For years, our members have taken the lead to urge lawmakers to take a comprehensive approach to criminal justice reforms. Specifically, we have called for greater investment in the education, vocational, and rehabilitation workforce in the State's Department of Correction (DOC), as well as greater support and training for correctional supervisors.

In 2007, we successfully moved lawmakers to invest in mental health services training for correction professionals. The legislation passed is a step toward enabling our members to better serve the growing population of juvenile and adult inmates with developmental disabilities and mental illness in our state's prisons.

During the 2008 legislative session, our members gave voice to the issues overlooked in the many debates about how to reform and improve criminal justice services in the aftermath of the tragic Cheshire and New Britain home invasions.

Despite the economic downturn gripping the state and the nation, our members continued speaking out for appropriate and effective criminal justice services in Connecticut in 2008. They understand the challenges raised by shrinking budgets, but they also know that the cost for failing to prepare juveniles and adults for re-entering society can be far greater to our families than any budget deficit.

By 2010, the number of inmate attacks on staff in DOC facilities reached a tipping point. Our members are connecting the dots to show that a lackadaisical approach to running the state's correction system by the Administration of Governor M. Jodi Rell is what is really at fault.