Wisconsin Correctional Association

Roger Burczyk Jr.

Hello, My name is Roger Burczyk Jr. I have worked for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections for over 20 years. I have been on the conference planning committee since 2020. I have been one of the conference planning committee co-chairs for the past 3 years. I am looking to move over to the board as the Recording Secretary in the current election. Currently, I am the Correctional Management Services Director at Racine Youthful Offender Correctional Facility in Racine WI. I have been in my current role since March 2022 supervising and oversee all of the Budget, Business, Finance, Maintenance, IT and Food Service Operations within the facility. Prior to my role, I was a Financial Program Supervisor & Financial Specialist Senior at Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility, Program Support Supervisor with the Division of Community Corrections in Region 3 (Milwaukee), Correctional Food Service Leader 3 at Milwaukee Women’s Correctional Center and Correctional Food Service Leader 3 at Robert E Ellsworth Correctional Center. During my years in food service, I was part of the Association of Correctional Food Service Affiliates from 2007 to 2019. Within my years I was the chapter treasurer, Vice President elect and President. In 2014 I was awarded the Employee of the Year from the Association of Correctional Food Service Affiliates.

In my personal time, I enjoy camping with family and friends during the summer and fall months throughout the year. I enjoy game nights with family and friends. I have a French bulldog puppy named Charlie and enjoy taking him outside and playing fetch with him. I love spending time with my family and friends, as life is truly too short. You have to take advantage of everything life has to offer now. I enjoy planting flowers outside all around my house during the spring and summer months. Thank you for taking the time to read a little about me.

Valerie Ness

My name is Valerie Ness and I am currently the Warden’s Secretary at Fox Lake Correctional Institution. I have had the honor of working at FLCI for the last 2 ½ years. I feel that I am qualified for this position. I record meeting notes on a regular basis, including the Community Relations Board meetings, the EMCCC meetings, and meetings as requested by the Warden. The Policy and Procedure Committee keeps me busy as well. Tracking updated/new policies, helping create and edit procedures, and working in OnBase has taught me how to value and use my time wisely. I am responsible for the Warden’s correspondence in the Correspondence Tracking Database, answering the phone, being the gatekeeper and problem solving. We also hold blood drives at FLCI in which I am in charge of. I have also been covering vacancies for the Deputy Warden Secretary and the Security Secretary at FLCI for the past couple of months.

I am also the secretary for the FLCI Health & Safety Committee. My duties include scheduling the meetings, creating the agendas, taking minutes during the meetings, scheduling the monthly inspections and tracking that information to make sure items are taken care. The WE Committee here at FLCI has gained momentum in the last year. I am the secretary for that committee as well. Along with agenda creation and minutes, Corrections Employee Week, Veterans Day and the fundraisers, we keep very busy! I do much of the tracking for fundraisers and events at FLCI. Previous to my work with the DOC, I was an executive assistant for 20 years. I have worked in the financial industry (Client Service Coordinator and Executive Assistant) and in the real estate industry (Closing Coordinator and Executive Assistant).

WCA is such a great organization for our employees to lean on. With this industry, being able to support each other and network is so very important. I would like to be a bigger part of that! Thank you for your consideration!

Kari Ives

My name is Kari Ives and I am currently the Educational Representative for the Wisconsin Correctional Association (WCA) and have held this position since 2023. During my time on the Board, I have started to build relationships with some colleges to build a foundation for WCA to create student chapters to get involved and understand what it is like to work in Corrections. Establishing student chapters will help students obtain information from those who are in the field and encourage students to consider Corrections as a place they want to find a career. Another exciting part of this position is being able review, with a committee, and select candidates who are looking for scholarship funds to assist them in their education.  

I currently work at Chippewa Valley Correctional Treatment Facility (CVCTF) as a Social Worker and Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor since 2004. In 2011, I also received my certification as a Tobacco Treatment Specialist through Mayo Clinic. I am also the secretary of the Department of Corrections Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee and lead of the Marketing and Communications team. Also, I was appointed by Governor Evers to be on the Interstate Adult Offender Supervision Board

Outside of work, I continue to work on my skills and advocacy work. I have been on the Chippewa County Board of Supervisors since 2016 and have been on several committees. Currently, I serve as chair on the committees of Health and Human Services, Aging and Disability Resources, Ag and Extension, and the Wisconsin Counties Association Health and Human Services. I am also on the board for West Cap, a non-profit that provides services for low-income community members.

I would appreciate your vote to allow me to continue to build a solid relationship between WCA and colleges in order to promote Corrections and gain more buy in and interest in our line of work.

Charles M. Brown

Charlie earned his Associate’s from Fox Valley Technical College and Bachelor’s and Masters degrees from Lakeland University in Sheboygan. While finishing his Bachelor’s, Charlie started state service with Winnebago Mental Health, then worked in the Department of Corrections for over 20 years. Many of you will recognize Charlie from efforts with inmate services for the department including canteen, hobby, property, tablets and kiosks. These are just some of the programs that followed Charlie as he moved from Waupun Correctional, to the Wisconsin Women’s Correctional System, and to Green Bay Correctional.

Charlie left Corrections when he took the position of CFO and Bureau Director for the Bureau of Business Services within the Department of Administration, Division of Enterprise Technology. At that time of his departure from DAI, he was still the IMT Leader and had been the Logistics Chief for the DOC’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak since the EOC was set up.

Many of you will know Charlie from his twenty years in corrections, work with WCA helping at the golf and bowling events as well as helping on the 2023 Planning Committee, and the current State Representative for WCA. Although he is now a director in DOA\DET he has Continued his work with budgets and fiscal management in the public sector and continues to be active with Corrections through WCA.

Kristy Baumgart

Hello, I am Kristy Baumgart and I am running for WCA Juvenile Representative. I started with the WI DOC in March of 2013 as a Youth Counselor at Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake School, a type one Juvenile Facility. Since I have started I have promoted, demoted and promoted again till I found my niche, taking care of our staff. Since November 2021 I have held the position of Critical Incident Response Team Coordinator.

Staff well-being is my passion. Corrections is a tough profession. Even though we have a lot of very tough staff, we are all only human. Life happens and I want to make sure our people are supported when life isn’t going as expected. Supporting our staff through hard times, advocating for them when they need a voice, empowering staff to practice self-care, fostering resilience, along with boosting moral are all things I strive to do. Promoting a healthy work-life balance is so important, but too often overlooked. Everyone deserves to feel supported, heard and valued. All these things wouldn’t be possible without the fantastic group of people I work alongside.

I want to be the WCA Juvenile Representative because I believe in the value and power of connecting the corrections community, building professional relationships, while mentally and physically supporting our corrections family and the communities we all live in. WCA does all this and more. With my position I feel I am able to promote WCA at the Juvenile level, promote more staff to become members so they can join our strong network of corrections professionals. This spectacular group of people is supportive, caring and uplifting. Joining WCA has been a great experience. I truly value the connections I have made and hope to share that with others. Thank you.

Julie Beeney

My name is Julie A. Beeney and I am proud to have been a nurse for over 40 years with a passion for caring for underserved populations where I am continually wondering—what can we do better for our community? Copper Lake School/Lincoln Hills School is a community; a community of caring, committed individuals with a common goal of creating an environment of safety that supports youth a path to education, health, and re-integration into all communities.  

I have had an amazing career that I feel has led me to my current position as Health Services Manager for CLS/LHS. I began my career as a registered nurse in “floor” nursing in the Emergency Department, Trauma Intensive Care, Pediatric Intensive Care, Cardiovascular Intensive Care, and leaderships roles including Nursing Supervisor, Director of Inpatient Services, and Director of Clinical Services. In these past roles I have worked on many Quality Improvement projects including reducing falls in the hospital setting, a project that still 10 years later can be seen in area hospitals. I also led the QI team that improved colon cancer screenings by 30% in a large clinic system. Before accepting my position at CLS/LHS I re-entered the academic world to obtained a Dual Masters in Nursing and Healthcare Administration, all while working full-time and gaining custody of my troubled 6-year-old grandson. This drove me to seek a place where I could make the biggest impact on improving the physical and mental health of youth. Which brought me here, the most challenging and rewarding job of my career. I am proud of my team and of bringing new ways to establish trust with youth in our care and their guardians. I have established processes where nursing calls the youth parent/guardian on intake to provide an overview of services and obtain medical history. The added benefit is establishing a relationship from the start. I have also established collaboration with Safety Staff in accompanying youth for offsite appointments so that a comprehensive plan of care can be established. But there is work to do and I am committed to doing it.

I would be honored to serve as Juvenile Representative for The Wisconsin Correctional Association Board of Directors. I feel my career and life experiences would lend themselves to being an engaged, collaborative, transparent member of this board. I would represent nor only the healthcare prospective but Correctional and Juvenile dimensions as well. Please accept my application for Corresponding Secretary.

Linda Van Tol

I have worked in the correctional field in Wisconsin since 1993. I started my career as a Relief Counselor for ARC Community Services, Inc, and have since served in a variety of positions including, Case Manager, Substance Abuse Counselor, Program Manager for ARC's Drug Court and Treatment Alternatives Case Management Programs and Program Manager for ARC-Dayton. ARC-Dayton is a community based residential facility for women under the supervision of the state and federal correctional systems. I was the Program Manager of the ARC Maternal and Infant Program, a licensed transitional residential substance abuse treatment program for pregnant women and their infants. As the only DOC contracted facility explicitly for pregnant and postpartum women in state, we served women from all counties and I had the opportunity to work with Probation and Parole agents across the state. I also worked with other private providers across the state to establishing continuing care plans for women returning with their infants to their home communities. I am currently the President/CEO of ARC Community Services, Inc. overseeing all projects of ARC including four women’s residential substance use treatment programs contracting with the Department of Corrections.

I received my bachelor's degree in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and my master's degree in Psychology, specializing in Marriage and Family Therapy, from Edgewood College. I am a licensed Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor.

I am a long-time member of the Wisconsin Council on Community Corrections (WCCC), an association of community providers that contract with the Department of Corrections. The WCCC has served as a forum for providers to work collaboratively with one another and with the Department of Corrections to address shared concerns. I am also a member of the Planning and Funding Committee for the State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (SCAODA). As WCA Private Representative, I would continue to work to strengthen collaboration between WCA members and private community providers.

Karissa Smits

Hello! I am Karissa Smits, currently a social worker at Waupun Correctional Institution (WCI). I have been employed with the Department of Corrections (DOC) for almost eight years, with being a member of Wisconsin Correctional Association about the same duration of time. At WCI, I am the co-chair of two committees within the institution: Workplace Enhancement Committee (WPEC) and Training Committee. I also serve as WCI’s liaison for WCA. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I coordinated and participated in many Polar Plunge teams to raise money for Special Olympics. As a social worker within the DOC, I work with outside agencies to assist persons in our care (PIOC) being successful post incarceration. This includes, but is not limited to, working with other social workers within the community, the PIOC’s agents, housing authority and release programs (such as Re-entry Legal Services (RLS) and Opening Avenues to Reentry Success (OARS)).

I am very excited for the opportunity to be on the WCA Board of Directors and am hopeful you allow me to serve WCA by being WCA’s Private Representative.