A few months ago our folks had to put something together like what you are doing here is what we came up with.
Since suicide watch and hospital duty represent the greatest challenges for us, they were the primary topics:
*consider employing Criminal Justice majors, interns, or mental health interns to assist with suicide watch on a part time/hourly basis. Adequate training would be provided.
*propose that our company consider using inmate companions for suicide watch. This approach has been successful in the BOP for many years and may in fact strengthen the suicide prevention program by allowing expanded suicide precautions for borderline cases, without incurring staff overtime.
*continue the existing practice of employing staff from different departments to fill vacant posts to prevent incurring overtime. Presently administrative staff (i.e. Wardens Secretary, AW secretary, unit manger clerks) vacate their permanent jobs to assist throughout the facility on a regular basis.
*expand the use of administrative staff (i.e. business office, HRM office, secretaries, maintenance personnel) to mandatory security posts if their workload will allow.
*continue to use unit management staff to fill vacant mandatory security posts whenever possible. Unit officers, yard officers, hospital duty, suicide watch are examples of this repositioning.
*based on the assessment provided by mental health professionals, there may be opportunity to house two suicide watch inmates in one cell, thereby reducing the number of staff assigned to suicide watch. Explore this proposal through policy or ATF provisions. *continue to seek implementation of video court arrangement.
*Unit staff currently cover vacant security posts, provide escort for vendors/contractors, oversee the delivery of services, i.e. laundry, commissary, programming, mail, recreation, pill line, etc. further commitments from unit staff must to carefully scrutinized.
*There is limited flexibility with providing an available staff member to an emerging mandatory post without resorting to overtime, i.e. hospital duty, suicide watch, unscheduled PTO, training (such as SORT, IMS2, armed escort), escorts for special projects (i.e. physical plant upgrades), late court trips, emergency hospital trips, etc. Many staff members are involved in the mutual effort to forego their primary position and asset where needed. There is, however, a limit to this approach, we must keep a close eye on the possible negative impacts i.e. retention/turnover rates, staff morale, efficiency of operations, security, and customer relations at a facility with a very frugal staffing compliment.
Hope this helps,