Photo: In June of 2024, Stafford Creek Corrections Center became the proof-of-concept site for the Solitary Confinement Transformation Project. | Photo Credit: Courtesy of Falcon Correctional & Community Services Inc. 

Stafford Creek Corrections Center Dramatically improves conditions of confinement in restrictive housing units 

By Karin Arnold, Jason Bennett, Stefanie Bloomingdale and Robin Timme

Challenging the traditional model of solitary confinement has been a longstanding goal of the Washington State Department of Corrections, which has been working for more than a decade to reduce the use of solitary confinement and rethink how safety and separation are accomplished. In June 2024, Stafford Creek Corrections Center became the proof-of-concept site for the Solitary Confinement Transformation Project (SCTP). 

The pilot aimed to reduce the use of solitary confinement by 90% and increase meaningful congregate activity for incarcerated individuals placed in restrictive housing. 

The facility was allocated resources for correctional officer escorts, data collection, mental health treatment and investigations. The team gathered baseline data in the month of July 2024, when incarcerated individuals were offered a total of 863 hours out of cell for recreation and activities, accepting and receiving 830.9 hours. The project went live in the first week of August 2024, and by the end of the month, incarcerated individuals had been offered 4,622 hours out-of-cell and accepted 3,293.9 hours, reflecting an increase in offered time out of cell of 436% and an increase in received time out of cell of 296%. 

The team continued gathering data through March of 2025, which demonstrated sustainability of these changes. Month after month, SCCC maintained significant increases in time out of cell and meaningful activities relative to preintervention levels, reflecting the opportunity for incarcerated individuals to receive four hours out of cell per day, where previously they might have just five hours per week outside of the cell. 

Context and Background 

Effective management of prisons means balancing the goals of rehabilitation and reentry with the need for safety and security in settings of confinement. Fundamental to this balance is the need to separate individuals who pose an unacceptable risk for violence in the general population, while maintaining conditions of confinement that maximize time out of cell and access to meaningful congregate activity. Doing so without the use of solitary confinement, or at least dramatically reducing reliance on those conditions, has become a priority for forward-thinking prison systems around the world. 

In Washington, the Department of Corrections defined solitary confinement as an operational status in restrictive housing where an individual is confined to a single-occupancy cell for more than 20 hours per day, without meaningful human contact, out-of-cell activities, or opportunities to congregate. 

This definition set the bar much higher than that established by the American Correctional Association (ACA) or the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules), both of which use a 22-hour threshold in their definitions. 

In 2023, Washington State compiled a plan to reduce the use of solitary confinement by 90% over five years, if the legislature provided the required funding. When the state legislature funded the project at a small fraction of the full estimated cost, the agency allocated the funding to the proof-of-concept, a pilot program at Stafford Creek Corrections Center, to implement the model in a single prison. 

The pilot project began in June of 2024, obtaining baseline data in July of 2024, and implementing the increased resources in August of 2024. Data was collected through March of 2025, measuring time out of cell that was scheduled, offered, accepted and received (SOAR). The SOAR model provides nuanced surveillance and tracking for time out of cell, rather than simply assessing whether time out of cell happened or not. 

Time out of cell was tracked using a manual collection process, which was then recorded using a novel instrument, the SOAR Tracking Tool. The data set spanned nine months, including one month of pre-intervention and eight months of postintervention data. In an effort to improve the likelihood of incarcerated individuals accepting and receiving time out of cell, the facility launched a survey as part of a program called Fun Activities and Social Time (FAST). Incarcerated individuals responded with their preferences for recreational activities, programs and schedules, which resulted in increases in accepted and received time out of cell. The intent was to provide a space where prosocial leisure activities and socialization could occur in restrictive housing. FAST activities demonstrated significant increases in acceptance rates of time out of cell, closing the gap between what was offered and what was received. Incarcerated individuals also reported increased feelings of safety and connection to their peers, allowing for interpersonal engagement in unstructured settings. 

Staff at SCCC responded positively to the program as well, despite initial concerns about safety and security being compromised. Intensive communication and education served to clarify that staff were not losing the tool of separation, and that safety remained the priority. In fact, staff eventually described the additional time and activities allotted to incarcerated individuals as an additional tool that they did not have before. Staff no longer view this project as a pilot; it is just how operations are done at SCCC. 

Conclusion 

With nine months of data collection, several key findings emerged. Although the number of individuals in restrictive housing areas increased, the conditions of confinement improved substantially. In other words, separation as a tool remained available to operators in the prison, yet those who were separated experienced increased time out of cell, congregate activity and more humane conditions than in the previous model. 

Staff and incarcerated individuals describe a safer environment when the facility can provide intellectual stimulation and social engagement for the incarcerated population. This has promoted a positive culture with less negative disruption and fewer negative interactions between staff and incarcerated individuals. Leadership at the facility has committed to continuing with the solitary confinement reductions, including data collection, which has been instrumental in identifying areas where they are performing well, and areas where growth is needed. The team is proud of these accomplishments, eliminating solitary confinement at the prison, and yet they are committed to continuous improvement. 

Jason Bennett is the Senior Director of Operations for Washington State Department of Corrections. Karin Arnold is the Superintendent and Stefanie Bloomingdale is the Associate Superintendent of Programs for Stafford Creek Corrections Center. Robin Timme is a Principal and Senior Expert with Falcon Correctional & Community Services Inc. 

This this article was first published in the September/October Maintenance + Operations edition of Correctional News.