You Can't Pour From an Empty Cup: Implementing Peer Support Teams to Improve Corrections Worker Health (PID092)

11am – 11.30am EDT, 26 October 2023 ‐ 30 mins

Workshop Session

This presentation will review a large multi-site implementation of correctional worker peer support teams with goals of improving staff wellness, creating a culture of mental health awareness and help seeking, and improving staff retention. We will discuss policy and training considerations, as well as the rationale for investing in peer support teams as a foundation to ensuring humane correctional systems. We will review early outcomes associated with this work and provide examples of how the peer support teams have assisted their colleagues in times of crisis, as well as their efforts to reduce the likelihood that a situation will progress to a crisis stage.