In 2016, there were 18 overdoses at the Wernersville Community Corrections Center (CCC), and in 2017, there were 12 overdoses and one death in the center. Ten of the 12 overdoses took place at the center.
Drugs were a problem at the center.
So, DOC Bureau of Community Corrections (BCC) officials made changes to the layout of the facility and to how reentrants were processed back into the center every time they returned, whether that be from work, treatment or leisure time.
Another significant and impactful change was the installation of a full body scanner. As reentrants would return to the center, they would be scanned, and the scanner could detect items both on and in a person's body using trace amounts of x-ray technology.
The center also installed an amnesty box outside of the entrance to the building – where reentrants, anonymously, could place drugs or items. Knowing they would face the scanner, many took advantage of the box.
The use of the scanner and amnesty box greatly reduced the amount of drugs entering the center.
As a result, the center has experienced a dramatic reduction in the number of overdoses. As of October 31, 2018, calendar year overdoses of reentrants was only two, and those two occurred in the community rather than in the center. The center still experienced a reentrant overdose death, but it too happened in the community rather than at the center.
Another example of how changes at the center have increased safety and reduced drugs at the center are DOC statistics for Narcan use. In 2016, Wernersville CCC staff administered 23 doses of Narcan. In 2017, officials administered 18 doses. In 2018, as of October 31, 2018, zero doses have needed to be administered.
BCC and center staff are extremely proud of these results, because it shows that their efforts work.
Wernersville CCC has had great results, and they've also shared their technology with others. In fact, several state prisons have sent inmates to the center to be run through the scanner, which also resulted in the discovery of items and drugs.
The success of the scanner at Wernersville convinced DOC officials to pilot the use of the body scanner at an SCI. Earlier in 2018, SCI Coal Township began testing the scanner on inmates as they exited the visiting room. Again, the prison experienced positive results, and plans were underway to pilot the scanners at other state prisons. This installation of the scanners was pushed into high gear when the DOC experienced many inmate and staff exposures to drugs/chemicals that sickened them, causing the need for treatment at local medical facilities.
Wernersville CCC staff can be proud of their work to improve the safety at their facility and the safety of their reentrants.