During this year, the Pastoral Care Committee complied and published a list of Pastoral Care Counselors. This list is intended to support the work of these therapists and provide crucial resources to congregational ministers. In 2010 the Committee plans to make this resource available in the LICC Directory. The Committee has reflected upon ways to expand the pastoral care services in the Nassau County Jail. Conversations are underway with the other agencies contracted by the County for pastoral and religious care and within the committee about bringing Clinical Pastoral Education into the Jail. Such a training program would increase the number of people and hours of pastoral care available to inmates and staff.

It has been another good year for the Nassau County Jail Chaplains and Nassau County Juvenile Detention Home. We are glad that the County has not moved the adolescents from the Detention Home to the Nassau County Jail, as they were thinking of doing for a while. We agree that the Juvenile Detention Home is a much healthier environment for these kids, separated from the adult criminals. We have assigned the Rev. Larry Swensen to work with these youths this year, along with his other work in the County Jail.

Three of us are working in the Jail. In addition to myself, there are the Rev. Nancy Schaffer and the Rev. Larry Swensen. Nancy works primarily on the Core side of the Jail, which includes the women's unit. She is in charge of the Sunday evening service held there for the women, and she has a different group of churches and individuals helping her each Sunday of each month. The women inmates see themselves as a congregation, and they have named themselves as "the Church Inside." They have had more than a dozen baptisms over the years.

With the men in the Core, Chaplain Schaffer is in charge of the service held for them on the first, third, and fifth Sunday mornings of the month. On the remaining Sunday mornings, the chaplains of the Unified Council of Churches (the former Black Clergy Association) are in charge.

The chaplains now have a brochure describing the services we have for the different faith groupings, when they meet, and who ministers to them. We have a brochure for the staff, and one for the inmates. This is new this year and has been well received.

The whole Jail is divided into two parts, the Core and the Satellite. Each faith group has its own structure. With us, Chaplain Swensen is in charge of half of the Protestant services on Sunday morning and the Unified Council the other half. Chaplain Swensen has a different group of churches and individuals working with him, according to the Sunday of the month. Of course, uniformed officers are present for every service.

Chaplain Lehman is the supervisor of the Protestant part of the program for which the Long Island Council of Churches is responsible. We are aware at the jail of working with a handicap since the resignation of the last sheriff. One of the Captains has been appointed Interim, but we are all looking forward to a full- time Sheriff again.