Free to change: in a correctional facility setting, recreation has the power to bring inmates into a social setting.

In 1995, I was looking for a new job and wanted to get back to the Omaha, Neb., area. In the local paper, I saw an opening for a recreation specialist at the Omaha Correctional Center. Even though I had never heard of correctional recreation, I applied for the position, got the job and from that point on, my view of recreation was changed forever.

I will never forget the first day I walked into the correctional center and heard the steel door close behind me. It startled me, and once inside the facility, I knew that I was in for a new and exciting experience.

Inmates are not a population that I ever learned about in my undergraduate education, but they should have been. This is a group of people that is sometimes forgotten by the outside world, even though a majority of them will return to society one day.

The correctional setting, though it has its fair share of unique situations, really resembles a small town. Everything that a small town has is somehow offered--they have educational opportunities, jobs, access to medical staff and of course, recreation.

The role of recreation, within the correctional setting, is one of importance. A good recreation program will promote "safety, security and good order of the institutions," according to Bob Houston, director of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. The recreation departments help in keeping the inmate population busy with both passive and active recreation that's geared toward all age groups and ability levels.

Houston also states, "Recreation is a necessary program, a fundamental part of the correctional system, just like security and classification." Recreation programs such as the team sports leagues, keep the inmates busy in constructive activities, where they can learn how to get along with others.

Sports In Corrections

The recreation departments have year-round programs that vary in scope from athletic teams, music and hobby centers, to fitness classes and informal recreation. Just like in a regular community setting, a correctional recreation department has to advertise around the institution to let inmates know what programs are going on and when registration starts and ends.

Some of the activities that are typically found in a correctional facility are:

* Softball 

* Flag football

* Volleyball

* Basketball

* Powerlifting 

* Card tournaments

* Holiday events

* Hobby centers

* Music programs

Along with the above activities, each institution holds different events and tournaments during holiday weekends. All of the adult male institutions in Nebraska participate in a Summer Games competition, where each facility competes in a variety of events, and the staff at the Nebraska State Penitentiary compiles all results. The results are then sent back to the individual institutions, and the inmates can see how they did against other inmates across the state.

The Omaha Correctional Center also sponsors an institution-only Winter Games that lasts from the end of November until the first part of January. Our staff has found that during the holiday times of the year, there can be an increase in suicidal behaviors/tendencies by the inmates. This competition gives them something to think about other than being away from their families, and involves as many of the inmates as possible. Each inmate gets points for competing and placing in an event. When all the events are finished, the recreation staff tallies the scores and a winning housing unit is named.

During a particular sports season in a correctional facility, the recreation staff could have numerous leagues. The two main types of leagues offered are called "Buddy," where anyone can play on any team; and "Housing Unit," where all team members live in the same area. Other types of leagues can consist of Club teams, Over 40, SlowBreak and Draft.

The prisons do not have multi-field complexes, so the softball outfield is also the soccer/flag football field. Like most communities, this means the recreation staff must juggle schedules for teams to be able to practice their sport when the field is open and staff is available to supervise the area.

Changing Needs and Populations

As with any other recreation department, correctional recreation has seen changes through the years. Programs and trends come and go with the times, which also holds true in a correctional institution. We add and subtract programs based on our surveying of the population, to see what types of activities they want.

Recreation Manager at the Omaha Correctional Center Bob Tlustos says, "The Department of Corrections is willing to try new programs on a trial basis. If it works well [or] not, it will be reevaluated." For example, Tlustos decided to change the music room into a headphones-only system, meaning that all the music went through a mixing board and the only way anyone could hear it was through headphones. Inmates were excited about this change. This was a big relief to staff, because they did not have to monitor the noise level coming from the music room. Because of the success of the Omaha Correctional Center music program, the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution and the Nebraska State Penitentiary changed their music programs to headphone-only.

The recreation staff also noticed a shift from inmates lifting weights to performing more cardiovascular fitness. With this in mind, the Omaha Correctional Center implemented a 20-station fitness trail. Although we don't keep records of the total number of inmates that use the trail, we have seen a general increase in usage during the last few months. In addition to the fitness trail, the gymnasium is open Monday through Friday mornings for exercise videos. The number of inmates, per video session, range from 10 during the summer months to 30 during the winter months.

Changes to recreation programs can also occur by the type and number of inmates present. According to Rob Treptow, recreation manager at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, he has seen a lot of changes in the past few years with the opening of the state's newest facility, the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.

With the opening of the Tecumseh facility, Treptow says that the "needs have stayed the same for recreation, but the population has changed." The Tecumseh facility took the majority of long-term inmates who liked seasons and programs to start at a certain time of year. But with the newer population, they are more open to change and are not set into a certain format.

With a different type of population at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, Treptow says, "We are still doing the major sports, but soccer has moved from a minor to a major sport and [the inmates] are willing to try new activities such as floor hockey and team handball."

The use of annual surveys are probably the best way to judge what programs are working, which ones are not, and if there is a need for new or different programs. The surveys usually ask the population what activities they have participated in, what activities they would like offered and what times, as well as what television channels, they would like to see on their system.

With the results of the surveys, the recreation staff has discovered that fast-pitch softball is no longer a popular sport so it has been phased out. Treptow believes that the decline of fast-pitch softball is "due to the younger inmates that are now in the system and it is not a big sport on the outside (in Nebraska)."

One of the many challenges that the correctional recreation staff face is keeping the inmates busy. In the past 15 years, the Nebraska State Penitentiary has grown from 700 inmates to almost 1,200, and only a limited number of those inmates have a job that lasts most of the day. The recreation staff is then left to keep the inmates busy with activities, both formal and informal, and balance the introduction of new activities.

Unique Challenges

The Nebraska Correctional Center for Women takes a different approach with its style of recreation. It does not focus on sports but more "family-oriented activities that the inmates can take with them, and play with their families when they are released," says Sharlene Most, recreation coordinator. Activities that Most has introduced to them are croquet, bocci ball, tennis and other lifetime leisure activities.

Most also adds, "We try and keep the women active with other activities, outside of the normal sports." In the past, the staff has conducted talent shows, karaoke contests, art contests and even their version of "American Idol."

There are some specific types of populations that correctional recreation has to deal with, including youth, substance abusers, members of the segregation unit and death row inmates. Every institution does not have to deal with all of these populations, but a majority does deal with multiple ones.

Each of these populations has different needs that are fulfilled by the recreation departments. Due to the limited number of youth inmates, and mandatory education and group classes, leagues are modified to accommodate these restrictions. At the Omaha Correctional Center, the substance abuse program is required to participate in 60 minutes of recreation Monday through Friday. The first 30 minutes are structured and the other 30 minutes are up to the inmates, but they must be actively participating in some sort of recreational activity.

Two of the most restrictive populations are the segregation unit and death row. In each of these populations, the inmates have limited access to certain recreational activities.

Segregation inmates' activities are usually limited to library access and limited time outside of their cells. Death row inmates have the ability to purchase certain types of hobby materials, for drawing and painting, and can purchase musical equipment, such as guitars, for use.

In 2004, I closed the door on the field of correctional recreation for good, to enter a new challenge of city recreation. I now speak to college classes about my experience in a correctional facility setting to let them know that there are different areas of recreation out there--they just need to go and explore them. I still occasionally return to the Omaha Correctional Center to help judge their powerlifling meets--i guess I just can't walk away from what was a wonderful experience.

Michael D. Francis, CPRP