He's been shifting the mindset and purpose of the jail, and of COs in other jails, from 'house and punish' to 'educate and rehabilitate':

An incredibly important aspect to Ben's work is making sure the jail can be an environment conducive to successful change for the people incarcerated by changing correctional officer mindsets. Around the time the Recovery Pod opened, a Lieutenant at the Saratoga County jail began bringing Ben and the Family Support Navigator he first worked with to the New York State Correctional Academy in Saratoga. Ben and the Family Support Navigator are both trained as trainers for the science of addiction and recovery and as trainers to provide Narcan trainings. They would run a training in the science of addiction and a Narcan training, with extra education about substance use and addiction for the incarcerated population and the rates of overdose in Upstate New York communities. Ben would also talk about his experience as an inmate, his perspective as someone who has been through jail and recovery and now works in the jail, and how the language of correctional officers does affect someone's self-esteem and their view of what's possible. In every facility he's been incarcerated in Ben has experienced the stigmatizing and dehumanizing language of many correctional officers. Many don't understand MAT and think it's really just throwing drugs at addicts. Ben educates them and works to remove the stigma by connecting with COs at a human level. He uses himself as an example, saying "when you remove active use you get a productive coworker." 

With support from inside the criminal justice system, this system of programs is still growing.

“I guess I would measure the success of our program as the fact that... the COs that used to push back are now making referrals to me for reentry needs. For coaching needs. Saying 'hey I think that this guy's been struggling with alcohol or drugs and maybe he could benefit from talking to you’. That never used to happen - I was the outsider and they didn't have any communication with me.”

“I would say I measure success on the fact that we are growing our treatment team…to adding in two new CASACs and we're onboarding a nurse practitioner so we can start inductions [for MAT]. So we've grown our team by 3, and they hired a...discharge case manager.”

“Our in-house programs went from 12 hours a week to 20, so service providers are reaching out asking to get involved. Which is testament to how it runs and the effectiveness and the community outlook of the program. So we're still onboarding people for programs.

And it’s growing because it’s improving people’s lives.

“The fact that our program is growing. The fact that...the recidivism is down to 8% for our participants.”

“The fact that the [Recovery] Unit has the lowest disciplinary rate, in the entire jail. The fact that the individuals in there that might not be fully invested in what we're doing when they walk in, still become part of, in some manner, and follow the rules at least…we've only had to remove 2 individuals from the unit that were a problem in the last year.”

“And the fact that I run into people on the street, or that are walking into the recovery center from [the jail] that talk about 'I can't believe the supports I had in a county jail, and I'm still in recovery' or they're coming here asking 'Can I volunteer? This is something I might want to get into doing' is testament to the effectiveness and the success of our program."

The attitude that got him here:

Ben has accomplished something very few people have been able to in Upstate New York. He's connected hundreds, if not thousands, of people across New York State, guiding and organizing them around reentry, support, helping each other, and helping themselves. He talks a lot about knowing how to speak with people. Different people, you will interact with differently. Building such a smooth, successful, integrated system of reentry supports and services requires a high level of committed participation from people with very different mindsets - peer advocates, incarcerated folks who are committed to improving their lives and incarcerated folks who have no such commitment, the Sheriff, Colonels, Lieutenants, all the Correctional Officer staff, medical staff, family members dealing with the trauma of a loved one's incarceration, and community members from a wide variety of places. Ben managed to connect all these people into one network, overcoming the stigma and shame and discrimination that often strangles improvement in other counties in Upstate New York. Each time I've met with Ben, we've talked a bit about his attitude and how he speaks with people, and how that's made this whole system work.

He's been relatively soft-spoken when I've met with him, but you can clearly hear and see his authenticity. He believes in these programs and he knows they're good and necessary, partially because they are what he needed himself. He connects with each person on a deeper level, and he meets people where they're at. Our criminal justice system as an institution does not do well with change,  and he's been careful to always push for it without forcing it. Many old attitudes in the criminal justice system are harmful but they’re also deeply held. He's firm, but he always comes from a place of empowerment rather than shaming or forcing change.

"You can't rah-rah these people into submission. It's...data, consistency, need, and outcome. That's it. This is the need, this is who’s going to give it to you for free, and this is the outcome of us providing it.”

“You can't deny the numbers and the outcomes and the reduction in death from people leaving the jail. The only reason they can push back is stigma and ignorance.”

“Like it or not, the jails have become mental health facilities. So we treat mental health, and addiction, and domestic violence, and all these other things, AND we house people. We're social workers AND we're running a jail."

"It's only responsible to deal with the needs of the 200 people whose lives are in your hands.”

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