Atty. Tenneriello provided the committee with update; the last sentence at the bottom of the last page is to be removed. Atty. Tenneriello recommends that the letter be sent with the agreed upon edits. Atty. Walker recommends that the letter be signed as a committee as opposed to signing as individuals.

County CJR & DOC Reporting Update

There was no update provided.

Falcon Implementation Update

Kyle Pettier provided the committee with an update on the work of the Falcon Group at the DOC. She states that they have been meeting once a week to best implement recommendations. Currently, Falcon is focusing on data collection to have a comprehensive understanding of who is placed in restrictive housing and why. The Falcon Group is also open to meeting with the Committee every three to four months to provide updates. Currently, all deadlines set forth in the report are being met. Representatives from Falcon will be in attendance during February’s meeting to provide a more comprehensive update.

Member Comments

Justice Hines defers to the Committee to provide an estimated timeline of when the Committee’s work will conclude. Atty. Tenneriello anticipates that a draft from the Conditions Subcommittee can be expected by March. She also reiterated that the data reporting is taking time and may be cause for delay. This was followed by discussion regarding the feasibility of the Committee attending in-person site visits. It was decided to hold an in-person visit to Hampden if necessary and a hybrid visit to Norfolk. A roll call was taken to gather an impression of who would attend in person sight visits.

Public Comment

Mary Valerio thanked the Committee for the work that they have been doing. She also stated that data shows that some individuals in restrictive housing become violent and she asked the Committee to look at the data and focus on positive reinforcement.

Casandra Bensahih stated that we must be willing to train correctional officers appropriately and focus on rehabilitation as the mental health of correctional officers as well as incarcerated individuals is important.

Adjournment

There was a motion to adjourn by Dr. Brandy Henry. The motion was seconded by Atty. Tatum Pritchard. The meeting adjourned at 12:11pm.

AGENDA

1. Call To Order
2. December 2021 Meeting Minutes
3. Subcommittee Updates
4. Letter to Judiciary Committee Discussion
5. County CJR & DOC Reporting Update
6. Falcon Implementation Update
7. Member Comment
8. Public Comment
9. Adjourn