BOONE, N.C. — Kristin Phillips’ passion for providing speech-language pathology (SLP) services to inmates began in 1996, when she, herself, completed a graduate training experience at the Foothills Correctional Institution (FCI) in Morganton.

Thanks to $195,658 in additional funding from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (DPS), Phillips, a clinical educator in Appalachian’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, will provide SLP services to incarcerated youths and adults in four North Carolina correctional facilities, including FCI. The other institutions are Morrison Correctional in Hoffman, Polk Correctional in Butner and the North Carolina Correctional Institute for Women in Raleigh.

Phillips received the grant along with Dr. Gail Donaldson, professor in and chair of Appalachian’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, which is housed in the Beaver College of Health Sciences.

Several members of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice were involved with the project:

• Dr. Rick Smith
• Kelli Terrell
• Adam Johnson
• Ladonna Browning
• Larry Williamson
• Richard Thomas
• Robert Schwacke
• Steve Williams
• Dr. Steve Moody
• Charlotte Labore
• Evelyn Massey
• Daryl Avery

Staff psychologists, as well as education, medical, custody and operations staff at the four regional correctional facilitates, also assisted Phillips.

Each semester of the project, Phillips supervised four graduate clinicians in the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program at Appalachian in providing SLP services to inmates.

“The mission of this project is to provide services to those inmates who participate in education activities, so that they may become responsible and productive persons who can effectively manage their incarceration and make contributions to their community upon release,” Phillips said.

About the Beaver College of Health Sciences

Appalachian State University’s Beaver College of Health Sciences (BCHS), opened in 2010, is transforming the health and quality of life for the communities it serves through interprofessional collaboration and innovation in teaching, scholarship, service and clinical outreach. BCHS offers nine undergraduate degree programs and seven graduate degree programs, which are organized into six departments: Nursing, Nutrition and Health Care Management, Public Health and Exercise Science, Recreation Management and Physical Education, Rehabilitation Sciences, and Social Work. The college’s academic programs are located in the Holmes Convocation Center on App State’s main campus and the Leon Levine Hall of Health Sciences, a state-of-the-art, 203,000-square-foot facility that is the cornerstone of the Wellness District. In addition, the college supports the Blue Cross NC Institute for Health and Human Services and has collaborative partnerships with the Wake Forest School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant Program, the Appalachian Regional Health System and numerous other health agencies. Learn more at https://healthsciences.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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