Missouri Department of Corrections

The Missouri General Assembly has approved pay increases for officers and cooks, effective July 1. The starting pay for new corrections officers will be $36,000, with automatic raises every two years and countless opportunities for overtime pay. New officers who work one overtime shift per week can earn $46,800 per year plus paid training, paid leave, medical insurance, wellness programs and dozens of other great benefits. Secure your future. Join our team.

Puppies for Parole dogs change lives. Check out this video of Creed, who was trained in an advanced program and adopted by Marissa New. New says: "Creed can do a lot of different tasks to mitigate my disabilities, from waking me up from nightmares and turning on lights, to alerting to seizures, picking up dropped items and even opening up the fridge (plus getting me a snack) whenever my blood glucose levels drop! He is a dream dog and has definitely made life a lot easier. I love him so much and I can't imagine life without him."

This group of corrections professionals, gathered to celebrate the retirement of JoaQuin Briggs-Ray, represents more than 300 years of combined service spanning four decades. The Missouri Department of Corrections values experience and dedication. When you join the corrections team, you gain regular salary increases, countless professional development opportunities and, most important, a family for life. Join our team: doc.mo.gov/jobs

This furry bundle of love is looking for a forever home.

When Seymour Elementary School needed a new bench for kids to use outside Nurse Jenny Yates's office, the Restorative Justice team at Ozark Correctional Center got to work. Led by Institutional Activity Coordinator Sarah Wormington and volunteer woodshop instructor Mike Haas, offender Randall Wesolek constructed the bench, and local law enforcement delivered it. Previously, Restorative Justice participants built and donated a Buddy Bench to the Seymour playground; students sit on the bench to let peers know they'd like to play with a friend.

Congratulations to Amanda Lake, newly appointed warden of Moberly Correctional Center. A member of the corrections team since 2013, Lake has served as a corrections case manager, functional unit manager and deputy warden. She holds a master's degree in social work and a bachelor's degree in human services, with an emphasis in administration of justice. Moberly Correctional Center is home to multiple innovative initiatives, including the first Missouri Veterans Project unit (which Lake helped launch), Missouri's Prison Research Innovation Network (P.R.I.N.) project, Missouri Vocational Enterprises industries, a vocational welding program, secondary and post-secondary academic education, and Missouri Puppies for Parole.

Our partnerships with Connections to Success, the Concordance and other reentry partners help ensure that Missourians released from incarceration can access the resources they need to succeed. Reentry programs reduce recidivism and make Missouri safer.

Super excited to reopen visiting today and reconnect Missouri families with incarcerated loved ones! Phase 1 of visiting reopening includes the 55% of Missouri state prison residents who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Before visiting, call the facility to schedule your visit, and please check our website for updates on guidelines and restrictions: doc.mo.gov/programs/family-friends/visiting.

Corrections teams are always ready to support local law enforcement. When the Daviess County Sheriff's Office needed help tracking a fugitive last month, the Western Missouri Correctional Center Dog Team responded immediately, arriving with a K-9 unit on the scene near Winston Missouri and quickly locating the fugitive, who was safely taken into custody. This week Sheriff Larry Adams Jr. presented the team with a commendation in recognition of their work.

Grateful for our partnerships with the ASPIRE MO women's entrepreneurship program, behavioral health treatment providers, and other organizations that, in big and small ways, contribute to a better future for Missourians in the criminal justice system and safer communities for everyone.

The generous staff at Cremer Therapeutic Community Center have donated $1,000 to SERVE, Inc to help fund Adopt-A-Family. The program provides food baskets to qualifying families and helps ensure that Callaway County children in need have at least four gifts to open on Christmas morning: something to wear, something to read, something they want and something they need.

After serving long prison sentences, Kardell Sims invests his insight and compassion in keeping fellow Missourians out of prison mentoring teens to address issues that lead to incarceration and coaching former offenders to help them successfully reenter society and stay on a positive path.

This weekend the Texas County bicentennial quilt, assembled by incarcerated Missourians, will be on display at the Melba Performing Arts Center in Downtown Houston, Inc.. South Central Correctional Center Restorative Justice Organization members completed the quilt, which features local quilters' blocks celebrating the history, culture and natural beauty of the county.

Just in time for winter, the Jefferson City Correctional Center Restorative Justice Organization has donated more than 100 blankets and quilts to Rainbow House children's shelter in Columbia. Rainbow House temporarily houses children who have been displaced or who live in domestic violence situations. The quilts including four weighted quilts designed to soothe anxiety were made by JCCC residents who are proud to give back to the community and help fellow Missourians.

Having men and women come out of prison ... have the opportunity to go and work in the 21st century environment, so they can be taxpayers and raise their children that’s just incredible. Together we’re changing lives. Thank you to Missouri Department of Social Services, Missouri Department of Revenue, Missouri Department of Mental Health, Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Governor Mike Parson & all other partners who have helped fundamentally transform the way Missouri serves citizens with formerly incarcerated family members.

The Probation & Parole District 5 Team is taking action to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities: avoiding big gatherings, wearing masks, maintaining social distance and washing their hands. Find out why they want to #StopTheSpreadOfCOVID19.

Employee of the Month Charles Cloninger, a Storekeeper I at Western Reception, Diagnostic & Correctional Center (WRDCC), looks out for offenders' health and the department's budget. While working at the WRDCC canteen, Cloninger noticed a supply of chicken breast had been delivered in packages that weren't properly sealed. He not only removed the packages from the canteen but also contacted the Central Warehouse team, which identified more than 1,000 affected packages. Removing the items helped to prevent potential food poisoning and saved the department more than $26,000.

MODOC team: Have you gotten your flu shot yet? There is still time, and we have plenty of vaccines to go around. Flu fighters such as Nurse Zoye Gilliland and other MODOC employee health nurses are giving flu shots throughout November and December. Keep an eye out for The Flu Ends with You flyers with dates/times. To set up an additional clinic or get answers to your flu questions, please contact your local employee health nurse.

In January 2020, before the COVID-19 public health crisis hit the U.S., Missouri Governor Mike Parson visited the Fulton Community Supervision Center, the state's first all-women's facility providing gender-responsive and trauma-informed programming to better serve women under probation and parole supervision. During his visit, Governor Parson sat down with Desiree Stone, a recent graduate of the program, to learn more about her experiences and how the program helped her transition back home. Meet the women of the Fulton CSC and Desiree's baby. More photos: https://www.flickr.com//govmikepa/albums/72157712791139878 More on second chances: https://csgjusticecenter.org/valuing-second-chances-at-a-t/

Partnerships help us get Missourians back into the workforce after incarceration. Working together, Three Rivers College, the Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development and the Missouri Department of Revenue make commercial driver's license (CDL) training available to more job-seekers. Students learn on simulators both inside and outside prison walls, getting a head start on the road to success. #skillup

Wonderful to connect with fellow State of Missouri agencies in the #ShowMeExcellence Summit today! We're proud of the work our Research, Planning & Process Improvement team and staff throughout the state do to help us serve Missouri more effectively and support #operationalexcellence. Take a look at some of our process improvement projects.

In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Corrections Training Officer Chris Gremminger organized a donation collection for A Friend's Place, a Bonne Terre domestic violence shelter serving women and children. Staff at Eastern Region Training Center donated clothing, toiletries, paper products, laundry detergent, over-the-counter medications and other essentials to the shelter, whose 2020 fundraising efforts have been hindered by the COVID-19 public health crisis. #nomore #DVAM2020

The Division of Offender Rehabilitative Services Education team has fully committed to Domestic Violence Awareness Month and (as the snacks suggest) #PurpleThursday. Join them in the movement to educate Missourians about domestic violence and stop the cycle. #NoMore #DVAM2020

It's #PurpleThursday! Division of Human Services and Office of the Director staff have come together in person and online to take a stand against domestic and show support for victims. The COVID-19 health crisis has caused a tremendous spike in incidents of domestic violence nationwide. Join us today and throughout October in saying #nomore. #DVAM2020

Proud to partner with Missouri Department of Mental Health and community organizations on Improving Community Treatment Success (ICTS), a program that helps Missourians on probation or parole by supporting behavioral health treatment. Since fall 2018, the program has served more than 1,000 people, with an 89% success rate.

District 33 Probation & Parole Officers Stacey Shanks and Shannon Grider share their #nomore statements as part of the movement to end domestic violence and support victims of abuse. Join us tomorrow for #PurpleThursday, and take part in Domestic Violence Awareness Month throughout October. #DVAM2020

Throughout October, Corrections is taking a stand against domestic violence. Academic Teacher III Maggie Spire, who works in diagnostic education at Western Reception, Diagnostic & Correctional Center in St. Joseph, shared her #nomore message on her office window. Join the movement to end domestic violence and support victims of abuse. #DVAM2020

Missouri is getting it right. If you look at the leadership in Missouri that has made criminal justice reform and reentry a priority from the governor and two U.S. senators at the federal level down to the departments they’re doing it right, Lowden told The Missouri Times in an interview. It’s absolutely phenomenal for a state prison system to be doing this amount of work around prison reform.