The Nightmare of Sleep in Prison (PID171)

4pm – 4.30pm EDT, 24 October 2023 ‐ 30 mins

Workshop Session

In this workshop, Michele Deitch and Alycia Welch, authors of the soon-to-be released report “The Nightmare of Sleep in Prison: How changing sleep practices can promote a healthier, safer, and more humane correctional environment”, will identify ways that routine sleep practices in prison are dehumanizing, cause harm to people in custody, and contribute to safety issues and poor health outcomes. Drawing on examples of ways that some corrections agencies in the U.S. and in other countries have improved conditions and practices at their facilities, the presenters will recommend steps that corrections agencies and policy makers could take to promote healthy sleep for people in custody and, in so doing, better respect the humanity and dignity of people behind bars, achieve better health outcomes, and support a safer institutional environment.

Speakers

Prof. Michele Deitch

Director, Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, USA

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Alycia Welch

Associate Director, Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Univ. of Texas at Austin, USA

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Prof. Michele Deitch

Director, Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, USA

Michele Deitch is a Distinguished Senior Lecturer in criminal justice policy at the University of Texas at Austin, where she holds a joint appointment at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and at the School of Law. She also directs the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL), a new policy resource center at the LBJ School focused on efforts to improve conditions of confinement and expand independent oversight of prisons and jails. Professor Deitch is widely recognized as one of the leading experts in the U.S. on the issue of correctional oversight and prison reform, and has written and published extensively on these topics. She also advises policymakers and agencies around the U.S. on prison and jail safety issues and on the development of independent correctional oversight bodies. In 2019, the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) awarded her the Flame Award for her contributions to the field of law enforcement oversight.

Deitch co-chairs the American Bar Association’s subcommittee on correctional oversight and served as the original drafter of the ABA’s Standards on the Treatment of Prisoners. Prior to entering academia, she served as a court-appointed monitor of prison conditions in Texas.Professor Deitch holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.Sc. from Oxford University, and a B.A. from Amherst College.

Alycia Welch

Associate Director, Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Univ. of Texas at Austin, USA

Alycia Welch, M.P.Aff., M.S.S.W., is Associate Director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Her research focuses on the safe and humane treatment of people in custody, with a particular focus on women and individuals living with behavioral health challenges. She has nearly 20 years of experience managing multi-partner projects reforming the justice and behavioral health systems. She directed a transitional housing program for women exiting prison or jail, developed an alternative to incarceration program for young adults, oversaw a multi-state, federally funded initiative providing training and technical assistance on behavioral health and criminal justice issues, and designed multiple studies assessing the impact of community-based programs on those who are justice-involved. The recipient of several national policy research awards, Alycia served as policy analyst for two members of the Texas House of Representatives and has authored numerous reports for state and local government officials, corrections administrators, and advocates that have been selected for inclusion in several publications and featured in major national news outlets. Alycia is a proud alum of the LBJ School, where she received her Master of Public Affairs while simultaneously earning her Master of Science in Social Work at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.