The below is OCEAN Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 10, Article 6 (Feb. 10, 2020) published by Russell J. Hatton & Daniel A. Wilson from the gulag in Moose Lake Minnesota.
Just like at Coalinga State Hospital in California, the Per Diem is always conveniently going up, up, up. Per Diem Rates are updated each fiscal year to reflect the cost of operation:
a. State Fiscal Year 2018=$372 (July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018)
b. State Fiscal Year 2019=$373 (July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019)
c. State Fiscal Year 2020=$393 (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020)
You’d think that some of the money would be going to helping detainees reintegrate back into the community.
In fact, there have been meetings on “reintegration” for years, but with very little results. Actually between December 2, 2014 and July 15, 2019 they had 268 meetings concerning “reintegration.” These are either the most incompetent people alive to have this many meetings for “reintegration” with no results, or they are lying through their teeth … or both. These meetings involve “stakeholders.” MSOP administration invites these “stakeholders” to MSOP on a regular basis for tours. The MSOP policy for this uses Minn. Stat. § 246.014, sub. (d) (Services) as the authority for this policy, which states: “The commissioner of human services may establish policies and procedures which govern the operation of the services and programs under the direct administrative authority of the commissioner.”
MSOP administration claims that the purpose of the policy is to: outline the process for providing tours of DCT facilities to exchange information and establish relationships with community stakeholders in a manner ensuring safety, security, and privacy of staff, clients, and visitors while minimizing potential disruption to the therapeutic environment.
But this is clearly NOT what stakeholders are for according to Minn. Stat. § 246B.06 VOCATIONAL WORK PROGRAM, Subdivision 1. (b) Establishment; purpose, which says, in relevant part:
” … Prior to the establishment of any vocational activity, the commissioner of human services shall consult with stakeholders including representatives of business, industry, organized labor, the commissioner of education, the state Apprenticeship Council, the commissioner of labor and industry, the commissioner of employment and economic development, the commissioner of administration, and other stakeholders the commissioner deems qualified. The purpose of the stakeholder consultation is to determine the quantity and nature of the goods, wares, merchandise, and services to be made or provided, and the types of processes to be used in their manufacture, processing, repair, and production consistent with the greatest opportunity for the reform and educational training of the civilly committed sex offenders, and with the best interests of the state, business, industry, and labor.
[ emphasis mine] On September 25, 2017, detainees were told via “client memo” that “stakeholders” would be coming for a visit to the facility. OCEAN requested a list of those that would be attending. Noah Cashman, the Assistant Minnesota Attorney General, along with many lawyers, judges, and forensic examiners are on the stakeholder list. This seems like a clear conflict of interest, and these people are not the kind of people one would use for the purposes we pointed out in Minn. Stat. § 246B.06.
In summary, MSOP is supposed to consult with stakeholders, which should be experts from the labor industry to help with vocational programming. Instead, MSOP has a bunch of lawyers, judges and even the Attorney General – who represents and supports the counties that petitioned for our commitments – helping MSOP with security issues, and calling them “stakeholders”.
