From the Inside: Architecture's Impact on Criminal Justice Reform

Among justice-involved individuals, histories of trauma of remarkably common. Additionally, correctional environments can be traumatic in and of themselves, potentially leading to the onset of new trauma for residents, visitors, staff, and others coming into contact with these buildings. In this episode I speak with architect Frank Greene about trauma-informed design, and how important it is to plan and design facilities from the beginning with a trauma-informed lens.

Ever wonder how a projects comes to be? In this episode I sit down *in person* with Eric Davis, Deputy Director of Capital Planning and Policy for Cook County, Il., to discuss examples of how the need for potential justice and civic projects is identified and eventually become Requests for Qualifications (RFQs), and get insight into the ways in which government agencies oversee the work of architects and planners to ensure our work reflects the goals of the community. This is hopefully just a snippet of what will become a larger, more in-depth episode down the road. Enjoy!

In this episode I speak with Eldra Jackson III, Co-Executive Director of Inside Circle, a non-profit that runs programs within prisons and the community with the aim of empowering system-impacted people. We discuss Eldra's experiences within the justice system, his experiences with Inside Circle, and the amazing trajectory that this involvement had on the rest of his life. I truly hope you're as inspired by this episode as I was.

You may have heard of terms like "Rated Capacity" or "Design Capacity" in discussions of correctional and detention facilities, but do you know what they really mean? Determining capacity involves consideration of a number of factors, such as the estimated capacity at which a facility can be run safely and the number of inmates that planners and architects designed a facility to house. In this episode we discuss all things capacity - what goes into its determination and how are these decisions reached? how are architects and planners involved? We also address the proverbial elephant in the room - overcrowding - and the complicated issues involved in why it happens.

**Update: I am running a bit late - the episode will be out in the next day or two! Thanks for your patience!**

Original notes: Hi everyone, I am popping into your feed to let you know I have been diligently working on scheduling, recording, and editing the next round of podcast episodes, and the next episode will drop Monday, October 18th.  If you have a topic you would like to discuss please contact me through the podcast website: fromtheinsidepodcast.com.

Jurisdictions around the country have been actively developing policies and practices to provide alternatives to traditional justice-involvement, particularly for those with mental health and substance use disorders. These pre-arrest and pretrial strategies, deflection and diversion, respectively, include a broad range of formal and informal approaches to keep individuals out of or remove individuals from the justice system. As these practices are rapidly gaining popularity, the new AIA-Academy of Architecture for Justice Deflection & Diversion Working Group is part of an effort by the AIA-AAJ Research & Technology Committee to catalog and analyze nationwide policy implementations toward the development of a clearinghouse of best practices in deflection and diversion across the United States and internationally.

Guests: Curtiss Pulitzer, AIA; Carol Lanham, AIA, Assoc. DBIA, CCM; Jeff Hyman, AIA

Over the past twenty years, significant strides have been made to prioritize consideration of specific environmental qualities in the design of detention and correctional settings. Research has demonstrated more and more the importance of the application of these features, including access to natural light, access to nature, acoustical control, color schemes, and many others. The correlation between exposure to these qualities and physiological and psychological outcomes has been demonstrated to work in both directions: exposure to the above elements provides positive health benefits, and a lack of exposure to these elements can lead to negative consequences. In this episode we’ll discuss the myriad environmental interventions architects and designers are implementing to improve correctional environments.

Guests: Jay Farbstein, Ph.D., FAIA; Melissa Farling, FAIA

It’s grim, but true: county jails are the largest mental health provider in the United States. Practitioners in these facilities are on the front lines of the mental health crisis, working in facilities that may not be equipped to support ever-evolving demands for health care services.  In this episode we discuss the breadth and depth of mental health issues - diagnosed and undiagnosed - experienced by those within correctional and detention facilities; the unique and ubiquitous problem of trauma; what it’s like to provide correctional mental health services; and what’s being done now in the design of carceral institutions that is contributing to positive outcomes for those receiving treatment.

Guest: Robin Timme, Psy.D., ABPP

The Academy of Architecture for Justice, or AAJ is one of over twenty “knowledge communities” within the American Institute of Architects. The focus of the AAJ is justice facilities. Corrections, detention, courts, public safety, border, emergency operations, and other building types. Today we’ll be talking about one of the six committees under the AIA-AAJ: The Sustainable Justice Committee. The Sustainable Justice Committee (SJC) developed out of the following question: “Close your eyes and imagine it is 2030, and everything we have ever hoped for in creating a green, sustainable world has been accomplished. What do you see in the world of “...law enforcement?” “....detention/corrections?” “....courthouses?” Answering this question has been at the heart of the work of the AIA AAJ Sustainable Justice Committee since its inception. In this episode we will discuss the committee’s past, present, and future initiatives, and how the group contributes to the evolution of justice facility design.

Guests: Erica Loynd, FAIA; Gary Retel, AIA

"Renovate or build a new facility?" It’s a question that all responsible stakeholders ask when considering how to remedy deficiencies within their jail facilities. What many people don’t know, however, is how complicated renovating a facility can be. It is crucial that decision-makers understand the myriad issues involved in renovating an existing jail, and in this episode we dive deep into the considerations involved in answering that important question: “renovation or new construction?”

Guests: Lorenzo Lopez, AIA, LEEP AP; Eric Sifuentes, CASp, RA; Eric Fadness, AIA