By Heather Morrison
masslive.com
BOSTON — As two new residents trot into MCI-Framingham, they won’t be focused on serving time — they’ll learn to sit, stay and how to change lives.
The two service dogs in training, named Hawkeye and Helia, are there through a partnership between the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC) and the national nonprofit Canine Companions.
Hundreds of dogs have been part of dog training programs at Massachusetts prisons in the past 20 years with this program at the Commonwealth’s only state correctional facility for women being the most recent expansion.
“When you observe the program inside our facilities, you see the positive influence it has on morale, on the environment, and on the individuals involved. The handlers develop skills they can use upon release, and many describe finding purpose in contributing to something beyond themselves,” DOC Commissioner Shawn Jenkins said in a press release. “These dogs go on to assist people with a variety of needs, and we value the opportunity to support that mission.”
Overall, more than 850 service dogs have been trained at correctional facilities across Massachusetts. In 1998, the DOC began working with the National Education for Assistance Dog Services (NEADS).
Since then, 696 dogs have been trained at MCI-Framingham, MCI-Norfolk, Northeastern Correctional Center and North Central Correctional Institution. In 2011, DOC began partnering with America’s VetDogs, training 155 dogs at MCI-Shirley, Pondville Correctional Center and Old Colony Correctional Center.
The incarcerated handlers are responsible for teaching basic obedience, like sit and stay, and some service dog tasks, such as retrieving dropped items, tugging doors open, pushing handicapped door buttons and providing brace and balance on stairs. They also manage the dog’s daily care and help socialize the puppies to various environments and experiences.
The dogs eventually return to their respective organizations for advanced training before being placed with individuals in need. For Canine Companions, professional training takes an additional six to nine months.
But the puppies’ job are also to provide comfort — a task they are very good at.
“Really by construction, prisons tend to be kind of dark and harsh places and you‘ll hear that often. And so these puppies, again, provide that sense of normalcy ... when you come in and you‘re playing with the puppies for a few minutes, you actually forget, ’Hey, I‘m in a prison setting,’“ Jenkins previously told MassLive. ”And you forget that for a few minutes and it provides that sense of relief.”
Plus, it helps prepare people for when they leave the correctional facility.
“With less than 5% recidivism among participants, Canine Companions prison puppy raising program has proven to be not only a rehabilitative tool but a pathway to renewed self-worth,” said Canine Companions Northeast Region Executive Director Debra Dougherty.
MCI-Framingham has about 220 incarcerated individuals with 53 people facing life sentences. The nearly 150-year-old building is getting a $360 million renovation to modernize the housing unit, improving mental health treatment facilities, electrifying core infrastructure and add the ability to create a temperature-controlled environment.
It will also permanently decrease the number of beds at the facility, which currently can hold 598 people.
“This infrastructure plan aligns with the state’s decreasing prison population and reform-driven priorities,” the press release states.
Most of the population is in medium custody. And 42% of the criminally sentenced population are within five years of release, “reinforcing the need for programming that supports rehabilitation and successful reentry,” a government press release states.
Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy said including the dog programs in rehabilitation improves public safety. Plus, Gov. Maura Healey said, it provides transferable skills once they leave the facility.
“Our administration is focused on reducing recidivism and building a justice system that prioritizes rehabilitation and successful reentry,” said Healey. “Programs like this one, which offer significant responsibilities and transferable skills, are a key part of that work and ultimately help us build stronger, safer communities across Massachusetts.”
Edward Holloman, who was part of the VetDogs program, was recently granted parole after serving about 17 years in prison and working with two dogs.
He said that he felt abandoned and unloved by his family who struggled with drug addiction when he was a child.
“Growing up, it was tough for me out there in the environment that I grew up with,” he told MassLive in 2024. “I didn’t know how to love.”
The America’s VetDogs program possibly made the biggest impact on his life while incarcerated — teaching him to love and be loved.
When he looked at Pete, his 6 1/2-month-old dog from the program, he knew Pete loves him. And Holloman is confident Pete knows he’s loved, too.
“One of the most important things it taught me, taught me how to be [empathic], show me empathy, show me how to be compassionate,” he said. “The love between me and the dog, it’s unbelievable.”
Holloman told MassLive in 2024 that he hopes to one day use the skills he’s learned in the program to continue to help train dogs, including helping more dogs become service animals for veterans, outside prison walls. He also might get a husky of his own.
”Being given something to care about other than themselves and the opportunity to give back can be life changing. We’re extremely happy to be partnering with the Massachusetts Department of Correction at MCI-Framingham,” said Dougherty.
But these programs also benefit the dogs.
“Puppies raised in correctional settings also benefit — graduating at a 10% higher rate than those raised in traditional homes, thanks to the consistent schedules and structured environment provided by the inmates,“ she said.
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