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AJA President’s Initiative:

Staff Health and Wellness

or those who work in correc- Immediate Past President Marsha
tions, stress has long been Travis during Wednesday morn-
Faccepted as a component of ing’s opening session to discuss the
the job. But only recently have the topic.
effects of that stress been recog- After watching a brief video that
nized as a critical issue in the field. showed some of the challenges that
AJA President Mandy Lambert today’s jail staff must navigate and
plans to raise awareness of how some agencies are responding,
the importance of Staff the women talked about vicarious
Health and Wellness trauma. “Our role as jail profes-
and has made it her sionals is one that is a heavy lift,
President’s Initiative and we see horrible things behind
for 2021–2022. She those walls,” President Lambert
sat down with said. “Those things that you can
never really explain unless you are
the boots on the ground.” Vicarious
trauma is the result of witnessing
tragedy and trauma in the work-
place. “It affects you cognitively,
physically, mentally, and behavior-
ally,” she said. “And those things
are cumulative, unfortunately.”
Ms. Travis spoke about how the
stressors of the job affect relation-
ships, not only with family but with
lifelong friends. “If you hang out
with friends who aren’t in this line
of work, they don’t understand
cutting someone down, reviving
someone, dealing with someone
who has exhibited self-harm, and all
the stuff that comes with that,” she

RAY COLEMAN CORRECTIONAL CORRECTIONAL SUPERVISOR
ADMINISTRATOR OF OF THE YEAR AWARD
THE YEAR AWARD
Daniel Cruz
Fred W. Meyer, CJM, CCHP Security Supervisor
Deputy Chief AISS Program
Las Vegas Metropolitan Hampden County Sheriff’s
Police Department Department
Clark County Detention Springfield, Massachusetts
Center
Las Vegas, Nevada Sponsored by:

Sponsored by:

36 | JULY | AUGUST 2021 AMERICANJails