Oklahoma County Detention Center Adds Wellness Unit to Support Staff Well-Being

There’s a place inside the Oklahoma County Detention Center that offers peace in a not-so-peaceful environment.

It’s a wellness unit unveiled to the staff at the jail this week, giving employees an escape from the pressures of the job.

Currently, there are 13 cadets training to become detention officers. Illiana Corrales is already doing it.

“It’s hard,” Corrales said. “I tend to interact with people at one of the lowest points in their lives.”

Corrales has been a detention officer at the jail for three years.

“I know they're not mad at me personally; they don't want to be in jail, nobody wants to be in jail, so I try my best to help them as best I can with whatever they need,” she said of the inmates.

Right now, there are nearly 1,449 people behind bars with 172 detention officers on staff. The jail is aiming to hire more to get the number over 200.

“It gets tiring sometimes dealing with people that are angry all the time,” Corrales said. “I personally love what I do. I would never change what I do, but I need a break sometimes.”

Knowing the job is stressful, this is why jail officials unveiled the wellness unit.

“It doesn't look like you're in a jail when you're in this room,” said Mary McLain, the Wellness Unit Director.

That’s the point. The unit aims to reduce stress and burnout, ultimately improving staff retention and well-being, while also helping them to provide better care for those incarcerated at the facility.

“As a therapist, we want to take care of our folks, we want to retain our folks and truly believe the best thing we can do for our residents and to serve our community in the best way is to take care of our people,” McLain said.

The wellness unit offers a mental getaway, with a calming room that has low lighting, comfortable seating, aromatherapy and even massage chairs, where we found Erma Cole who works in the mail room.

“It's not a luxury; it's a need,” Cole said. “We do deal with customers over the phone, and no one is happy about a loved one being incarcerated, so sometimes those phone calls are not nice.”

However, this space she says is nice, and is open for all 331 full-time staff, not just the detention officers.

“Just walking in here, it's a whole different vibe,” Cole said. “It’s welcoming, it’s embracing.”

The unit also has a private room for those who need some alone time and doubles as a lactation room for nursing mothers. McLain is also available for counseling if needed.

“I'm here for them if they just need to come in here and vent,” McLain said. “I'm here to provide short-term therapy or provide resources if they need something more intensive.”

For Corrales, just taking a mental break helps her get back to doing what she loves.

“It's completely different from everything I have going on upstairs,” she said. “Come down here, destress, and be back ready to go.”

Along with the wellness unit, the jail offers free meals for the staff in their own cafeteria where a salad bar was just added. A gym for the staff is expected to be installed early next year. The Wellness Unit was budgeted at $12,000 but jail officials hope to offset the cost through grants.