A story of how a local Captain at the Montgomery County Sheriff's jail made a difference in the lives of those less advantaged and motivated other agencies and charities to participate.
Here's the transcript.
Interview with Captain Kim Haug
Hugh: This is Hugh Ballou, and my guest for this session is Captain Kim Haug. I am at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s department. I met Kim the other day, and I was quite impressed with the work she has done outside of her regular job, demonstrating how leaders can make a difference. Let’s start with talking about what your job title is here.
Kim: I am captain, but my job title is the Chief Correctional Officer of the Montgomery County Jail.
Hugh: That’s your work-work. But we are going to talk about what you have done outside your work. Do you have a title or description for that program we are going to talk about?
Kim: The program that we have started is called Effort. It stands for Enabling Friends for Our Response Teams.
Hugh: Enabling Friends for Our Response Teams. Clever. What was the situation that came up that was the inspiration to start this?
Kim: We have a lady who works for the sheriff’s office. She has a son who is autistic. She requested that we do something for the special needs community. She didn’t give us a whole lot other than that. she just wanted us to do something with the special needs community, so that started some thoughts going and some programs. We started thinking of some things. We got together with a lot of people in the community and came up with the EFFORT program.
Hugh: Whoa. So she came and talked to you about it. What was the problem you were addressing?
Kim: She had had a couple bad experiences with her son. He is a teenager, and they live in a town. There had been a couple incidents with law enforcement. They were pretty scary for her. At one point, her son was not responding to a command, not because he didn’t understand it, but because he was afraid. He had something in his hand that was like a comfort item, and the command was to put it down. He refused to do it. The situation started to escalate pretty quickly. She was concerned that maybe in the future, ash e got older, that situation could have gone really bad. She just wanted us to do something for the special needs community, including individuals with intellectual disabilities because she saw the need.
Hugh: We read about things when they go bad with law enforcement. We want to balance it out with things that we do to prevent those situations. This is really important. what was next? How did you start this initiative?
Kim: First, I approached the sheriff with the idea of having a fun day at the sheriff’s department. I the nquickly realized that I was out of my element with the special needs community, that I needed some help and some guidance, as I didn’t want to do anything wrong. I knew that I would have one chance at this. You mess this up, and that could be really bad. I invited a lo of people from the special needs community, from schools, the Special Olympics, DARS and IDA and some other agencies in our area that work with special needs, along with law enforcement and first responders. We had a big brainstorming session. I told them some ideas, what I would like to do. They were really excited about it. We went forward with it, but always with the guidance of the people in the special needs community already to make sure we did everything that was going to be helpful and right, and that we wouldn’t do anything silly that would make the situation worse.
Hugh: Our audience are people who are leaders in various types of organizations like those that you reached out to. What is DARS and IDA?
Kim: DARS is the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services. What they do is they work with a lot of individuals who have special needs on assisting them and getting them employment. IDA is Individuals with Disabilities Association, and they do a lot of really neat programs for individuals with disabilities. Special Olympics, everyone knows what that is. We invited those people to come and guide us along.
Hugh: One of the things that we highlight in our work is that leaders are first and foremost people with influence. You did not have any official relationship that you could say, “Do this.” You just influenced them because of your clarity of vision for this. Speak to that. They voluntarily stepped up, is what I am hearing.
Kim: They did. When we met, I first shared with them what I wanted ot do and the purpose of what I wanted to do. I wanted to bridge that gap. I wanted to reach out to the special needs community because as I started this research, I found out that there wasn’t a lot of trust between the individuals and the families of the individuals with special needs and law enforcement due to those bad experiences. I was just afraid that we wouldn’t know how to handle it. I am not just talking about law enforcement, but fire and rescue as well. Those can be really scary situations for anyone, but you throw in the special needs aspect. Even a parent getting pulled over for a parcking ticket could be traumatic for somebody with autism. When you pull over behind that car with the lights and the siren. Car accidents. A fire in the home. We bring in an element that is unfamiliar and scary. What I wanted to do was on this day, make sure there were fire trucks and abumalcnes and police cars and officers in uniform and everybody was in uniform. The firemen were in uniform, the rescue people were in what they wear, and law enforcement was in uniform. They got to ineract with us on a fun level, and they got to learn about the jobs that we do. They did the obstacle course that the law enforcement officers do when we go to the academy. They got to use the fire hose. It was just incredible what the fire department did. They got to go into the back of an ambulance and see it. They had a photo with the cops, where they got their picture taken and got to take it home with them when they left the site. They got certificates and medals and awards for doing all the obstacle courses.
What I wanted to do was like I said bridget that gap and show them that we are not scary, that we are not there to make a situation worse, but rather, make it better.
Hugh: This is an activity, or is it housed under the sheriff’s department or connected to any official entity?
Kim: It’s a program that the sheriff’s office does. It’s something that we do in partnership with all first responders in the county.
Hugh: It’s your baby?
Kim: It’s my baby.
Hugh: We’re talking in 2017 early in the year. How long has it been going?
Kim: Last year was our pilot program. We did it in jUly of last year. We start meeting next week to start planning this year’s EFFORT event.
Hugh: What will you do to create sustainability and enable transitions as you bring on more programs nad need other leaders to take other parts? What will you do to introduce that sustainability with the transitions? People aren’t goin to do it forever, so how do you bring on fresh people and have a rotation system?
Kim: One of the things that we do throughout the year is we do training for the new officers who come in. one of the things we will definitely do is it’s open to volunteers. Anyone can come and continue to go in the fire departments and rescue departments and provide training. Ongoing training bout the need that we have in our community that we need to be better trained to handle individuals with disabilities. We want those families to trust us on that level. What we will definitely be doing is the continuing training, which will be the key part of keeping this going.
Hugh: Good. I see you going over and above the training because you have created and built on relationships.
Kim: The other organizations that we have developed relationships with have been phenomenal. I have actually been relaly surprised at how important those connections with the DARS agency and the IDA and Special Olympics have been. We partner with them in some things, but it has been small. The partnership with them has been huge. We have used them for training purposes, and they have used us for training purposes on their side. But the partnership that the sheriff’s office has wit hthese agencies now is phenomenal. I see that continuing to grow as well. Different programs will change throughout because we already have this established partnership. That will make transitions easier for programs in the future.
Hugh: Good. One of the strong leadership principles I’m seeing is that you don’t have to be the expert in everything. You are the visionary, and you brought in people with particular expertise to fill in those gaps.
Kim: Yes. It was the smartest thing that I have learned to do. If you want to do something, you find the people who are really good at it and partner with them.
Hugh: That’s a key statement right there. Leaders are catalysts for some of the things to happen. What I am hearing is you were very clear on what the need was and what we can do about it. But you let other people play into the content and the methodologies and the process piece wit hexpertise. Part of what I wanted to highlight in this interview is we sometimes get in a vacuum with our churches, our charities, thinking, whether it’s government or other, that we have to do it all. The key message I want to highlight here is this is a collaborative community effort.
Kim: Correct.
Hugh: Collaboration really enables us all to do a whole lot more. What are some of the results that you have seen so far?
Kim: We extended our program to a degree by doing a GTO program, called Growth through Opportunity, which was really positive for the sheriff’s office, and also for three individuals. Through the DARS relationships, we had three cadets come through a program through the sheriff’s office called Grow Through Opportunity. We took in three cadets, all three with intellectual disabilities, and we spent four month with them where they came in and learned job skills and social skills through job coaches. The job coaches were the deputies. They would spend several hours a day with us, Monday through Thursday, and they graduated the program. The whole purpose of that was to get them job-ready. We went to different agencies throughout the county, other police agencies and the fire departments, and they would have work for them to do. Under the supervision of the job coach, they did jobs. These three individuals are actually out there interviewing for jobs now, aso they learned everything from eye contact to shaking hands to how to fill out applications to interacting with strangers and how to talk to business leaders when they go into the county. That was a pretty neat program. That is a huge thing that has come out of the EFFORT program and the training we have done.
I have also seen the positive impact on the deputies who work here and the experiences they have had with individuals in the community. When they have had to go on calls and they have encountered someone with autism or another disability and their confidence on being able ot handle that better and knowing how, I have been trained on how to interact with somebody who is autistic, and they feel comfortable in doing that.
Hugh: Something most of us don’t even think about. As you are talking about the skills about eye contact and all of that, we could all use that, but that is giving people a leg up who might not have been taught that.
Kim: Or it’s more difficult for them due to their disability. It’s harder for them to reach out and hsake someone’s hand. They may know they are supposed to, but it’s the reminder that they should be doing this.
Hugh:That’s huge. We want to reach out and do something for other people. What you said also is there is a change internally with people who are working with these people. Have you ahd any stories from any of your officers?
Kim: I do. I had one deputy who called me after an interaction. The call was a teenager who was out of control. You never eally know, when you are going on those calls, what you are going to encounter. Are they just acting up, or are they really out of control? When he got there, he found out the young lady was autistic. He remembered his training, and you feel more confident knowing you know how to handle the situation the way it should be handled. He left the situation, and it was positive for the mother, the daughter, and the deputy. They have an ongoing relationship. We now know that if we are called to this house, that his young lady has autism, and we know some of her triggers, some of the things we can do or say to calm her down, and it is a positive all the way around.
The flip side of it is we are better trained to handle these situations. The parents see us as somebody who is coming in to help and not make a situation worse.
Hugh: What is your vision for the future? How do you see this going in the future? Do you see it growing or impacting different segments? Do you see it impacting more people without growing? What do you see?
Kim: I definitely see it growing and impacting more people. I would love for this to grow into other counties. I would love to see other counties either come here for the training or open up their departments for the training, for the GTO program, or for something similar to EFFORT. I did have a lady from South Carolina call me and ask me how to do it because she wanted to do it there for her department. That was very encouraging, and that is what I would like to see continue. I would like to see all departments realize there is a whole segment of our community that we don’t normally deal with unless it is an accident or something like that. it’s not necessarily the criminal side of it, but there is a whole segment of our community that really desires to have a relationship with us and that we need to have that trust. They need to be able to trust us to handle that situation well.
Hugh: There is a natural barrier between law enforcement and citizen. When you are on the street and see a police car, you slow down. We are always thinking about ourselves. What am I doing wrong? We are in a different mindset. What I am hearing you saying is you are bridging some of those gaps.
Kim: Fighting crime is a huge part of what law enforcement does. We do enforce the laws of the land, the speed limits. We do have to interact in that way. That is not all that we do. We are here to serve the community. With Sheriff Pardon’s vision for where he wants to take this department is definitely in that direction: being there for the community. We do have that one part of what we do, but it’s only a part of what we do. It’s not all of what we do. We serve the community, and there was a need in our community to connect with the special needs individuals. We are trying to bridge that gap and fulfill that need.
Hugh: A person in your organization brought that need to your attention, and you paid attention. Why you? Why did you say, “I want to do this?” What was inside you that was the voice that said, “Kim, do this”?
Kim: She came to me a few times. She was pretty persistent. Then I started to think about it. We had had a meeting at the beginning of the year with the sheriff, and he laid out his vision for the sheriff’s office. It was definitely community-driven. That was at the forefront of my mind, that we were going in a different direction. But she came to me a few times. I know her son on a personal level. I have met him. I guess it just struck achord that we do need to do this. Why not me?
Hugh: You don’t know this, but I talk about leadership, and I summarize it in three things. Leaders get things done. Leaders figure out how things get done. That is the illusive part. Leaders influence others. I see all those traits. You didn’t just say, “Oh, there’s an idea.” You took action. So if there are people ou there that are hearing this story, what advice would you give people if they have got an idea? What is the leadership piece that you would enourage people to embrace to move on the idea?
Kim: It’s really hard to say because I feel like this is part of who I am. If there is a need, look for ways to address it. I have come across some things where I have handed them off. There is a need here. You look for ways that you can address it, and sometimes there are things that I can move forward with. Sometimes I see somebody who is better equipped to move forward with it, and you hadn it off. But you still want to follow through and make sure that need gets met. It doesn’t take much. Get people around you who are experts and say, “Hey, this is a need. This is how I see we can fix it.” Then start getting some advice and some experts around you and a good team. You just get it done.
Hugh: A good team. Well, this is inspirational. Thank you for spending time to share the story and your humility in getting out of the way and letting it happen. You brought people together around a vision, and you have been a catalyst for things to happen. I am sure you have been a cheerleader when things didn’t quite go together at some point. We are in the sheriff’s department and are watching sirens. That is the validation of where we are.
Any other things you want to share before we end this story?
Kim: Thank you so much for the opportunity to share it. If I can promote EFFORT, I am going to promote it any place that I can because I really think this is going to change lives. We got no negative feedback from the event, which was huge. This was a pilot event, and we stepped into uncharted territory for a law enforcement agency that we had never done before. We got no negative comments, and the only thing that I have gotten is I have gotten comments from other organizations and some individuals saying that they realy want to be a part of it he next time we do it. I have already ahd people calling me asking when we are going to start again.
Hugh: The event happens once a year?
Kim: Yes.
Hugh: What time of year?
Kim: After school. We did it in July this year. I think we are looking at the end of June this time.
Hugh: What happens between events? I am sure there is some ramp-up time to the event. But does anything happen now for instance?
Kim: WE are going to start meeting and planning the next event. We will be looking for donations. Everything was donated for the event pretty much. We had food donated, like a hot dog vendor, ice cream, drinks. We will start making the rounds and getting all those things lined up. We really won’t change a lot. Other than changing maybe the layout of where people were, we had this at Christiansberg High School. Very few changes will be made. Between now and June, we will start getting our flyer ready, start making our contacts, start getting the word out. After June in the fall, we will look at doing the GTO program again.
Hugh: I love it. It’s a great story. I want to do a post-script for this and talk about leadership in general. Let’s move in another direction. We are broadcasting this on YouTube, so it will be inspiring some other departments to want to call you. You will be teaching this to some others.
You are also active in the community. You spoke to me about a leadership cohort that you get together with. Could you speak to me a little bit about that?
Kim: WE do. It’s called Project 14. It started at the beginning of last year with myself and Lieutenant Louie Hesslup. We started a leadership workshop where we met once a month and ahd a two-hour workshop. We invited indiviudals from the community, clergy, and other agiences of course to come. We would put together a two-hour workshop. Louie passed away in May, and now his wife is on board. We have changed the name to Project 14 because Louie’s number is Unit 14. Once a month, typically the last Thursday of the month, for two hours, we have a leadership project. We have a leadership workshop. We invite speakers in, and it could be anyone from one of the departments. There is a group of us: Lieutenant Andy Wilgram from Bradford PD, Officer Heath Hyatt from Christiansberg PD, and Bryan Roe from Blacksford PD> we have some of the chiefs. Chief Wilson and Captain Ramsey from Christiansberg PD. Other people have come on board. We get together once a month, decide what our topic is going t obe. One of us will do the project, or we will bring in an outside speaker. We just do a leadership project once a month. That has been great collaboration with different departments and us working together in a different way.
Hugh: What have you learned there that helps you in your job and helps you in your volunteer work with this project you talkd about?
Kim: One of the great things about the leadership project is the different topics that have come in. we have covered everything from the Bernard Bershard and just preparing for some of the events has been pretty challenging, just getting all the departments nad law enforcement to want to attend something like that. the collaboration has been pretty impressive with the different departments walking together. Nobody is really in charge. It’s here at the sheriff’s office. It’s kind of sponsored by the sheriff’s office, but it’ really a collaborative effort. It’s that teamwork thing. It’s getting people around you who know how to get things done or have expertise where you don’t and then working together and putting on a good project.
Hugh: Kim Haug, Captain, thank you for your service to the community and the impact that you make.
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Leaders Making a Difference: A Story of Community Empowerment | The Nonprofit Exchange: Leadership Tools & Strategies podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
