Warden Michael Burgess
1500 Caberfae Highway
Manistee, MI 49660
Directions (Bing Maps)
General questions and visiting applications: mdoc-oaks-public@michigan.gov
Telephone: 231-723-8272
Open: 1992
Gender/Age Limit: Males, 18 and older
Security Levels: II and IV
Prisoner Capacity: 1,108
Number of Employees: 338
Oaks Correctional Facility is comprised of eleven main buildings containing approximately 262,673 square feet of floor space. Prisoners reside in seven main buildings that include one segregation unit, one protective custody housing unit, and five general population units. Of the five general population units, one is Level II and four are Level IV. Two of our level IV units are set up as an ALTERNATIVE to SEGREGATION (START Program). Prisoners that are diagnosed with a serious mental illness are placed in one of these units in lieu of segregation and they are provided an opportunity to progress through this START program. The mission of the START program is "To provide a secure general population alternative to administrative segregation while providing programming and other structured and unstructured out of cell activities based upon the prisoner's positive adjustment, with the goal of reintegration into traditional general population", and there is one specialized housing unit that houses prisoners whose protections needs cannot be met in a traditional general population setting and do not require placement in administrative segregation based on their conduct.
Mental health services are provided by a combination of MDOC staff and psychiatric services provided by a private contractor. An Outpatient Mental Health Team (OPMHT) manages prisoners requiring mental health services. Mental Health Services (MHS) provides case management/ medication services to prisoners with a serious mental illness/ severe mental disorder. Their team is comprised of a Unit Chief (Psychologist), 5 staff Psychologists and 1 Psychiatrist, and a Unit Secretary. MHS also provides programming to prisoners participating in the START program while housed in these two specialized housing units. START programming consists of 32 sessions (2hrs/week for 16 weeks) of Solution Focused, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
Oaks Correctional Facility has three full time academic staff members, one full time school secretary and a school principal. Academic programs offered at Oaks Correctional include Adult Basic Education and General Education Development completion (GED). Employment Readiness Programming includes digital literacy and financial literacy classes, as well as Work Keys testing and Career Scope testing with vocational counseling and qualification for state-wide Career Tech Education. An employment counselor assists inmates with obtaining vital documents, transcripts, licenses, certifications and offers resume writing workshops. Reentry Programming is offered in the form of Violence Prevention Programming (VPP), Thinking for Change, and Substance Abuse Education - Phase 1 and 2. Leisure activities include participation in athletics, religious services, along with Legal and general library services.
In addition to traditional programming, the Oaks was also chosen by the Leader Dog for the Blind organization to train dogs for their program. Prisoners are screened and are provided training to deliver this training program to puppies received at the facility. Once the dog has completed their initial phase of the training at the prison, they are then graduated to the next level of training if they pass testing. Dogs that are not chosen to continue with Leader dog for the Blind are re-purposed to other specialized training centers. Some become companion dogs for Veterans with PTSD, some are chosen as drug sniffing or bomb sniffing dogs.
The perimeter security includes a buffer fence, double chain link fences, razor-ribbon wire, electronic detection systems, an armed patrol vehicle and gun towers.
