Wayne Carlson is a long-term offender now working in the community with the Samaritans of Southern Alberta, as the Administrator of the Samaritan Prisoner Befriending Program (“SAMS”).
The Samaritan Prisoner Befriending Program in Canada is a member of Befrienders International, the umbrella organization of 350 Befriending Centres in 41 countries, worldwide. The administration of the Drumheller Institution was the first to embark on this progressive new program in suicide prevention, because incarcerated individuals are identified as high risk for suicide.
Supported by The Suicide Prevention Society of the Samaritans of Southern Alberta (a volunteer organization operating a 24-hour crisis line throughout Southern Alberta), the volunteer inmates (SAMS) have undergone a comprehensive training program emphasizing confidential, non-judgmental listening skills, depression, grief and loss, substance abuse, and suicide prevention strategies. This training is similar to that of a telephone crisis line volunteer.
A component of the program is a collaboration of the Samaritans, prison staff, health care professionals and the SAMS who, together, develop strategies in caring for the depressed and suicidal in custody. This holistic approach to suicide prevention also seeks to alleviate the stressful impact on other prisoners, and staff in dealing with distressed, despairing, and suicidal inmates. The trained SAMS are available to provide emotional support, suicide prevention and also provide a referral to their contacts of existing professional care services offered by the institution.
