Mental Health Depatment
Placement Description
Mental health services for offenders currently incarcerated in MRRJ. Prefer student to work 10-15 hours per week. Prefer students that are outgoing, assertive, maintain privileged information, and have a “thick skin”
Intern or Field Placement
Responsibilities/Opportunities
- Exposure to crisis intervention, assessment, group work, re-entry planning
- Exposure to full spectrum of DSM-V
- Exposure to corrections environment
- Opportunity to serve vulnerable population
- Administrative tasks (mental health referrals, evaluation scheduling)
Contact Information
- Contact Person: Corban Smith, M.Ed., Mental Health Manager
- Address: 350 Technology Dr. Staunton, VA 24401
- Telephone: 540-245-5420 ext. 1173
- Email: csmith@mrrjva.gov
- Website: http://www.mrrjva.gov
Read about students’ experiences at this site below:
Spring 2024 – Avery Kasper
This past semester I was granted the opportunity to be an intern at Middle River Regional Jail. I worked specifically with the Middle River Mental Health Staff. Middle River Mental Health Staff’s mission was to address and improve the inmates’ mental health concerns during incarceration. There are a multitude of services provided including brief therapeutic sessions, mental health workbooks and packets, suicide watches, and group classes involving topics such as addiction or life skills.
Throughout my semester at Middle River, I was able to participate in and observe a wide variety of experiences. I was able to observe my supervisor, Corban Smith, conduct intake evaluations and clear suicide watches. These would involve checking in with each inmate who was flagged after a brief mental health screening. These flags would usually mean an inmate had a past history with taking psychotropic medication or hospitalization due to mental health reasons. Another opportunity is to work with the Mental Health Support Specialist. This usually included helping prepare resources to bring to inmates who have requested them. Resources can include packets on many different mental health concerns, workbooks for different diagnoses, or coloring sheets for inmates in the special needs pod. A third opportunity that I enjoyed was participating in the REWIRED Addiction class with the support specialist. The Mental Health Staff was extremely accommodating and made an effort towards letting me see things that I was interested in, such as sitting in on a court competency evaluation with one of the clinical psychologists.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my semester at Middle River. The staff was extremely supportive and helpful throughout my four months there. An advantage to interning at Middle River is the environment. While safety and efficiency are extremely important, it is a more relaxed environment than I would assume others are. I felt comfortable asking the staff members any question that would come up, as well as advice for my future in the psychology field. Another advantage is the wide variety of individuals you will get to interact with. The inmates are all different ages, races, backgrounds, etc. so you will learn how to interact with all kinds of people. Prior to this internship, I was debating whether I would be able to work with a high risk population or in a correctional setting. This internship has confirmed my belief that this is a population that I would want to pursue a career in. While the population and environment can be intimidating, Middle River made me feel constantly safe and comfortable. A third advantage is the variety of work you will be doing. I would be able to follow different staff members and observe their daily routines, which usually differ slightly each day. I got to interact and participate in groups with the special needs pod, participate in the REWIRED Addiction class, observe a competency evaluation, and observe the process of filing an ECO, emergency custody order, along with other daily responsibilities. If there is an aspect of the jail that you are particularly interested in, Corban Smith or the other mental health staff will do their best to make that possible.
Along with the many advantages, I would say that possible disadvantages to being an intern at Middle River would be the lack of individual work. As an intern, you are not qualified to conduct any evaluations or respond to mental health requests. This is understandable, especially within the forensic setting in which there could be legal consequences associated. Another factor to consider is if you are able to tolerate potentially inappropriate comments and behaviors. While the staff does a great job at protecting everyone, it is inevitable that you will hear a few remarks here and there, especially as a female in a majority male populated jail. This was something that I was prepared for, as I was given a disclaimer during my initial interview. A last disadvantage would be the inability to build a sturdy rapport with the inmates. While there are inmates who are repeat visitors or are serving longer sentences, there is a quick turnover rate between inmates being incarcerated and released or sent to DOC. This also creates limitations on what services can be provided, especially since there are approximately 650 inmates and only a small number of mental health staff.
My internship has fully supported my passion for working with a high risk population and severe mental illness. Corban Smith, my supervisor, is an adjunct professor at JMU so I was able to learn about abnormal psychology beyond my experiences with the inmates. I feel that I have also grown with my conversational skills and my ability to look beyond potential stereotypes. Along with my education, the staff at Middle River was extremely helpful during my graduate school application process and have supported my decision to pursue my Psy.D in Clinical Psychology.
For my contribution project I updated the suicide prevention training slideshow. The previous powerpoint had dated statistics and was slightly repetitive. Suicide prevention is extremely important for each staff member to be aware of, as the mental health staff is only present from Monday-Friday. The new suicide prevention training includes statistics, procedures, the incident report form, things to look for, and a new suicide risk measure that is hopefully going to be implemented in the near future.
Overall, I have enjoyed my internship experience and cannot imagine doing my field placement anywhere but Middle River Regional Jail. From the diverse experiences, supportive staff to the learned knowledge and life experience, this experience has been one of the most rewarding experiences at JMU. I am extremely thankful for this opportunity and would highly recommend it to any future students considering working in corrections or a high risk environment.
