"My mom thinks that I am crazy."
Constance Halonen, a social work graduate student, shrugged her shoulders while she sat with Theresa Vanell, also a social work grad student.
Vanell, who works with Halonen, said her family says the same thing.
"They asked 'Are you safe?'" Vanell said. "'Is there someone else with you?'"
Both women have heard questions like these numerous times, but assure their families and friends they are safe and enjoy their internships - at the Lower Buckeye Jail, located at 3250 W. Lower Buckeye Road in Phoenix.
Halonen and Vanell intern for Maricopa County Correctional Health Services and interview incoming inmates as part of an overall 14-day mental health assessment.
The assessment - which is completed within a 14-day window of an inmate's booking date - helps determine if he (the inmates are all men) is psychologically able to function within the jail and judicial system in general, said Celia Hodges, mental heath supervisor for the west-side jails and Halonen and Vanell's supervisor.
The individual interviews run about 30 to 45 minutes each and help flag if an inmate could have a problem such as depression, schizophrenia, thoughts of suicide or homicide or issues with alcohol or narcotics, Hodges said.
Halonen said that because they are students they cannot make formal diagnoses but are involved with the inmates' follow-up treatments.
In order to keep the interviews confidential, Halonen and Vanell said they interview the inmates on a one-on-one basis.
For inmates arrested for more serious crimes, a wire-metal, grid-like window separates the ASU students and the inmates, Halonen said.
"There's no contact, and it's very safe," Halonen added.
The women said they interview minimum-security inmates - with lesser charges - in a classroom setting with just a table separating the interviewer and interviewee.
"At first, it was intimidating, but now, it's just part of the job," Halonen said.
In order to promote a safe environment, they are trained to end an interview if they feel uncomfortable or unsafe with the inmate.
They have worked at the jail since August 2006, conducting about eight to 10 interviews per day, and only one interview had to be stopped.
Halonen said within the first couple weeks of her internship, an inmate became confrontational and threatened her, so she stopped the interview.
"Most [inmates] are grateful," Halonen said. "They truly need help, and are glad we are there."
Vanell added many times society has pushed aside these men.
"When they find out we are there to help, they are shocked," Vanell said. "[They feel] no one else cares, and that's why we are here."
Vanell and Halonen's internships are part of their curriculum in the Department of Social Work, said ASU Social Work professor Dr. Jose Ashford.
In order to receive a master's in social work, a student needs to complete an internship within their field of study, Ashford said.
Vanell and Halonen said they work at the jail from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday for three credit hours and take 12 credit hours worth of classes on Wednesday and Thursday at the Downtown campus.
They both said the Department of Social Work's internship program has provided invaluable practical experience.
"[Working at the jail] clearly puts the reality in the concepts we learn at school," Vanell said.
Halonen added they maintain caseloads - to follow up with inmates after the initial interviews - within two months of work.
Hodges said she also gains from the internship experience as well.
She welcomes Vanell and Halonen's youth, enthusiasm and insight they bring from the classroom, she added.
Vanell and Halonen said they have come a long way since the first day in the jail last August.
Once in the jail, there are large, heavy metal doors located everywhere.
"We've never been in a jail before," Vanell said. "When the door closes behind you, you realize you don't have control."
Halonen added they had second thoughts the first time the door shut behind them.
"We looked at each other and asked, 'What did we get ourselves into?'" Halonen said.
After seven months of walking through the jail hallways, interviewing - and following up - with hundreds of inmates and trying to make a difference, they are not distracted by the heavy doors any longer, they said.
"They are loud, but they don't faze us anymore," Halonen said.
Reach the reporter at: jeffery.mitchell@asu.edu.
