1

Horticultural Community Restitution Work Crew Programmes for

Mentally Disordered Offenders

Richard Eltringham

Content

Map 2

Acknowledgements 3

About the Author 4

Executive Summary 5

Introduction to the Project 6

Findings

Case Study 1: The Greenhouse Project 9

Case Study 2: A Prison Gardening Programme 15

Case Study 3 The Sustainability in Prisons Project 20

The Emergent Vegetation Conservation Nursery 21

Mother Earth Farm 22

Monroe Correctional Complex Intensive Management Unit 23

The Washington Corrections Centre for Women 24

Stafford Creek Correctional Centre 25

Roots of Success 26

Case Study 4: The Garden Project 28

Conclusions 31

Recommendations 32

Implementation 33

Dissemination 35

Appendices

Itinerary 40

Additional non-horticultural findings 41

References 43

Picture Credits 44

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Map of places visited in the USA

The names of 3 facilities visited

have been anonymised

3

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my hardworking colleagues from

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for all the

extra work they undertook in my absence during the 4 weeks I

spent travelling in the USA.

I would like to thank Fiona Evriviades for her support and

encouragement during the application process for the Fellowship.

I would like to thank all of my hosts in the USA for making time to

introduce me to their inspiring projects and answer all of my

questions. Special thanks to Hilda Krus, John Autin and Julie

Vanneste for organising the itinerary, as well as making me feel

welcome everywhere I visited.

Thank you to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for offering me

this incredible opportunity. I am hugely honoured to be a Churchill

Fellow.

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About the Author I am interested in exploring and developing the effective use of our

landscape in the treatment and rehabilitation for a wide range of

illnesses while preserving, restoring and managing our natural

beauty. Working under the supervision of Occupational Therapists

(OTs) and supporting nursing staff, I lead therapeutic horticultural

activities for and with patients at Arnold Lodge. The East Midlands

Centre for Forensic Mental Health is based at Leicester and forms

part of the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

5

Executive Summary This study was carried out in May 2017. The overall aim was to

view how horticultural community restitution work crew

programmes were undertaken for offenders with mental health

problems in the USA.

The study was funded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

(WCMT); it involved spending four weeks in the USA – travelling to

New York, California and Washington State. During this time I

visited eleven projects run by four different organisations.

Horticulture offers a range of diverse activities, which can then be

adapted to meet the needs of different client groups. When giving

consideration to the environment, gardens in secure facilities can

provide a place for happiness and tranquillity for those

incarcerated.

In North America, the Department of Corrections work with

external charities and not-for-profit organisations to carry out

horticultural activities for both rehabilitation and therapy. This study

found that North America was developing a more wide ranging

curriculum by allowing external organisations into secure facilities.

From my Fellowship I observed first-hand how developing external

partnerships can make valuable contributions to the lives of

incarcerated men and women. This has led to me set further goals

for my own work within the UK:-

Building relationships with other community organisations to

establish further restitution opportunities.

To develop nature based curriculum to be taught by

prisoners/ patients who are trained and certified to teach the

course.

Enhance the skills of healthcare staff and later prison staff

involved in co-delivering such programmes through the

transfer of knowledge, resources and best practice gained

from the project.

Develop partnerships between people incarcerated in the

UK and America

Provide opportunities for social inclusion to break down the

stigma associated with mentally disordered offenders

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Introduction to the Project My work role has led me to establish volunteering opportunities for

patients, in order to equip them with self-confidence and practical

skills to undertake essential maintenance work in our local

community. The Royal College of Psychiatrists state that work can

help people’s physical and mental health.

A horticultural evaluation was conducted over a period of 1 year

with 19 patients from Arnold Lodge medium secure unit. This

showed that the processes involved provided opportunities for

patients to learn new skills. It was also perceived as a very positive

subjective experience for the patients, with everyone reporting

some personal benefit.

The main themes emerging from the responses were about

learning new skills in a relaxed and calm environment. Another

interesting outcome from the study was the view that their working

relationships with others (staff and peers) had developed in a

positive way. I feel that this may be due to patients becoming more

confident around their peers and developing connections through

the shared interest of gardening.

Royal College of Psychiatrists, (2017) also suggests that “Work

is generally good for health; as well as a financial

reward, it gives many of us self-esteem,

companionship and status.”

Volunteer work placements can help patients in providing:

Socialising

Support

Structure and occupying time

Physical and mental activity

Opportunities to develop skills

A sense of identity and personal achievement

Financial and other resources.

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Secure mental health services work with people who have mental

health problems and many have committed a criminal offence.

These individuals pose a risk to themselves or others; some are

transferred from prison whilst others are admitted directly to

hospital. Services provide accommodation, treatment and support

for people with severe mental illness and/or personality disorders

and learning disability.

There are approximately 7,000 – 8,000 beds within the three levels

of secure services (low, medium and high) in England. 5,500

people in total with a diagnosis or either mental illness or

personality disorder are detained in low and medium secure

services (NHS England, 2017). The average cost of a year’s

treatment in a medium secure hospital is £165,000. High security

is in the region of £300,000 (Centre for MH, 2017)

“10% of men and 30% of

women have had a previous

psychiatric admission

before they entered prison.”

Arnold Lodge Towpath Volunteers

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The average population of men and women in prison is 84,705

with a cost per prisoner averaging £32,510 (Ministry of Justice,

2016). A study from The Prison Reform Trust suggests that “10%

of men and 30% of women have had a previous psychiatric

admission before they entered prison.”

The American government spend $80 billion per year on prison

and incarcerate 2.3 million nationally. (U.S. Department of

Education, 2016) In California it spends approximately $71,000

per/ inmate/ year (Legislative Analyst's Office, 2017).

The Department of Corrections gives volunteers and not-for-profit

organisations the opportunity to develop innovative programmes

for rehabilitation through grant funding community restitution

programs. Additionally the UK has traditionally looked towards

North America for evidence based practice in horticulture and

therapy. It was for these reasons that I wanted to focus my travel

Fellowship in the states and gain knowledge, experience and

understanding of best practice within a variety of American secure

facilities.

The aims were to identify how work programs are implemented

successfully by viewing first-hand the programmes in America. To

explore education curriculum that is combined with horticultural

restitution programmes, to develop and maintain strong

international relations with colleagues in the USA and to continue

sharing ideas around best practice, to gain new knowledge and

skills this will be used to develop learning, tools and resources,

and to transfer ideas gained from observing projects in America

into my own clinical practice in the UK.

“The aims were to

identify how work

programs are

implemented

successfully by

viewing first-hand the

programmes in

America.”

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Case Study 1: The GreenHouse Project

The GreenHouse is a partnership between The Horticultural

Society of New York (The HORT) and the Department of

Corrections New York. Initially founded in 1986 and having closed

for a brief period between 1993 and 1996, the program has been

revived and grown since 1996 to encompass an educational

setting on Rikers Island. Facilities include a greenhouse, a

classroom and over four and a half acres of landscaped and

productive gardens (designed and built by inmates) in five different

garden spaces and with five different groups of participants. Hilda

Krus, the Horticultural Therapist and her team are based on Rikers

Island. Their main aim is to reduce the recidivism rate through

offering incarcerated men and women an innovative jail-to-street

program, to help strengthen individuals in their entire being and

prepare them for their next steps, whether they will lead to release

or to serving time in state facilities, and to help students make first

steps into recognizing necessary areas of change in their lives.

This uses horticultural therapy as a tool to help prepare individuals

re-entry into society.

The GreenHouse Project

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was introduced to the two and half acre fenced enclosure by

Hilda, which is the original garden started in 1986. She explained

that the project provides a place of sanctuary for men and women

that are 19 plus years old, serving sentences for one year or less.

During the mornings that I visited, the men were already working in

the garden - even before the arrival of the facilitators from The

HORT. This was possible due to the support and supervision of

the correctional officers. Over the time spent at The GreenHouse

project, the sense of personal ownership from each student

(inmate) became evermore apparent. Each of them worked on

different aspect of the garden, from mowing the grass to creating

pieces of art installations.

The team was spread out across the whole area. It was hard to tell

who was in charge as each individual went about their own

business in the garden. It seemed that the students had the

freedom to wander within this “little Eden” without barriers or

obstacles.

After the morning session with the men, the women attended.

Theirs seemed like a much shorter session but it was equally

productive. All those working in the garden were happy to talk

about their experience and past in this relaxed environment,

making me feel extremely welcome.

On the final morning, both the men and women gave a joint

farewell party for a student and me. The outgoing student was

being prepared for release and was moving onto a hostel in

downtown New York. The party involved them singing their

version of “For He's a Jolly Good Fellow". This was followed by a

present of their home grown asparagus, garlic and chilli jams.

These little gatherings are arranged for all students upon release

as a way of saying goodbye, good luck and thank you.

The HORT has developed the Green Team for inmates who

graduate from The GreenHouse project and are released into the

community. This provides vocational training in horticulture,

transitional work, job search skills, job placement, and aftercare

services. The GreenTeam also offers at risk young people an

internship programme through partnerships with other social

services, including young adult’s courts. During my visit I was

“Plants are a teacher of forgiveness; plants

tell us when something went wrong”.

“Plants are a teacher of forgiveness; plants

tell us when something went wrong”. She

further commented that “students then learn

how to make the necessary changes in their

life”

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introduced Sam Lewis, (the Field Supervisor) and his team, during

a busy time of planting a plaza in downtown Brooklyn. I couldn’t

help myself and mucked in to assist the planting of the summer

bedding.

There was a new contract funded through New York Department

of Correction (NYDC) for the 18-21 year old detainees and 16-17

year old adolescent male detainees since summer 2016. This was

developed following a request by the Mayor’s office and the NYC

Department of Correction, also reciprocated by The HORT. This

fledgling group for the 16-17 year olds seemed to be the most

challenging. I was taken down into the darkness of the basement,

which had been converted to a store room in the Robert N.

Davoren Center (RNDC). Inside this darkened room there was

wall-to-wall young plants bring propagated under artificial lighting,

with posters and pieces of students work spread over the tables.

“The students had the freedom

to wander within this “little

Eden” without barriers or

obstacles.”

Planting Brooklyn with the GreenTeam

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The students were late arriving for class, after originally refusing to

attend in protest against an incident in the dormitory. When the

students did eventually arrive the look on their faces just seemed

to suggest that they did not want to be here. Who could blame

them after being escorted from light-filled dormitory to a dark

basement store with no natural light?

When the clearance was given the door was opened again. The

sun shone through and the students could go outside with

watering cans to hand. Upon exiting to the courtyard I was

surrounded by a three storey high dormitory. Their peers from up

above were shouting obscenities from the openings of their tiny

windows. The correctional officers appeared to struggle to get the

students to focus on the tasks in the garden. Trying to act calmly

like the facilitators, I attempted to distract some of the students by

engaging them in conversation but to no avail.

“This relationship seemed to be one of

mutual respect and friendship,

sometimes lasting beyond the time in

custody.”

Praying Mantis

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After the students had finished and were escorted back to their

dormitory, the facilitator explained that this session was quite

normal. Hilda explains “as the dorm with the adolescent

students now changed, and it’s a vastly different

situation with all time being spent outdoors in

gardening activities and students being very excited

about their work. I wish the instructors had been

more specific in their statement and also mentioned

that the atmosphere within groups can and does

change daily. You describe a rather bad day, which

we do have, but we have a higher number of good

days.”

As part of my visit I had the privilege of meeting a group of

adolescents young men in the high secure detention centre; these

were 18-21 year olds. This project was support and funded by the

New York Department of Education (NYCDOE) in collaboration

with The Horticultural Society of NY and the NYC Department of

Correction since 2008.

Women Harvesting Tomatoes

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These students were also late arriving but the difference in their

presentation was clear and the complete opposite of the previous

session. These students come out into the garden unescorted

after attending their education session leading towards a GED or

high school diploma and participated in a range of low-tech

gardening activities. During the session the students asked

questions about me, appearing interested in English culture from

soccer (football) to television. They ended the session by picking

the flowering heads from the camomile to make infused tea in their

next class.

The aspect I had notice during my visit to Rikers Island was the

relationship that had formed between the facilitators and the

students. This relationship seemed to be one of mutual respect

and friendship, sometimes lasting beyond the time in custody. The

facilitator’s willingness to be open with students differed to the

attitude of the correctional officers. For example when a pair of

scissors where uncounted for at the end of the session, the

officers seemed far more concerned. Fortunately the scissors were

found by the officer in charge and no further action was taken. If

this happened in my own clinical practice an incident report would

be completed and investigated undertaken to prevent this type of

incident happening again. Hilda remarks “this is really

appearance, as you say, because each instructor

feels high anxiety when tools are misplaced, which

hardly happens. The instructors probably didn’t want

to cause panic, especially in the face of having a

guest. The consequence if a tool actually went

missing would be the same as you describe, and

would include the temporary closing down of a

facility until the tool is found, as well as a written

report”.

The bagpiped officer who I had spent the week with was nearing

retirement and described seeing many changes within the DOC.

Sadly he mentioned feeling less safe than he used to be, reflecting

a similar view within the UK prison sector. He viewed the inmates

as having more control over how the jail is run. He also suggested

that the young, less experience officers struggled to manage and

sometimes left the service after their induction. Another sad

moment was that he never gave a rendition on the bagpipes

during my visit. He remains extremely positive for The

GreenHouse Project and sometimes participates in the activities.

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Case Study 2: A Prison Gardening

Programme

This gardening based programme has been anonymised. It was

launched after 9/11 to find faith in humanity as a volunteer-run

programme in a prison twelve years ago. The Director of this

unique programme explains that after seeing what the

incarcerated men and women go through faith is being restored.

The programme runs curriculum based gardening and landscaping

training, so that people in prison can reconnect to themselves and

to the community and the natural world. The “inner” connections

focus on the use of transformative tools such as meditation and

emotional process. The “outer” approach aims to transforms lives,

and creates safer communities. Students are involved though

organic gardening, human/ ecological systems and life skills.

Since the programme started the recidivism rate for those

participating students fell to less than ten percent. So for one

thousand served by the programme less than one hundred return

to prison in three years.

Since then the programme has developed an evidenced-based

education curriculum combined with vocational gardening and

landscape training, a number of men’s prisons and youth facilities.

This was possible due in part to provisions of the Innovative

Programmes grants to programmes in prisons. Funded over

sixteen month, and in some cases three year period, with the

expectation that the volunteers and/or not-for-profit organisations

would be develop enough resources to sustain their practice after

this time. This can be achieved through sourcing alternative

funding. This programme is now part of a collaborative group

advocating for renewable funding from the state to ensure program

sustainability in prisons.

“God made me come

here to weed things out

of my life”

“Take care of the

garden, take care of

ourselves”

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During this year (2017) the programme has approximately 650

students participating in their programmes. The curriculum can be

adopted to meet the needs of those with different abilities and

covers subjects such as:

Environmental systems: we are all connected: self,

community and nature

Permaculture gardening: gardens as whole system

“inner gardening: gardening from the inside out

Supporting re-entry transition: gardening your life

After nervously driving on the opposite side of the road, I arrived at

the first prison where I was met by the facilitator that runs the

gardening project.

The group on this occasion was approximately twenty students.

The session was conducted inside the education building and start

with a meditation, which is usual practice. I have also, as a

facilitator, used meditation/ mindfulness session however as a

member of staff in my home facility we are advised not to close our

eyes. As I was looking around the room I noticed that even the

facilitator had his eyes closed. I quietly continued in the meditation

with one eye open; I feel that closing my eyes could put me in a

vulnerable position. However I did eventually become a lot more

comfortable among the men. The Director explains that “since

we really work on building group trust over the

course of time, folks really don’t have an issue

closing eyes because the group as a community is

solid. We’ve never had an issue with that!”

“To beautify the place”

“Addiction to the class”

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The students also talked about their garden design project; the

group appointed a “landscape architect”. This student explained

the process used to arrive at their final design. The main themes

the students had identified was what was important to them in a

garden; themes were aroma, peace, relaxation, have appeal,

tranquillity and providing a sense of freedom. The students talked

about the programme and there seemed to be a consistent theme

emerging from their comments. I explained that these were all

similar theme from the garden design project undertaken in my

own facility. The landscape architecture, urban design and

planning, volunteered their time to assist the students in producing

the final scale drawing. The “landscape architect” went on to

explain that the group would like to continue and further their

design experience through making suggestions for a garden in my

facility. I immediately thought about the design team in my facility

providing a counter design.

“Pruning out the bad things”

Garden Plan

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The second prison was similar to the previously mentioned visit in

so far as group size and the enthusiasm shown. The participating

students were men housed in individual dormitories, fenced

perimeters and armed officers. This session started in a separately

fenced area in the newly landscaped garden with a minute silent

as a mark of respect to all those that were affected by the tragic

event in Manchester (UK). This was followed by around of

introductions. We followed through to the education centre where

the students spent the time learning in an informal discussion

about plant biology. The session finished with an opportunity for

the students to ask questions about my home facility and the

project that I am undertaking. This was interrupted by the

correctional officers returning to collect the student who then

headed towards the corridors for another rub-down search, before

returning to their yard.

My final visit was a facility that provides medical care and mental

health treatment to inmates who have the most severe and long

term needs.

On the day of my visit all the students were working hard in the

blistering heat maintaining and tendering to their drought-tolerant

plants in front of the chapel. I met a similar group size of equally

motivated students inside the chapel. After the initial round of

introductions class began with a discussion about the major

causes of climate change.

The students talked about the programme and there seemed to be

a consistent theme emerging from their comments: -

“Pruning out the bad things”

“To beautify the place”

“Addiction to the class”

“Take care of the garden, take care of ourselves”

“God made me come here to weed things out of my life”.

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The programme is able to operate through volunteer support

helping run the different activities across the prisons. I understand

the importance of having enough support: in my own clinical

practice where I’ve had to cancel many work placements due to

staff shortage. I often feel anxious at the beginning of new work

projects/ placements as a lot of effort goes into establishing these

partnerships. It is very disappointing for everyone concerned when

sessions are cancelled at the last minute due to staff absence.

Conversely when we’ve returned from a successful days work

there is a feeling of immense satisfaction and relief, knowing that

our patients have worked hard doing something for society.

Perhaps volunteers could be recruited to ease the pressure on

staffing and help facilitate the rehabilitation of incarcerated men

and women.

The Volunteer befriending Service at Rampton Hospital provides

trained and accredited volunteers to befriend socially isolated

patients and place volunteers in other areas where appropriate,

such as Therapies and Education. It would be good to see

volunteers in horticultural programmes but this may take some

time to achieve.

“God made me come here to

weed things out of my life”.

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Case Study 3: Sustainability in Prison Project

In partnership with The Evergreen State College and Washington

State Department of Corrections, The Sustainability in Prison

Project (SSP) aims to bring science, environmental education, and

nature into prisons. Evergreen is a public liberal arts and sciences

college located in Olympia, Washington founded in 1967. SPP

began informally in 2003 and is now state-wide offering programs

in all twelve prisons in Washington State. Evergreen staff and WA

Corrections staff work collaborative daily in all programmes.

While visiting the different facilities, I saw how a unique and

brilliant partnership has grown to create variety of sustainable

projects, and community based partnerships. One example is a

prairie restoration project. In three of the facilities I visited I saw

evidence of this partnership though the native plant nurseries.

Within these facilities plant nurseries were established to grow a

range of native plant species for habitat restoration for local nature

reserves. I was shown evidence of growth from the small blue

violet in The Washington Corrections Centre for Women (WCCW)

and at The Washington Corrections Center (WCC) and at the

Stafford Creek Correctional Centre (SCCC) a species of native

sedges was being grown on coir (coconut fibre) mats.

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The Emergent Vegetation Conservation

Nursery

As Amanda Mintz, the Emergent Vegetation Conservation Nursery

Coordinator explains in addition to traditional soil based nursery

production at the Stafford Creek Corrections Centre they have also

developed an aquaponics system to grow a species of native

sedges on coir mats in an innovative approach to better support a

local restoration need. This sedge production didn’t require any

soil as it was being grown in an environment using an aquaponics

system. The mat were used for a growing medium floated on top

of water being circulated in tanks with over hundred koi, back and

forth between plants and through colour-coded pipes. Once the

sedges are ready the mats they are growing through rolled up,

delivered and are unrolled at the restoration sites on Joint Base

Lewis-McChord (JBLM) reserves. Carl Elliott, Conservation

Nursery Manager SPP introduced me to Mima Mounds Natural

Area Preserve and explains the important for habitat restoration

benefiting the Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa).

Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve

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Mother Earth Farm

Mother Earth Farm is an eight acre organic farm located in the

beautiful Puyallup Valley. The farm distributes 80,000 pounds of

fresh fruit, vegetables, and herbs to Pierce County food banks and

meal sites throughout the year. Food from the farm is available to

food banks within 24-hours of harvest. The farm recruits work

crews from The Washington Corrections Centre for Women

(WCCW) and others workers to help with the organic farm. During

my visit a group of women were out in the field, working hard by

weeding through the planted crops.

Mother Earth Farm is operated through the Emergency Food

Network. Their mission is “to provide Pierce County with a

consistent, diverse and nutritious food supply so that no person

goes hungry.” The fruit and vegetables grown from my home

facility have been donated to food banks through our chaplaincy

service during the harvest festival. The plan is to grow more food

each year and pass the produce onto The Real Junk Food Project,

Leicester (UK). This is a global, organic network of pay-as-you-feel

cafes diverting perfectly edible food that would have ended in

landfill and into creating delicious and healthy meals. This then

helps to bridge the gap between food waste and food poverty.

Mother Earth Farm

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Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) Intensive Management Unit Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) Intensive Management Unit

(IMU) operates a maximum, medium & minimum closed living

units & custody level offenders. The horticulture is currently being

run by the programmes manager with the assistance from the

correctional officers. During my visit I witnessed an officer helping

an inmate to access the garden and water the plants. I was later

informed that there had always been a “them and us” culture within

the Department of Corrections. However recent changes have

meant that officers are encouraged to become more involved in

the rehabilitation of offenders. The programme manager went on

to explain that horticulture was just one part of her role and she

would like to employ someone dedicated to this area to develop a

curriculum.

Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) Intensive Management Unit (IMU)

24

The Washington Corrections Centre for

Women

Horticulture at WCCW is undertaken through a partnership

between local colleges. Meeting Ed Tharp, he explains that due to

other commitments his service can’t be provided on a full-time

basis. Subsequently Ed works three days a week as WCCW’s

horticulture instructor. This makes undertaking the hugh amount of

horticultural tasks, so progress can be slow. He also facilitates

class room activities both teaching the students and establishing

the curriculum.

During my visit I were shown students preparing a planting area

within the main courtyard of WCCW; this resembled a college

campus rather than a prison. After the students had their lunch,

they returned to the classroom and settled down to do their

homework. They were able to come and go as freely as students

in an actual college.

Arnold Lodge meets WCCW

25

Stafford Creek Correctional Centre

At SCCC, the Sustainability in Prison Project is undertaken both

inside and outside the secure fenced perimeter. On the outside, for

those students nearing the end of their sentence was the

aquaponics centre and the In-Vessel Composting Centre. SCCC

compost their food waste and has done since 1999. Before

establishing this centre, SCCC sent approximately 500 tons of

food waste at a cost of $75,000 to landfill. In addition to saving the

waste removal, this practice has provided the rich soil for use in

their horticultural areas while creating up to six offender jobs.

Upon entering the centre you are struck by the smell; and as you

approach closer to the heaps you can feel the heat generated by

the decomposing food matter. The hottest average temperature

recorded since in 2017 has been 64°c.

The process of composing this waste was explained by their led

facilitator; food waste is chopped up into smaller pieces and the

water is removed by a pulpier. This reduces the material to 50% in

weight and then a mixture of wood chips are added before the

process of being turned in a drum an hour a day at temperatures

between 54-71°c. The material is sifted in to final stage product.

Horticulture Service at SCCC

26

Roots of Success

The Roots of success program was created by Dr. Raquel

Pinderhughes, Professor of Urban Studies & Planning at San

Francisco State University. She is an internationally recognized

expert on the green economy and green workforce training. Roots

of Success have developed a curriculum in prisons, jails, and

juvenile justice facilities in states across the U.S. They promote

environmental literacy and successful re-entry for their inmate

populations. SCCC began classes in 2013; inmates are trained

and certified to teach other inmates.

The “Lifer’s Garden” was established since 2011 for those inmates

sentenced to life in prison; America life usually means life. This

gives these inmates (with limited job opportunities) a meaningful

occupation in order to improve quality of life. As I was escorted

from one program to another I pass these gardens. As a gardener

who has worked in high profile gardens in the UK, I am attracted to

the beauty of these perfectly manicured gardens.

I can only image how much pride these gardens give to the men

that work them. The variety of fresh vegetable and fruit produced

is used in the staff and inmates dining hall. Any additional food

was donated to the local food banks. During my visit I was invited

for lunch in the staff dining room.

Roots of Success

27

Along with the “Lifer’s Garden”, the horticultural service program

offers the opportunity for inmates to learn about all aspects of the

industry – Those are becoming very sought after positions. This

started in 2004, when a local nursery donated two pollytunnels.

I was shown around this area by a couple of students from the

programme; they were expecting and looking forward to my visit.

Like me, they were very keen to find out more about other people’s

work. The student’s explained their sophisticated method of

capturing rainwater through the guttering that has been installed

on the greenhouse roof. The water is collected in a sedimentary

tank and filtered before use this utilizes 13248 litres of below

ground storage. WCCW conserves over 246052 litres of domestic

water use annually.

During the visit the students also showed me their bee hives. This

was installed in 2006 in order to provide bee lectures and

workshops for up to ten inmates in the production of making hand

balm and harvesting the honey. This was evidently replicated

across all four Washington State Department of Correction

facilities visited.

Alongside the growth in partnership between DOC and SPP, the

therapeutic relationship between officers and inmates has

positively developed. Like that of WCCC, SCCC feels like a

college campus and officers actively participated in activities

alongside the inmates.

It was interesting to go into one of the “pods” (dormitory style

accommodation) I noticed the officer positioned on a raised

platform and enclosed by waist high benches. I was informed that

each pod consists of only one officer and a pod houses

approximately twenty inmates.

Feels like a college campus and

officers actively participated in

activities alongside the inmates.

28

Case Study 4: The Garden Project The Garden Project was founded in 1992 by Catharine Sneed, a

trained lawyer and agroecologist. During a period of personal

adversity she was inspired by John Stainbeck’s “The Grapes of

Wrath”. This suggested a way out of the incarceration cycle for her

clients.

The farm at the San Francisco County Jail San Bruno Complex

started out working with the men from the jail. The farm then

turned towards working with the at risk young adults from inner city

San Francisco area. It aimed to empower individuals through

environmentally based job training and life skills programming,

whilst also transforming the urban environment.

The Director of Education, John Austin explains that the project

welcomes 250 to 300 students annually; focusing on 13 – 15 year

olds. Older students who have completed the program are invited

back to act as mentors.

The Garden Project offers students hourly rated paid positions

from a San Francisco city funding budget of slightly less than $2

million dollars for the year. Opportunities include running the youth

programme, adult programme, general operations, the native plant

nursery and farming/vegetable distribution programmes.

John further explained “that we (The Garden Project) are

interested in consistently offering elementary school

students the opportunity to visit outside of our

regular pumpkin patch in the fall.

In June 2017 we hosted elementary students for a

programme through the first two weeks of summer

vacation. This programme is used to integrate

students with other young people from the San

Francisco area that they would not normally socialise

with. These students are slightly better off than their

peers, but are still in similar economic strata. We are

fortunate enough to participate in the types of

programming their schools offer – such as going

abroad or college visits, but still call some of the

29

most depressed parts of the city home. The idea is

not to discount these students because they’ve

gained more support, but to integrate them into our

student roster so they can speak to those

experiences that weren’t afforded to their peers.”

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) sends 7 - 15

officers everyday throughout the summer, to work with the young

people in the garden as mentors. Many of the officers and cadets

will also work alongside the students and socialise with them

during meal times. This, John explains helps builds a positive

relationship between the police and the young people.

The farm cultivates 15 of the 145 acres of land and grows

vegetables such as kale, pumpkin, pak choi for food banks within

the city. John also explains that “The Garden Project is

considering a farmers market in the county jail parking lot as a way

to serve hard to reach communities, who don't have access to

vegetables”

As well as the farm, the Garden Project student workers maintain

the green spaces around the city. They mainly concentrate on the

cities reservoirs such as Sunset reservoir, Quintara - through a

contract with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. They

take some of the plants grown at the farm and use them in the

planting within these areas. There is a native plant nursery that is

used to reintroduce native plants around San Francisco where

they’ve historically been displaced; this helps with natural ecology

and drought sustainability.

John finally mentions “that the summer programme is a

large part of what they do. It's used to constructively

occupy student down time during the summer. It was

created to give work experience, support student

families with additional income, feed students who

depend on school food programs and provide

educational opportunities. This year we visited

museums, went sailing, completed an iPad

programming class and had mini workshops on

cooking, origami, writing workshops and math

breakout sessions.”

30

The Garden Project

31

Conclusions The Fellowship allowed me to visit many facilities within the

American corrections service and viewed programmes and met

people that I would not have been able to see/ meet otherwise.

Examining the projects and range of people served by them

demonstrates why horticultural based activities are an effective

tool in work rehabilitation and therapy.

Like the Prison Gardening Programme this gives those

incarcerated the opportunity to develop their temporary home into

a happier and tranquil place. This I feel reduces the violence and

aggression while in custody and become better people in society. I

am now hoping to build upon this relationship by working with

people incarcerated in the UK and America to construct gardens in

secure facilities.

By utilising the skills of the prison and healthcare staff we can

involve them in co-delivering horticulture programmes, like what

they’ve done in Washington. This will help staff to enhance and

develop a therapeutic relationship with the inmate and breaks

down those barriers.

I feel that by developing partnerships with external organisations

would help break down the stigma of mental health. Like those

not-for-profit organisation in America, by inviting external

organisations and potential employers into secure facilities would

help them to understand more about mental health and the

positive work that it done rather than hearing the negative stories

from the media regarding prisons and secure units.

I would like to follow on my horticultural evaluation to investigate

the impact of our existing community work crew projects. Does

involving patients in community partnerships help break down the

stigma associated with mental health?

32

Recommendation Build relationships with other community organisations to establish

further restitution opportunities.

To develop nature based curriculum to be taught by prisoners/

patients who are trained and certified to teach the course.

Enhance the skills of healthcare staff and later prison staff involved

in co-delivering such programmes through the transfer of

knowledge, resources and best practice gained from the project.

Develop partnerships between people incarcerated in the UK and

America

Provide opportunities for social inclusion to break down the stigma

associated with mentally disordered offenders

Developing partnerships

33

Implementation Developing partnerships with conservation organisations, to grow

and nurture plant species within secure units for the restoration in

the many nature reserves around the UK. As part of the Towpath

Volunteer project patients were involved in planting over one

thousand young native trees along the towpath. I hope to work

with patients to grow and nurture these native trees within the

hospital grounds, working in association with the Woodland Trust.

They will supply the seeds of native trees for the replanting of

areas of the British countryside - thereby replacing lost woodland

and hedgerows. This could be replicated in any secure facility

which has some outside space, at very little cost.

Provide training that enables patients to work in the horticulture

industry professionally, independently or semi-independently by

gaining job skills (Hazen, T. 2014). Currently some facilities offer

courses in horticulture for those incarcerated to gain qualifications.

More recently patients within my practice have been offered

vocational programmes and have gained a qualification in

horticulture.

To develop and provide the training and resources that enable

nursing staff to undertake ‘low tech’ gardening tasks to help build

upon their therapeutic relationship with patients. Training would

include health and safety requirements and the fundamental

knowledge required for growing and nurturing plants.

Volunteer befrienders scheme that includes horticultural work that

would seek to reduce the patient’s isolation, improve their self-

esteem and help rehabilitation through providing practical support

by other members of society – not just therapy staff. This would

also be a good opportunity for socialisation.

To design and construct gardens in secure facilities, including

people incarcerated in the UK and the US. A project to design a

new garden for Thornton Ward at Arnold Lodge is now well

underway. The patient led design team started work in 2016 with a

questionnaire on what their peers and staff wanted from a ward

garden. They’ve also surveyed the area available for the garden

by using the tape and offset method; they recorded accurate

measurements and drew a scale plan. The team then used the

dimensions from a range of ready-made materials to explore the

feasibility of the design ideas. Once the planting strategy was

complete they then turned their diagrams and sketches into a

more definite plan to help when presenting their design to their

fellow peers and staff. This was overseen by me and I was

34

extremely pleased to see how hard patients worked through such

a complex process to deliver something that will be hopefully

enjoyed by so many.

The gardening team will now begin work to prepare the ground for

the construction and planting.

I hope our design team will work with the men of the prison

gardening programme to design each other a garden. Working

with measurements and photographs of a designated area of the

prison, our patients would be able to learn about different plants

and planting styles. Meanwhile men of the prison gardening

programme would look at designing English style garden for

Arnold Lodge.

Establishing, developing and maintaining the previous mentioned

initiatives would provide the incarcerated and those with mental

health problems new opportunities to give something back to

society, while learning new skills and having different experiences.

“I have enjoyed doing the design work for

the garden, designing is new for me. I’ve not

done this before. I’ve learnt lots about plants

and to scale design. I look forward to doing

the physical work and putting the design

plan into construction.”

35

Dissemination Evaluate and present findings with existing partnerships (Leicester

City Council and The Canal & River Trust)

Evaluate community restitution with the research group to

measure the progress

Organise workshops to involve prisoners/ patients in delivering

nature based curriculum, sharing their experience community

restitution with their peers.

Summer School (Arnold Lodge Education Department)

Recovery College

Carers Days

The National Recovery and Outcomes Conference

Present to advice on establishing community restitution as part of

the mental health recovery pathway process:

Forensic Masterclass at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS

Foundation Trust

Forensic Services Recovery Conference at Nottinghamshire

Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Present at the Clinical Governance / Academic Programme

Present regular findings at The Clinical Improvement Group

Publish articles and newsletters

36

Share with MDT all 3 care streams at Arnold Lodge Medium

Secure unit

Male mental illness

Male personality disorders

Women service

Submit abstracts for healthcare conferences:

CCA (CPAA) AGM and presentation of Good Practice

Awards

The British and Irish Group for the Study of Personality

Disorder (BIGSPD) 2018 in Cardiff

Refocus on Recovery 2018, Institute of Mental Health,

School of Health Sciences (University of Nottingham),

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Attend workshops for nursing, occupational therapy and

horticultural students

Mental Health Nursing at De Montfort University, Leicester

Units within Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

(Rampton, Well’s Road, Wathwood hospitals, Southwell Day

Centre)

37

Clinical Governance / Academic Programme

38

April’s Edition of Positive

39

August Edition of Positive

40

Appendices Itinerary:

Greenhouse Project; Riker's Island for men and women 19+

years old sentence for 1 year/ less, high secure detention

centre for 18-21 year olds, a unit for 16-17 year old

detainees

The Garden Project; based at San Francisco County Jail

San Bruno Complex

The names of all 3 facilities from the Prison Gardening

Programme have been anonymised

The Sustainable Prison Project; ran in partnership with The

Evergreen State College and Washington State Department

of Corrections: Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC)

Intensive Management Unit (IMU), Stafford Creek

Corrections Center (SCCC), and Washington Corrections

Center for Women (WCCW), Washington Corrections

Center (WCC) and Mother Earth Farm.

41

Appendices

Additional non-horticultural findings: At SCCC, inside the pod for serving ex-service men there were

also a number of dogs; they have been fostered and our being

trained to become service and/or disability animals. This is part of

the Freedom Trail programme formed in 2009 with local animal

shelters and administrator for the program is Harbor Association of

Volunteers for Animals (HAVA). I watch one inmate walking with

his dog from his cell, down the steps of the mezzanine floor to

great me. He talked extensively and passionately about the

training he gives these dogs. He explained how he’d trained five

dogs since being incarcerated and all have gone into service in the

community.

Since I have returned to my own facility, we have just completed a

pilot project run in-conjunction with the education service at The

Dogs Trust, Loughborough. This brings in an educational

approach for patients to help them become more responsible dog

owners. The workshop covered such topics as law, legislation and

care for dogs. This project provides opportunities to gain

experience and qualification in building confidants in working with

animals. Their educational services are free of charge and they

focus on improving the lives of all dogs. However they also

recognise the many benefits that having healthy happy dog beings

to their owners, better mental health are being just one aspect.

42

Feedback from the workshop has included:

“I find the Dogs Trust educational and seeing Lyra

makes me feel happy”

“Working with Dogs Trust has been a very enriching,

rewarding and informative experience”

“I have learnt more about the Dogs Trust and how

they can re-home stray dogs. I would recommend the

Dog Trust and hope this course continue to run for

others to learn”

“The Dogs Trust group was very interesting. I learnt

how to look after a dog”

“Working with the Dogs Trust has given me a better

insight and understanding on dogs. It has been really

interesting and enjoyable and it was really lovely to

meet Lyra and thanks the staff for coming in to learn

about dogs”

Lyra from the Dogs Trust, Loughborough

43

Reference:

Ministry of Justice, 2016. Costs per place and costs per

prisoner by individual prison; National Offender

Management Service Annual Report and Accounts 2015-

16. Management Information Addendum 2016 Accessed 1st

July 2017

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/att

achment_data/file/563326/costs-per-place-cost-per-

prisoner-2015-16.pdf

Hazen, T (2014). Cited in. Marcus. C, C and Sachs. N, A.

(2014). Therapeutic Landscape; an Evidence-Based

Approach to Designing Healing Garden and Restorative

Outdoor Space. Horticultural Therapy and Healthcare

Garden Design. C. 16. P. 250. John Wiley & Sons, 2014

The Prison Reform Trust, 2017. Mental Health Care in

Prisons.

http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/ProjectsResearch/Ment

alhealth Accessed 25th September 2017.

NHS, February 2017. Five Year Forward View for Mental

Health: one year on Accessed 1st July 2017

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-

content/uploads/2017/03/fyfv-mh-one-year-on.pdf

CentreforMH, June, 2017. Secure mental health services.

https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/secure-care

Accessed 1st July 2017

Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2017. Is Work Good for You

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/usefulresources/workandmentalhe

alth/worker/isworkgoodforyou.aspx Accessed July 2017

U.S. Department of Education, 2017. Report: Increases in

Spending on Corrections Far Outpace Education

https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/report-increases-spending-corrections-far-outpace-education Accessed July 2017

Legislation Analyst’s Office, 2017. How much does it cost to incarcerate an inmate? http://www.lao.ca.gov/PolicyAreas/CJ/6_cj_inmatecost Accessed July 2017

44

Picture Credits:

• Acknowledgment Picture by Richard Eltringham 2017

• Profile by Richard Eltringham 2017

• Arnold Lodge Towpath Volunteers by Richard

Eltringham 2015

• Planting Brooklyn with The Green Team by

• The GreenHouse Project courtesy of The Hort 2017

• Praying Mantis courtesy of The Hort 2017

• Women Harvesting Tomatoes courtesy of The Hort 2017

• Garden planning courtesy of the Prison Gardening

Programme 2017

• Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve by Richard

Eltringham 2017

• Mother Earth Farm, Puyallup Valley by Richard

Eltringham 2017

• Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) Intensive

Management Unit (IMU) by Julie Vanneste 2017

• Horticulture Instructor at Washington Corrections Center

for Women by Julie Vanneste 2017

• Horticulture Service at SCCC; Bright colors speak loudly

for the hard work being done at Stafford Creek!

http://sustainabilityinprisons.org/blog/2017/09/13/bright-

colors-speak-loudly-for-the-hard-work-being-done-at-

stafford-creek/ Accessed 30th September 2017

• Roots of Success; “Participating in the transformation of

the world”: Roots of Success at Stafford Creek

Corrections Center

http://sustainabilityinprisons.org/blog/2014/06/17/particip

ating-in-the-transformation-of-the-world-roots-of-

success-at-stafford-creek-corrections-center/ Accessed

30th September 2017

• The Dogs Trust, Loughborough’s Education Service at

Arnold Lodge by Richard Eltringham 2017

• The Garden Project by Richard Eltringham 2017

• Clinical Governance / Academic Programme by Fiona

Evriviades 2017