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W.orking A.nimals G.iving S.ervice 4 Kids
"Growing Possibilities,
One Child at a Time"
Prison Program
WAGS 4 Kids is forever grateful for our partnership with the ODRC as part of our dog training process. It is our WAGS 4 Kids Step By Step Training Program.
ODRC Accredited Apprenticeship Service Dog Training Program
Your Support Has A Big Impact
Over 2,500 apprentices have earned either a 50% or 100% certificate from the US Department of Labor in the last ten years.
Apprenticeship programs use qualified volunteer prison staff members to supervise and train inmate apprentices in vocations that enhance employability skills.
We are thankful for the relationship we have with each of our correctional facilities. Our program would not be able to succeed on the level it is, without the help of each of these facilities, and the staff and residents within. The residents are able to train our dogs to a capacity that none of us would ever be capable of. We also love to hear the stories from residents about how each of these dogs have touched their lives and given them purpose each day.
Richland Correctional Institution (RICI)
2022 - Present
The Richland Correctional Institution is a state prison for men located in Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio, owned and operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The facility was opened in 1998, and houses a maximum of 2613 inmates at a mix of minimum and medium security levels.
Mansfield Correctional Institution (MANCI)
2017 - Present
Mansfield Correctional Institution is an Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction mixed-security state prison for men.
Grafton Correctional Institution (GCI)
2014 - Present
The Grafton Correctional Institution is a state prison for men located in Grafton, Lorain County, Ohio, owned and operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The facility was opened in 1988 and houses a maximum of 2,074 inmates at a mix of minimum and medium security levels.
Previous Partnerships
North Central Correctional Complex (NCCC)
2008 - 2015
The North Central Correctional Institution is a minimum- and medium-security prison for men located in Marion, Marion County, Ohio, operated by Management and Training Corporation under contract with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. This facility has a population of approximately 2,427 inmates.
Northeast Reintegration Center (NERC)
2007 - 2009
Northeast Reintegration Center is a minimum-security prison for female inmates that is located in Cleveland, Ohio. Operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, this facility has a population of approximately 620 inmates.
Step By Step Training Academy
The Next Frontier....
Availability and Accomplishment
Our first training program, “Dogs Don’t Speak English”’ is now the Accredited Apprenticeship Service Dog Training Manual for The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. Today, in Grafton Correctional Institution, this training course completion and mastery is the core of W.A.G.S. 4 KIDS re-entry Workforce Development Initiative. Inmate Trainers have the opportunity through practice, written testing and actual skills performance to be certified trainers for W.A.G.S. for Kids in six levels of training expertise.
Expanding our Mission through Education
The component of developing programing in four prison institutions has been the hands on involvement of our superior staff trainers and our commitment to being involved each week with the instruction/practice/correction model we employ with the inmate trainers. Requests come to us weekly from individual families in need as well as prison institutions wanting similar programming outside of our geographical area. The need for an educational tool, duplicating the very detailed examination of each skill a Service Dog must learn and the finite steps in teaching, has been developed, co-written by Wendy Crann and Justin Schaeffer, an inmate trainer at GCI . We will publish in 2016.
For those with professional goals in developing programming in other prison institutions or training programs as a W.A.G.S. 4 Kids subsidiary will be the development of The Working Animals Giving Service Training Academy. This will be an independently run physical space with hands on W.A.G.S. training staff and special instruction in how to manage the business of an institutional training program, including additional programming for basic medical and grooming needs, supplies and controls. The Training Academy will be our avenue to put into practice the real life goal of our Workforce Development Initiative; a place focused on re-entry for a certified former inmate trainer to have a career. The key to affecting any real life rehabilitation is through job creation.
Contact Us
216-586-5853
info@wags4kids.com
W.A.G.S. 4 Kids Headquarters
112 East Center Street
Berea, OH 44017
W.A.G.S. 4 Kids,
Central OH
Columbus, OH 43202
Copyright 2016